While America will always, I think,...

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.

- Raquel Cepeda

Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

america foreign freedom freedom-of-choice freedom-of-thought home homeland identity labels new-york-city race racial-constructs racism self-awareness united-states

Other quotes by Raquel Cepeda

If it weren’t for her setting me free, I may still be a caged bird today, holding my own daughter captive on a shit-laden perch.

- Raquel Cepeda

For some, excavating the past isn’t an adventure, it’s more akin to tearing a Band-Aid off an open wound.

- Raquel Cepeda

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.

- Raquel Cepeda

More than anything, this place feels familiar. I bury my hands in the hot sand and think about the embodiment of memory or, more specifically, our natural ability to carry the past in our bodies and minds. Individually, every grain of sand brushing against my hands represents a story, an experience, and a block for me to build upon for the next generation. I quietly thank this ancestor of mine for surviving the trip so that I could one day return.

- Raquel Cepeda

I wish she’d said something different, but patriarchy is as prevalent around the world as racism and xenophobia are. We can’t hide from it, not even here.

- Raquel Cepeda

Globalization by the way of McDonald’s and KFC has captured the hearts, the minds, and from what I can see through the window, the growing bellies of the folks here.

- Raquel Cepeda

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