Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina Quotes

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The things that come to us easily, our propensities, are carried on a deep subconscious level into our next life. There are no coincidences.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

I think Dad wanted to feel the pain, to feel his body cry, an urgent reminder that he was still alive. I pretended not to notice.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

I fall in love with Paraíso. It’s like a giant playground where I’m never scolded for running around recklessly, where I’m almost overwhelmed with the amount of attention and love I receive from Mami’s family. In New York, I’m invisible.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Are Latino-Americans white? Black? Other? Illegal aliens from Mars? Or are we the very face of America?

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

The tension between people is palpable, and the ideal of what it means to be and look American becomes a preoccupation to folks around the country, including me.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

...being Latino means being from everywhere, and that is exactly what America is supposed to be about.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

While America will always, I think, feel foreign to me, New York City is my home. This is where I can construct my own identity freely and reject labels imposed on me.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Come to think of it, maybe God is a He after all, because only a cruel force would create something this beautiful and make it inaccessible to most people.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

If Aphrodite chills at home in Cyprus for most of the year, then Fez must be the goddess’s playground.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Paradise is a state of being, more than just the name of a suburb or a home.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Women destroy me. I allow them to.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Even the juncture in history and the zeitgeist we live in is something we choose, setting the scene for the spiritual fodder we need to grow and achieve deeper elevation of our souls.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

We aren’t encouraged to think for ourselves and ask questions. We are expected to accept what they teach us as infallible truths.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

This is what I know about my parents. They spent the next several years trying to forget each other, and me.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

You are meant to be, despite how you got here; you’ll see someday.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Hip-hop, this thing we love that loves us back, is our lingua franca.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Lately, Mami’s eyes have been so dark, I don’t like looking into them because I’m afraid I’ll fall in.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

Our identities are as fluid as our personal experiences are diverse.

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina