Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

In 2009, Raquel Cepeda embarked on an exploration of her genealogy using ancestral DNA testing to uncover the truth about her family and the tapestry of races and ethnicities that came together in an ambiguous mix in her features, resulting in â€œa beautiful story of reconciliation and redemptionâ€ (Huffington Post) with her identity and what it means to be Latina.

Digging through memories long buried, Cepeda journeyed not only into her ancestry but also into her own history. Born in Harlem to Dominican parents, she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents in the ParaÃso (Paradise) district in Santo Domingo while still a baby. It proved to be an idyllic reprieve in her otherwise fraught childhood. ParaÃso came to mean family, home, belonging. When Cepeda returned to the US, she discovered her family constellation had changed. Her mother had a new, abusive boyfriend, who relocated the family to San Francisco. When that relationship fell apart, Cepeda found herself back in New York City with her father and European stepmother: attending tennis lessons and Catholic schools; fighting vicious battles with her father, who discouraged her from expressing the Dominican part of her hyphenated identity; and immersed in the â€™80s hip-hop culture of uptown Manhattan. It was in these streets, through the prism of hip-hop and the sometimes loving embrace of her community, that Cepeda constructed her own identity.

Years later, when Cepeda had become a successful journalist and documentary filmmaker, the strands of her DNA would take her further, across the globe and into history. Who were her ancestors? How did theyâ€”and sheâ€”become Latina? Her journey, as the most unforgettable ones often do, would lead her to places she hadnâ€™t expected to go. With a vibrant lyrical prose and fierce honesty, Cepeda parses concepts of race, identity, and ancestral DNA among Latinos by using her own Dominican-American story as one example, and in the process arrives at some sort of peace with her father.
Country USA
Brand Atria Books
Manufacturer Atria Books
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9781451635874
ReleaseDate 2014-02-04
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781451635874

Country	USA
Brand	Atria Books
Manufacturer	Atria Books
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9781451635874
ReleaseDate	2014-02-04
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781451635874

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

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