Aug 27 - Judith Ortiz Cofer says, “The Island travels with you.” What part of your culture, family, or identity do you feel “travels” with you everywhere you go?


Response: As someone who is also from Puerto Rico, I understand what Cofer is saying that the Island "travels" with you wherever you go. Everywhere I go, people will still look at me the same way based on how I look. Not just my skin color, but also by what I wear and how I carry myself. No matter how much I feel like my identity has changed, I will still be the same person no matter what. The best example I can give is when I moved schools to Lakeside, I found that most of the friends that I was making were asking the same kind of questions as the people at my old school were. They would ask why I talked to so "white" and why my interests were so different from where I was from. They would call me "whitewashed" or say that my parents failed to raise me by not teaching me Spanish from a young age. They all had good intentions to make me laugh, but there was still some truth behind it. I will never be able to escape the stereotypes people make about me because of how I look, but I don't think anyone will. The best thing we can all do is just embrace who we are to the fullest.

Summary: Today, we read a short story called "I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" and listed the stereotypes the author faced in the story.

Reflection: Everyone experiences some sort of stereotyping in their life. Looking at this story of this woman being stereotyped all her life and the things she has lived through, it makes you really think about how people treat Latin American women in our society, whether you can relate to it or have an understanding of it.

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