Javier Wallace is a man of many identities, having been an athlete, scholar, tour guide and historian throughout his career. The son of a Black Austinite and a Black Panamanian immigrant, his roots connect to a long history of Afro-Latinos in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was from.
鈥淸My dad] often talks about in the '70s in Austin, riding the bus in East Austin and having people, Latino people speaking racially, negatively about him and his friends on the bus.鈥�
Being Black and Latinx can be a complicated experience. Latinx people come from a variety of racial backgrounds due to the history of colonialism and enslavement that shaped the American continents. For Black Latinxes in Texas, the state鈥檚 history with Mexico and the Confederacy further shapes that experience.
鈥淭exas is the only Confederate state that had an international border, and that's Mexico,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淵ou have people that were seeking emancipation, seeking freedom in Mexico before June 19th, 1865.鈥�
As a doctoral student at UT Austin, Wallace started as a way to make some extra money and share his family鈥檚 history and experiences living in Austin.
鈥淚 was learning cool things at UT Austin in the classroom with some amazing professors about the Black experience that I just wanted to tell people about it,鈥� he said.
Wallace now resides in Panama. He said experiencing Panama鈥檚 emancipation celebrations gave him a new appreciation for Juneteenth. In Panama, he celebrated 鈥淒ia de la Etnia Negra鈥� on May 30, the date the Spanish crown abolished slavery in 1820.
鈥淚 feel Juneteenth in this moment here in Panama because it marks the same thing that Juneteenth marks,鈥� he said.
You can find ways to celebrate Juneteenth in this month鈥檚 free Cultura Guide at .
