Collective Mesa Afro

Guest 25/26

The Collective Mesa Afro is a collective of young black and indigenous trans inclusive and of dissident bodies from Colombia that fights for more visibility ans space of racialised minorities in ballroom and in art institutions.

La Mesa Afro de Cali was born in 2023 as a response to the need to denounce the racist acts that began to emerge within the ballroom scene in Cali, Colombia. Since then, we have taken a stance of support, leadership, and celebration for the Black people who are part of this community. La Mesa is formed by black members from different houses in Cali, such as the Kiki House of Fire Fénix and the Ubuntu Kiki House of Brown, as well as 007 sisters. Here, we leave aside the individualism of the houses to come together as one collective.

We act as a group bringing Ballroom to the racialized peripheries of the city, organizing educational spaces and workshops not only about the different ballroom categories, but also about racism, transphobia, misogyny, and other forms of oppression that affect us all. Through this, we seek to educate ourselves, learn, and build a better scene, one that ultimately comes together in the kikis we organize that uplift the beauty of black and trans people who has been historically erased in our city and country.

For us, ballroom is a bridge to remember and honor our afrolatino transcestrality; a way to speak our truth as black, trans, queer, barrial mariquitas.