With a PhD in Philosophy of Science, a master’s degree in Feminist Theory, and a degree in History, Esther (Mayoko) Ortega is a researcher, teacher, and activist specialising in American Anthropology. She teaches in several university postgraduate and master’s degree courses, most recently at the University of Vic. Notable among her publications are “Reflexiones desde la Negritud y el lesbianismo” (Reflections from Negritude and Lesbianism), a foundational article in intersectional studies on race and sexuality in Spain, which appears in El eje del mal es heterosexual: Figuraciones, movimientos y prácticas feministas queer (Traficantes de Sueños, 2005). Moreover, in the book Céspedes y la colonialidad del archivo: historias de Negritud y fuga en la modernidad española peninsular (Céspedes and the Coloniality of the Archive: Stories of Negritude and Flight in Spanish Peninsular Modernity, Open Library of Humanities, 2021) she establishes the bases for Afrocentric thinking about the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality. Moreover, she wrote the Prologue for Contra el feminismo blanco (Continta Me Tienes, 2022; in English Against White Feminism) by Rafia Zakaria, and also for La invención de las mujeres (Virus Editorial, 2023; in English, Invention of Women) by Oyèrónké Oyewùmí.

Ortega works to stimulate Afrocentric and Afrofeminist thought at Conciencia Afro, a space that aims to promote visibility and cultural empowerment of the African community in Spain. She is also involved with La Casita Ediciones, an Afrofeminist project that seeks to make critical interventions in publishing and cultural policies.