The Real Black Mérida Experience After 7 Years Living Here
Updated: 3 days ago
When my family and I moved to Mérida in 2019, there was already a Black expat community here. But it was small. You could meet somebody at an event, run into them again somewhere else, and pretty quickly start recognizing many of the same people. Seven years later, that’s not Black Mérida anymore. The community has grown. More Black families have arrived. More retirees. More singles. More remote workers. More people have started businesses, created groups, organized events, and built their own circles. And that growth has changed the Black experience in Mérida. So if you’re searching for Black Mérida, trying to find the Black expat community in Mérida, or wondering what it’s actually like living here as a Black American, there’s something important to understand: There is no single Black Mérida experience. There isn’t one neighborhood where all the Black people live. There isn’t one organization that represents everybody. There isn’t one event everybody attends. And there isn’t one version of the community that you’re going to experience simply because you’re Black and you move here. That’s actually one of the biggest changes I’ve watched happen since 2019.
Black Mérida Has Changed Since 2019
When we first arrived, the Black expat community felt much smaller and more interconnected simply because there weren’t nearly as many of us. As more people discovered Mérida, that changed. Today, there are enough Black people living here that different communities can exist at the same time. People build friendships around their children. Others connect through restaurants, social events, meetups, fitness, church, business, nightlife, or simply people they’ve met after living here for years. There are organized events. There are informal gatherings. There are people who are heavily involved in the expat community. And there are Black people living perfectly normal lives in Mérida who rarely participate in anything labeled an “expat event.” All of those people are part of Black Mérida. That’s why I think it’s important to distinguish between the Black community in Mérida and the organizations, groups, businesses, and events that have grown within it. Those organizations and events have created more ways for people to find one another, particularly newcomers. They’re part of the evolution of Black Mérida. But they’re part of the community—not the definition of the community.
Where Do Black Expats Live in Mérida?
This is one of the misconceptions I see from people researching Mérida. There is no Black neighborhood. Just as there isn’t one area where every American or Canadian in Mérida lives, there isn’t one part of the city where all the Black expats live. You’ll find Black residents in different parts of Mérida based on the same things that influence everybody else’s housing decisions: Budget. Schools. Transportation. Lifestyle. Walkability. Proximity to friends. The kind of house they want. And where they happen to find a property that works for them. Some people want to live in Centro. Others prefer the northern part of Mérida. Families may prioritize something completely different from a single retiree or remote worker. So I wouldn’t choose where to live in Mérida based on trying to find “the Black area.” It doesn’t exist. Choose the part of Mérida that works for the life you’re actually trying to build.
Finding Black Community in Mérida
Finding other Black people in Mérida today isn’t particularly difficult. Finding your people can take a little longer. Those are two different things. There are Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups, organized events, family activities, dinners, parties, meetups, and other ways people connect. One of the longest-running examples is the weekly Saturday walk at Parque Alemán. It has been happening for years and has become a place where many newcomers make some of their first connections in the community. It’s also a gathering place for many of the seniors who come to Mérida and are able to participate in the walk. The Thursday sunset play dates have also become part of the community over the past two years, giving families another regular opportunity to meet, bring their children together and build relationships. These kinds of recurring activities have made it easier for newcomers to arrive and find opportunities to connect. And as the community has grown, there are simply more of those opportunities than there were when we first got here. But organized activities are one doorway into the community. Relationships also develop the same way they do anywhere else: one introduction leads to another, your kids become friends, somebody invites you somewhere, you meet their friends, and eventually you’ve created your own circle. Both experiences are Black Mérida.
