'Not having a father there to teach me the amazing things about being Latina, specifically Puerto Rican, caused a rift between me, my community and my heritage.'
As a mixed-race
My parents divorced when I was 4. When my father moved out, I went from seeing him every day to maybe seeing him once a month to almost never seeing him. Once I turned 12, he completely left my life. Being in a borough with a densely populated Latinx community, my identity was constantly questioned when I couldn’t speak Spanish. Speaking Spanish is essential to communicate with the older Latinx generation or with folks who immigrated directly from Latin America. It was always, “How are you Latino but you don’t speak Spanish?” or “It’s a shame to the Latino community that you don’t speak Spanish.
Then one day, in 2018, a woman with the same last name as me messaged me on Facebook. When I clicked on the message, I saw the words “I’m your sister” in Spanish. I knew I had a sister in Puerto Rico, and even had a picture of her when we were younger. Unfortunately, due to my father’s absence, we didn’t stay connected.After many exchanged messages, I eventually saved up enough money to visit her. In 2019, I landed in the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I also started reading more books on the history of Puerto Rico, attending the Puerto Rican Day parade in NYC, and found community with other Puerto Ricans. I learned so much about myself, my history and my ancestry in a short amount of time.
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