We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Roman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.

Crystal, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Recently I have worked on my most meaningful project my stage play “Of Mothers and Men”. This production deals with issues women of any color/race can relate to through the lens of Black and Brown artist. The production goes on a journey of 9 women diving into stories from motherhood, childbirth, abuse, mental health and much more. The production is created under the umbrella of my company Black Latina Movement that provides a space for representation of Black, Latino, African, Black/Afro Latinos in front and behind the stage/camera.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For the past 20 years I have been writing. It started out as a hobby but grew into a passion. Storytelling and creating characters that resonated with people that do not often get to see their stories or themselves was my biggest objective. That’s what always drew me to writing because I wanted to contribute by providing storylines and experiences so many people want to see and can relate to but often do not.

After creating The Black Latina Movement in 2008 I knew it was time for the world to see us for who we are and not the box they put us in. With all the social and economic issues, we are facing in the world I know that time is here. I want to help broaden the spectrum of hues the industry has. Providing further depth, it so desperately needs. Women have so many complexities and we constantly see a bland singular version of who we are. Through the medium of the arts, now more than ever we need to showcase the diversity of women and our multiplicities especially those for women of color.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As a Black Latina my perspective may be unique but shares so many commonalities with many women of multicultural backgrounds. In Of Mothers and Men each character’s age, background, and experience plays a crucial part in their perception of what they are currently facing.

As a storyteller it’s my duty to provide audiences with relief or source of understanding. That is what has always gravitated me to storytelling, the ability to create characters that draw you in and make you forget about or, at times, address the chaos of the world around them for that window of time.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Through the pandemic we were able to pivot and broaden out digital media programming which we still provide today. We were very in person events/shows driven with some online presence. Bue making that pivot allowed and continues to allow us to reach a wider audience then our in-person NYC shows/events. One of the programs we have continued to offer is called “Black Latina Summit” which are an online bimonthly programming held virtually to discuss pressing matters in our communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blacklatinamovement.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blacklatinamovement/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/BlackLatinaMovement/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackLatinaMvMt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BlackLatinaMVMT

Image Credits

H BILLI MEDIA LLC