Mexican population is for the most part mestizo, or of mixed race. The official policy of the Mexican government has been to highlight the fact that this heritage is the result of the mixing of indigenous people and Europeans, beginning from the time of the Spanish Conquista and colonization of the land in the sixteenth century. But Mexico's "Third Root"—the heritage emerging from the African population brought to American territory—has yet to enjoy the same degree of attention.

The African Presence in Mexico is the largest and most comprehensive project of its kind ever presented. Organized and curated by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, formerly know as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Through artwork, video presentations, poetry, and more, it examines a missing chapter in Mexican history: the African contribution to Mexican culture over the past five hundred years. It also offers an unusual opportunity for African-Americans and Mexicans to celebrate a unique bond, the fact that the first free town of formerly enslaved people in the Americas was founded in Mexico (Veracruz). This has resulted in an ongoing cultural tie that has only strengthened with time. Divided into two segments, From Yanga to the Present and Who Are We Now?, this groundbreaking exhibition attempts to stimulate a better understanding of Mexican culture among Mexicans and non-Mexicans alike.

The exhibition looks at the social, cultural, and legal status of Afro-Mexicans in Mexico to investigate what it means to be Afro-Mexican. In Mexico, there is no definition of being "Black," as there is in the United States. Instead, skin tone rather than blood determines race. This Spanish ideology was illustrated in Colonial Mexico by casta paintings, which categorized Mexican society into sixteen different races. With Independence and Revolution, a new concept of race emerged: a collective idea of Mexicanidad, or "Mexican-ness."Until recently, Afro-Mexicans have emphasized mestizaje to the exclusion of their African ancestry.

Since their arrival in Mexico, the depiction and understanding of African descendants has been a process of documentation by non-Africans rather than a first-person portrayal by Afro-Mexican artists. Today, however, that is changing. The recognition of an Afro-Mexican culture is relatively new as Afro-Mexicans begin to gain a voice, first culturally and then politically. This is a very slow process, but as it becomes clear that not everyone is mestizo, a struggle for Afro-Mexican civil rights is evolving as well. The African Presence in Mexico presents a survey of the immense and rich history in this part of the world, examining a unique and dynamic cultural presence that has gone unnoticed for far too long.