Afro Dominican women in NYC
“I don’t have to tell you that I’m black. I expect you to know it. When my father taught me about Caribbean countries, he told me that these Europeans took over Our lands. That’s why we all speak different languages. I expect people to understand that just because we’re not African American, we are still black. It’s still in our culture. Just like everybody else, we came over here the same fucking way. I hate when people try to take my roots from me. Because we know that there’s African roots inside of us” Cardi B in an interview with CR Fashion Book (2018) This essay is created for the future generations of American Dominican women or non Dominican. Here I will bring examples like Cardi B a popular rap singer, Amara La Negra singer as well, Dasha Polanco and actress in America media, a very famous Dominican American writer Julia Alvarez y also Angie Cruz a writer is well. Who are examples of Dominican women who have follow their dreams. In this paper also you can find entrepreneurs in hair as the famous Dominican salons. In the beginning of this essay identity will be questioned and race also will be part of the narrative and I will explain how race, identity and culture are tied together to give birth to the consciousness of what is to be a Dominican women, American Dominican women or Afro Dominican women, at the end of this essay, if you are Dominican women, I want you to understand that you are a powerful women, all of us, No matter our ethnicity, This essay is for us. Cardi B is a clear example of what is to feel African ancestry in her roots and her embodiment of her blackness in her Dominican black body. What it makes you be an African descent and also be Latino. What construct the identity of these Afro Dominican women in NYC? Afro Latinos representation has been see in the recently years because the popularity of the music and we see more books and college classes about the presence of Afro Latinos. The Dominican Republic is a country with a humongous African influence. In the book, The Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez, We can read about the history of Dominican immigration, we can pictured an idea of how Dominicans appeared in New York. A huge immigration between 1961 and 1986 more than 400, 000 people immigrated legally to the United States. In 1990 more than 300 000 Dominicans lived in New York City, and the total expected to reach 1 700 000 now, making Dominican immigration one of the largest to America in the past forty years. “Dominicans went largely unnoticed at first, New Yorkers tended to mistake them for blacks who happened to speak Spanish” ( Juan Gonzalez pg. 300). As we see the color of skin in the Dominicans have helped to adjust to the American life. In New York City, actress Dascha Polanco declared: “I consider myself an Afro Latina, also she considered herself as a black woman. As we see, another example of a Dominican woman who claim to be a black woman to her feelings is all about color of skin. It is what you see, as afro Latinos are part of these African Diaspora, these two women are part of the Afro Dominican heritage, for Cardi B her roots are part of history that became her own, for Polanco is about what you see, these two Afro Dominican have something in common her history of being part of the African Diaspora and the color of skin that show their identity as black woman. Being Afro Dominican woman is a product of a duality where color and feel of being Dominican is mixed in an environment where experiences lived, will be the outcome of this identity. As Cardi B mentioned her Afro Dominican history dictates her own history by living in a country, and being part of a community is a way to claim identity. The culture of feeling Afro Latino comes from the fact that Dominicans were rapidly accepted in the American culture because they came to here legally and the look black as if the darker the skin was more the sense of assimilation to the Gringo culture. Ser una mujer Latina Dominicana y negra tiene mucha aceptabilidad en America, por eso vemos actrices Dasha Polanco es muy orgullosa de sus raíces y Cardi B la acompaña en este sentimiento. The quotes belong are the opinions of some Afro Dominican women, that I have encountered in a Dominican hair salon, where mostly Dominican American and Dominican women go to feel their culture alive. As they all meet and share experiences. "Being Afro-Latina in the Dominican Republic means being full of African Ancestry. I pay homage to African ancestry for my deeply melanated skin and the curl pattern on my head. I am a melting pot possessing blood derived from Españoles, Taínos, and Africans" (Ana 23 years old) "Being Afro-Latina is such a pleasure because I have two worlds. My experience being Dominican is great because we have one of the best cultures in the world. The food, the clothing, the dancing, our religious views and family traditions make us stand out so much in the world" (Desire 25 years old) We can see that perspective of not famous people that also are proud of their Dominican heritage. The Dominican culture has also do with this perception of identity that these opinions above have also have similarities with Cardi B and Dasha Polanco. In the book “Bird of Paradise, How I became Latina” by Raquel Cepeda, she explains that she has always intrigued by the concept of race. “The exploration of how we choose to identify ourselves is something else that compelled me to set up upon this journey. Our identities are fluid as our personal