Ana María Belique (she/her) is a founding member and a leader of Reconoci.do, a movement that mobilizes and empowers Dominicans of Haitian descent, campaigns for equality and their citizenship rights, and supports those who need legal support to access their documents.
In 2013, the highest court in the Dominican Republic ruled that Dominicans born to foreign parents between 1929 and 2007 were to be retroactively stripped of their Dominican nationality. The majority of those affected by the judgment are Dominicans of Haitian descent who have long been affected by the Dominican Republic's denationalization policies. In response to the Dominican Republic’s refusal to issue her birth certificate—which she had sought in order to enroll at the university—in combination with the “collective reality of thousands of others, ” Ana María founded Reconoci.do. With partners, Reconoci.do has litigated and advocated before dozens of domestic and international bodies.
Eventually, Ana María was able to obtain her birth certificate and earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Her undergraduate thesis provided a historical analysis of the methods of resistance by Haitian sugarcane workers in the Dominican Republic. She has coordinated the publication of two books, Nos Cambió La Vida (Our Lives Changed) and Somos Quien Somos (We Are Who We Are), which document the stories of members of the Reconoci.do movement who have been denied Dominican citizenship.
Ana María also leads the Black Dolls initiative which seeks to empower black women from the bateyes, poor villages on sugar plantations with limited or no access to electricity and government services like schools and health centers, to highlight the values of Afro identity and to create economic opportunities.
