DARRYL RICHARDSON: JUS SOLI

JUS SOLI is a multidisciplinary project exploring Afro-Mexican identity within the coastal communities of Costa Chica, Oaxaca. As a group, Afro-Mexicans are largely invisible. In Mexico there are currently 1.4 million people that identify as Afro-descendant. The coastal region of Costa Chica (southern part of Guerrero and northern part of Oaxaca) currently has the largest population of Afro-descendants in Mexico.

Mexico's constitution is the only one in Latin America that does not specifically mention citizens of African descent. In 2015, for the very first time, the Mexican government included its Afro-descendants in a national survey. The survey served as a preliminary count before the 2020 national census, where "black" debuted as an official category for the first time. Constitutional recognition will hopefully give Afro-descendants access to educational grants, medical services, and social security benefits.

Upon moving to Mexico in 2018 Richardson learned about the often unacknowledged historical presence of African descendants in Mexico. The project, Jus Soli which translates to; right of the soil, concentrates on the Afro-Mexican community living in Costa Chica (Oaxaca) leading up to the census of 2020. This specific census was of historical significance as it was the first one (after the interim census in 2015) to acknowledge those of Afro-Mexican descent on the forms. In Mexico, census data are used as input for the distribution of economic resources to states and municipalities. Therefore the 2020 census communicates a promise for implementation of policies that extend to the needs of those of Afro-Mexican descent.

Richardson captured ways in which the community of Costa Chica navigates the duality of their African descent within the Mexican socio-political context. In the first installment of the project he explores the duality between being both present (on a social level), though absent (on a political level). This juxtaposition nearly renders the subjects as invisible. Richardson plays with this idea of invisibility in his vignettes. He considers the discrepancy between those two states a fundamental part of Blackness

As Richardson learned more about the rites and customs of the community in Costa Chica, he saw parts of his own African-American heritage mirrored back. Through this epiphany, the portraits ultimately became self portraits. Providing a portal to reflect on the overarching notion of a universal Black experience. To Richardson this is the core principle of the project and a point of departure for central dialogue.