In many ways, Mexico is behind the U.S. and other parts of the world when it comes to racial justice. In fact, this year marks the first time ever that Black people in Mexico could identify as Afro-Mexican on the census. Finally, Mexico's Black population will be officially counted.
It's progress, but for many activists in Mexico, it's not nearly enough. Groups of people across the country are working hard to push discussions about race and racism to the forefront. Inspired by this year's large wave of protests for racial justice that are sweeping across the U.S. and other parts of the world, activists in Mexico have begun the work of confronting racism and police brutality in their own communities.
In Tijuana, the Black Lives Matter movement is taking root. And in a new episode of the KPBS podcast "Port of Entry," host Alan Lilienthal profiles some of the people behind the Black Lives Matter movement at the border. Many of those powering the movement are Black migrants who've been stuck at the border, unable to access the U.S. asylum system that's been nearly shut down by the Trump administration.
"Port of Entry" was formerly known as "Only Here." The change was driven, in part, by the podcast team's participation in a public media podcast accelerator program with PRX, a national creator and distributor of public media podcasts and other content.
The team honed their production skills, while also doing a deep dive into getting to know the podcast's audience of border people. The name "Port of Entry" makes it clearer that this is a show by border people, for border people. In every episode, the podcast will reflect what life is really like at the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere, introducing listeners to the people who are part of the cross-border community.
