Leaning In Latina Style: Stepping Out
and Rising Up
Part 5: The Latina Mosaic
As Latinas
living in the United States we defy categorizing, we defy stereotypes, we defy
being pegged. Alisa Lynn Valdes has a great TED talk that speaks to this. We
are tall, we are blond, we are rubias, we have straight hair and curly hair and
we are short, we are thin, and we are fat.
We come in every shade of brown-beige-eggshell-off white and sand that Crayola
can think of. We, however, are not black or white, no humans are…and we do not
fit a cookie cutter mold.
Some of us
speak Spanish, some of us don’t. Some of us are bilingual, others tri-lingual
and still others, monolingual…and some of us can speak up to 6, 7, or 8
different languages. Some of us were born here, others there, some of us came
legally, others not, some of us embrace our diversity, others don’t. AND we are
ALL Latinas!!!
We defy
categorizing by any inauthentic measure that corporate America can come up
with. However, we are Latinas, we are Authentic, we are know who we are and we
glory in our Latinidad, however we wish to define it.
Being Latina
is not a “thing” that is bestowed upon us by corporate America for a census
game, it is a feeling, a spirit, a way of knowing and being in the world. It is
the essence of who we are and how we feel. And we may not be able to define it
for a governmental group that wants us in a box, but we can feel it and we know
when we are meeting a fellow Latina…a
comadre, a madrina, una amiga espiritual.
We are magnificent
beings, we are a force to be contended with, we are the NEW WOMAN and we are
AWESOME in our DIVINITY!!!
No Sheryl,
we do not always fit into corporate America, but you know what? You will find
us there as well, because for some of us, that is the path we have taken and it
makes us REAL and keeps us AUTHENTIC, and that is OK, because we love and
embrace all, no matter where you were born, how you look, what language you
speak, or the color of your skin. Any honorary Latinas out there?
Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos adelante
Zulmara Maria
Bravo!
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