A Community Can Be Bigger Than Its Most Visible Organizations
One of the interesting things about watching this community grow has been seeing infrastructure develop around it. Today there are businesses, organized events, social groups and people intentionally creating experiences for Black residents and visitors. I think that’s a very positive development. When we arrived in 2019, we didn’t have nearly as many of those options. Someone arriving today has more opportunities to meet people, find activities, connect their family with other families, support Black-owned businesses and begin building a community around themselves. That’s progress. And there is another part of the community that isn’t always as visible. There are community leaders doing work that isn’t centered around social events. One community leader organizes a Black history class for teens and has built an extensive personal library that he makes available to anyone in the community who wants to use it. My wife runs a youth group that’s open to all kids. The focus is on empowering young people through activities that develop skills like public speaking and entrepreneurship. And those aren’t isolated examples. Many people within our community work and serve alongside the local community here in Mérida. That’s an important part of this story too, because Black Mérida doesn’t exist in a bubble separate from the city we chose to call home. I think examples like these show another side of what has developed here. Black Mérida isn’t just parties, meetups, restaurants and social events. There are people investing their time, knowledge and resources into our kids, preserving our history, teaching practical skills, serving alongside our neighbors and contributing to the broader community around us. The people who have put in the work to create those businesses, groups, programs, resources and experiences deserve credit for helping build that infrastructure. But as the community has grown, I think an important distinction has become easier to miss: The organizations that serve a community and the community itself aren’t the same thing. That’s true of Black Mérida too. The most visible organizations and events naturally become what people discover when they search online. They’re organized. They have names. They promote events. They create content. That makes them easier for someone sitting in Atlanta, Houston or New York to find. Meanwhile, much of the actual community isn’t something you can Google. It’s families having dinner together. Kids growing up together. Friends helping each other. People celebrating birthdays. People starting businesses. People working, retiring, arriving, leaving and simply living their best lives. The organized community and the organic community aren’t in competition with each other. They’re both part of Black Mérida. And I think having both is evidence of how much this community has grown.
Black Families in Mérida
Families have been an important part of the Black community here for years. That’s something I’ve personally watched change and grow. When people research expat destinations, they often see content built around retirees, digital nomads, or single people. Moving abroad with children is different. Your questions become different. Where will they go to school? Will they make friends? What activities are available? Will there be other families who understand their experience? Can they actually build a life here rather than just visit? For Black families considering Mérida, knowing other Black families exist can absolutely matter. But I wouldn’t make the decision based on that alone. Community is one piece of a much bigger relocation decision. Schools, finances, immigration, housing, transportation, healthcare, employment, language, and what your family wants its everyday life to look like matter too. And there’s another part of this story that I don’t think any of us can answer yet. Many of us came here with children. Those kids are growing up in Mérida. They’re growing up around other kids whose families made the same decision to build a life outside the United States. They’re also growing up as part of the larger community here in Mérida. It will be interesting to see what happens as they become teenagers and young adults, build their own friendships and identities, and decide what their connection to this community looks like. That’s a chapter of Black Mérida that is still being written.
Visiting Black Mérida Is Different From Living Here
You can come to Mérida for a few days, attend activities, meet a bunch of Black people and leave with a great introduction to the community. But that’s still an introduction. Living here is different. Eventually there isn’t an event every day. You have groceries to buy. Bills to pay. Repairs to deal with. Kids to get somewhere. Work to finish. Traffic to sit in. Relationships to maintain. Spanish to learn. And a regular life to build. That’s when you find out whether you actually like living in Mérida rather than simply enjoying Mérida. The existence of a Black community can make that life richer. It can’t make the rest of your relocation work for you.
So What Is the Black Mérida Experience Really Like?
After almost seven years here, I think the answer is actually simpler than people make it. It’s whatever life you build here. You can be extremely involved in organized Black social activities. You can have a small circle of close Black friends. You can have Mexican friends, Black friends and friends from several different countries. You can raise children here. You can retire here. You can build a business here. You can become involved in the broader Mérida community. Or you can come here and discover Mérida isn’t for you at all. There are enough Black people living in Mérida today that no organization, event, Facebook group, business—or YouTube channel, including mine—can represent everybody’s experience. And I think that’s a sign of how much the community has matured. When a community is tiny, everybody gets grouped together. When it grows, people have choices. That’s where Black Mérida is today.
Thinking About Moving to Mérida?
Knowing that a Black community exists can answer an important question. It doesn’t answer the bigger one: Is Mérida actually right for you? That’s the question I think prospective expats should spend more time answering. I’ve lived through the process myself, watched Mérida change for nearly seven years, and now help people pressure-test their relocation plans before they make expensive decisions. MexitPlans’ Roadmap to Expat is designed to help you identify the gaps in your plan, understand what needs attention, and put your move in the right order. Because finding your community matters. But first, you need a relocation plan that actually works.
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