I am black.. The reason I say this is because half of my DNA is black from my mother’s side.
On the other hand, I am Latina because the other half of my DNA is Latino from my father’s side. In my artwork I chose to represent both of these sides by using symbols from both cultures through ceremonial masks to show their differences and slight similarities.
My father told me that when he was a teen, he had been chased by white men in a car while he was on foot. He had done nothing other than just walking down the street to pick up groceries because he was hungry. The men wanted to beat him up for no reason, just because of what he looks like.
My mother told me that when she was entering high-school the staff and students thought she was speaking a different language because of her accent. She was sent to the ESL classes because people doubted her for her ability to speak. They thought just because she was black she didn’t know what they were saying.
From my own experience people have questioned me for who I am. When I was in an after school program I was picked up by my father who doesn’t look like me since I take after my mother. One of the kids asked me if he was my dad while another asked if he was kidnaping me. I was taken aback because that had been the first time I had ever had someone question my family. That opened my eyes to how people will view me and my family just because we don’t all look alike.
I want people to see both sides of my heritage and to understand the parts of myself. I also want people to understand the violence, oppression and the prejudice that has happened to my parents and ancestors in their collective pasts.