Wordsmithing

The craft of redefining

Huascar Medina reading poetry at the Inaugural International Festival in Dodge City, Kansas, September 15th, 2019

A poet can spend a lifetime altering a single word's life, meaning, and symbolism. I find that to be an honorable pursuit. For me, there is still a use for the word Latinindad. I acknowledge, for some, understandably, Latinidad is synonymous with the erasure of our indigeneity and blackness. I have witnessed this firsthand in my own family. For others, it is a rebel yell against the rigid categories of identity imposed upon them. Latinidad, for me, is a lived experience. It is a complex cluster of emotions, memories, and visions. I have lived within the social construct of Latindad for over 40 years willingly and unwillingly. Canceling that word won’t change that.

I admit I have a lot to figure out. Will I always be in between spaces—struggling with diasporic longing and belonging? To know that I am both the colonizer and the colonized is to walk a tightrope tied to no edges.

My mother is from Volcán, a town in las Tierras Altas district of Chiriquí, Panama—our family is descendants of campesinos, part Spanish and Ngäbe. My father, born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, is the proud son of a jíbaro, yet we don't discuss our Afro-Latinidad.

I am ready for these candid conversations, and others. In particular, as it relates to diaspora, identity has offered me a sense of belonging, essential to my well-being and self-assurance. I acknowledge first-generation trauma is real, and unresolved trauma becomes intergenerational—we must heal. If we don’t, the chances of us hurting others increase.

How are you feeling? What do you remember? What’s next? Are you willing to share your thoughts and dreams with us? What is on your mind and in your heart? These are the intimate conversations I want to have. These are the conversations on Latinidad.us. I want to converse with artists, authors, public figures, community organizers, policymakers, academics, and your tío y tía. No story is small. Every word has weight. Intention creates dignity in discourse. So let’s talk to connect and build a community in words.