About Bobby

My Journey into Afro-Mexican Studies

My journey as an anthropologist began with a fascination sparked in 1991 during a study-abroad experience in Mexico City. I encountered references to Black Mexicans in old library books, igniting a curiosity that became the foundation of my life’s research.

Raised in South San Francisco, California, and later trained in cultural anthropology at Stanford University, I’ve spent decades traveling, researching, writing, and photographing Afro-Mexican communities, especially in Guerrero and Oaxaca’s Costa Chica.

Much of my research addresses the complexity of race and mestizaje, exploring how Afro-Mexicans understand their own Blackness, and how these identities shift between rural Mexican villages and U.S. cities.

When not teaching and writing, I’m an avid motorcyclist, salsa music enthusiast, 49ers fan, and father of two. Today, as a professor of Anthropology at Notre Dame de Namur University, I continue to encourage students to challenge assumptions about race and identity, much as my experiences in Mexico taught me to do.