This summer, my mother in law passed away. Ours was a rocky road, she was tough, blunt and did not mince words. Of course you had to be one tough cookie if you were a nurse in the ER and the mother of five boys.
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All You Need Is Love
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010Welcome to KC Los Angeles
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Welcome to KC Los Angeles and my first post! The idea of creating a blog has been a daunting one for me.
Today, my husband accused me of not being good at sticking to a routine since I left the corporate world. I have to admit he’s kind of right. Do I have the discipline to post regularly? We shall see!
I created a blog once before as a homework assignment for a class I was taking. It focused on creative inspiration, combining my world as a creative director in movie advertising and my personal creative outlet that became KC Tees. It was short lived, maybe because it didn’t know what it wanted to be.
But for this blog, I am going to stick to my baby at hand which is all things Latino.
I grew up in Spanish Harlem with my sister, we’re eleven months apart so practically twins. Our mother was fiercely Puerto Rican and so young looking that everyone thought we were sisters. She loved that!
I HATED East Harlem back then. I hated it because I always felt like I did not fit in at all. We were born to Puerto Rican parents, but with fair skin, light eyes and light hair, my sister and I did not look Puerto Rican in the least.
To add to my identity crisis we did not speak Spanish or have a Spanish last name.
Needless to say we had to endure our share of being bullied in this predominantly black and hispanic neighborhood because we looked “White”.
To feel that kind of contempt and resentment growing up was definitely challenging, and I often wished my skin was darker, my hair was darker and that my parents had taught us Spanish.
Puerto Ricans come in all colors, didn’t they know that? We’re all in the same boat trying to survive. Couldn’t they see?
The flip side of all of this was to constantly witness racial profiling and police brutality to people of color. I could see and feel first hand what it was like from every angle.
As a result, I could not wait to move downtown. That was my mission, my mantra, my goal! Eventually I did get out of the hood and made my way out to Los Angeles.
KC Tees is a the result of my own personal journey, of trying to appreciate my culture and reclaim my roots.
I spent so much of my life trying to establish my own identity, but the truth is that no matter how far you go, or how far you come, its where you come FROM that defines the person you are today.
