(Image: Ghislaine Leon/FearlessLeon.com)
What role does your site play in telling your story, and telling the story of millennial Latinas?
I think the main thing that my site does is bring balance to my life ‘cause not only do I put out content that I wouldn’t get from other sites, but I also take the time to write things that I wouldn’t talk about at work. It’s therapy for myself and I also think it’s therapy for other people as well.
The other role that it plays is it reminds me as a first-generation Latina, first-generation college graduate in my family, first-generation everything, as the eldest and the first to do it all, it reminds me I’ve been fearless since the start. I’ve followed my own heart; I’ve done things that my family has never done. That in itself is a huge accomplishment. Having my site, Fearlessleon, just reminds me that I have to keep going. I have to keep creating that path for either the younger women/men in my family to follow, or just for other first-generation people because there are so many of us out there that are the first in their family.
You identify as Afro-Latina and nationally as Dominican. What does that identity mean for you?
The main thing that being an Afro-Latina means to me is breaking all those mental barriers that have been passed on from generation to generation among all Latinos. For too long we’ve been taught to hate our darker-skinned Latinos, so the main thing that being an Afro-Latina means to me is educating myself and educating people that I come across to not look at Black Latinos as any less. Being able to embrace our rich history; being able to embrace, understand, and continue to push Afro-Latino music whether it’s bomba, whether it’s plena, whether it’s palo, whether it’s Yoruba. It’s not forgetting those things.
Being an Afro-Latina to me means respecting our ancestors; it means honoring our ancestors. It means teaching other people like ‘Yo, I’m the same color as you, I may not speak the same language as you, but we come from the same place.’
Who inspires you?
Celia Cruz. There was something that was so amazing about Celia. Celia was a woman that was like ‘I’m Black, I’m proud and, by the way, I speak Spanish.’ Her confidence was something to really admire.
You can follow Ghislaine on Twitter at @FearlessLeon. Check back next week for our next “Everyday Chica” profile. If you’d like to nominate an Afro-Latina to be featured in this section, email aintilatina@gmail.com or contact us on Twitter or Facebook
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