Tuesday, February 13, 2007

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR BORICUA MORENA

SALES OF BORICUA Morena: Memoirs of a Humboldt Park Girl are still going strong!

Book Description:

In school, I was an oddball of sorts. Puerto Rican girls stayed away from me because they thought I was Black; Black girls stayed away because I talked “funny.” If my sister and I spoke Spanish around Hispanic girls, they’d stare like we were aliens from outer space. ”Where are you from?” they’d ask in voices filled with distaste, never making any attempt to include us in their cliques.

—from Boricua Morena: Memoirs of a

Humboldt Park Girl

In this impressive first collection of essays, poems, and short stories, Xenia Ruíz documents a life rarely explored in the Latino literary Diaspora, that of the Afro-Latina. Growing up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community as a Puerto Rican girl who “looked Black,” Ruíz captures the misconceptions of what it means to be Latina. Boricua Morena is filled with memories of prejudice and pride, dreams and accomplishments, and family members as “dysfunctionally normal” as any other American family. From her first critically acclaimed essay, “Pelo Malo: Confessions of a Kinky-Haired Puerto Rican Sister,” to her searing anti-war, pro-motherhood poem, “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” to her poignant short stories of teenagers on the verge of self-discovery, Ruíz offers a fresh perspective of self-identity and self-love, and emerges as a true talent in the growing roster of first-generation, American Latina\o authors.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Monroe Elementary School

3651 West Schubert, Chicago

African American Read-A-Thon

(Incidentally, this is also my birthday!)

This is my second year going to Monroe. I had such a wonderful time last year and I’m honored that they’ve invited me back – even if it is my birthday.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Cecilia Colon Art Exhibit &

BOOK RELEASE PARTY!

@ La Bruquena Restaurant, 2726 West Division, Chicago

The Book Release Party is for Boricua Morena: Memoirs of a Humboldt Park Girl (yes, I know it’s six months late, but a lot of book launch parties happen after the fact.) For those of you who don’t know Cecilia Colon, she is an awesome artist in Chicago who grew in Humboldt Park. Her art is entitled “Habichuelas sin Arroz” (beans without rice), which describes her medium; she creates the most spectacular art with beans. I wrote about her art before (see my November 2005 entry on the blog).