This collection addresses how a Latina sees herself from the view of the world and also an internal view of how she sees herself. In “Stereotypes” she reflects on what she sees in the media about the Latino community and how they are seen through that lens. What she expresses is the idea that if the only things we “know” are what we see on television and read in social media that we are living in the world of blind faith; that we should try to learn from our own experiences rather than believing someone else’s. In “Sunday Dinner” we see her family from her eyes waking up to the Sunday ritual of family cooking and eating together. It is a generational experience that is emotional and beautiful in her storytelling. Lastly in “Brown Is Better” she stands before us and bares it all, she is amazing in any and all ways. She sees herself and her brown as the most amazing color ever. This collection creates a balance of the good, bad and beautiful of what it means to be a Latina.
What Latina Means: Stereotypes, Sunday Dinner, Brow
I feel like people feel some kind of way about me
About the accent that I rock with
The music I roll to
The grocery store that I spend my money at
“How dare they have a store just for them.”
I used to sit back and laugh at all of the ridiculous things
Comments on social media
Side remarks in the hallways of my school
My city
My life.
It was a slow evolution from ridiculous comments just shake it off
To comments that were making headlines
News articles
News stations
Investigations
Journal topics at my school, “As a member of the Latino community how do you feel about…”
A change happened
A shift in the ground that I always felt would stand strong under me
I felt it slipping
Sliding
I couldn’t get my balance
Equilibrium
Thrown to the ground
It wasn’t an earthquake though it felt like life as I knew it was changing and
It was bulldozing through my world so fast I couldn’t keep up.