I don't know if it's because I'm Latina or something, but I have no problem speaking my mind.
I'm so proud to be a Latina. Growing up and being Latina and growing up with my father and getting to do a lot of the Hispanic traditions, I loved it.
I had dreams, but always told myself, 'Nah, that would never happen.' For a poor Latina, (acting) wasn't a reality.
I realized how Latina I was, and then also, at the same time, how not Latina enough I was, because I'm born and raised in Los Angeles. I speak Spanish, but I don't speak perfect Spanish, not like a native speaker.
The difficulty of being Afro-Latina, in general, is the lack of acceptance in both communities.
I have always been taught to be proud of being Latina, proud of being Mexican, and I was. I was probably more proud of being a "label" than of being a human being, that's the way most of us were taught.
I've been blessed because every single role I've done has been an educated person. I've never done the stereotypical Latina, even though I have an accent - I've always been able to play educated people. That's a good thing!
Sometimes, growing up, I tried to be very Latina; I would change my voice... experiment with my hair a lot, trying to figure out who I was in a primarily white school.
I grew up on the West Coast during the '80s. But I wasn't a 'valley girl,' since I grew up in Norwalk, which was filled with Latina girls.
For me, being an 'American Latina' means identifying with and being influenced by both my American upbringing and my Latin heritage, and I have so much appreciation for how those two cultures have created who I am.
My mom brought me up by herself, so I was a latchkey kid. I would walk myself back from school and spent a lot of time at home alone, watching TV. There weren't a lot of Latinas - or any women of color. And the ones I saw were usually presented as stereotypes or treated like jokes.