experience are diverse. How did I arrived at my owned is one 50.5 million possibilities. While Latino Americans share enough cultural traditions to relate to each another what not we are also crazy different. One size does not fit all. I grew up in a household where I was discouraged from celebrating, much less expressing” ( Raquel Cepeda pg.24) This is another opinion of a Latina who relates her race to her identity, but in her case she finds an outlet to look for that identity, at the end identity depends of our experiences, and how our family raised us. In the case of Cardi b and Dasha Polanco, they both grew up in a house were being Dominican was proudness, also we see that in the case of the Dominican American girls who I interviewed. But in the case of Raquel Cepeda her Dominican side was absent of her life because her father was not happy with his heritage, therefore he will not allow his children to grow up Dominicans. As if our parents will half determinate our knowledge of identity. Immigration shapes the identity of people could be seem as a tool to understand identity and how that gets to play from our particular culture. In the case of the Dominicans 400 000 of them moved to NYC legally to form colonies of people in New York as if growing up with people who looks like you enhance the sense of identity in the Dominican specially in women. “What does my nationality imply about my race?” I can only think of the love that Dominicans pass to the future new American Dominican generations in a country in which the color of skin will position them in a bubble as blacks ,however their love for their country will manifest their Dominican identity. Am I an Afro Latina” that make me black? Is blackness reserved only for African Americans? I heard this constantly why Blackness is reserved only for African Americans can be because America imperialist history always has the protagonist in books, why the history of other slaves among Latin America is not taking in account. Why simplifying blackness to only America, when history tell us that the slave trade was all over America and Center America and South America plus the Caribbean. How the history of these slaves’ decendents is forgotten to only give protagonist to slaves who were here in America. How is that the protagonist of being black has only given to Afro Americans? this idea can be look from a historical point and from the fact the civil rights movement were a revolution here however in my opinion that fact that Dominicans were accepted because they were mistaken for black people, make the gained the rights that the Afro American movement from the 60’s was fighting about equality for all therefore, I disagree that African Americans have the only right. As I see they worked hard therefore all Africans decendents will have a chance in America. Can we also think that Afro Dominican women have assimilated deeply to the American culture, as the case of Cardi B who everyone forgets she is Latina, but since her color of skin have a similarities with Afro Americans, she herself is African American too. Using race she gets accepted in to the American culture. In the narrative of these Afro Dominican Women, we can use hear constantly about the color of skin as darker you are perhaps more similar to Afro Americans, however what about the case of Amara la negra, who was raised in Miami, a daughter of an immigrant single mother which also sings in Spanish too, which is her narrative? She is darker than the other artist I have mentioned. That is why she had a hard time making people believe she was Latina, in this case she was too dark to be a Latina, in an interview we listen early this semester. We heard Amara La negra, trying to explain to music producers that she was Latina but no one took her from that connotation, because she was darker. Therefore we see two different narratives the Afro Dominican women those who are light black and the other ones who are even darker. "To be Dominican is to be every woman. I come from plantains, rice and oxtails and yucca and corn and even though I don’t want to, I also come from fincas and a white slave owner whose last name was Ramirez. What a beautiful disaster created in the name of money and lust by a man whose last name was Columbus. Entitled white men doing what they do best, placing ownership on lands" This poem is trying to makes us feel what is means to be a Dominican woman, what it means being part of the Caribbean flow and the happy vibe, where the sun is smiling always. perhaps the earth give them this flavors to be aware, perhaps history determinates how they feel about themselves or perhaps the original colonizer Columbus being remember in the lives of each Dominican women. Or perhaps can be something different that describe what is to be a Dominican woman in the book “Let it rain Coffee” by Angie Cruz bring us the story of an immigrant family looking for an opportunity therefore moved to NYC. In the quote “Talk all you want Esperanza mumble under her breath, angry. I was so naïve Esperanza though back to her young self who had yet learn that once the stomach was empty love went out the window. And her stomach was empty, unlike her neighbors back home who went spent afternoons in their patios waiting for the electricity to come back on, embellishing stories about absent neighbors, with air smelling of, sweat, rum, and Frankincense, Esperanza had her eyes on more glamorous things , like champagne glasses, and low- cut dresses, weekly visits to the salon, and using the words like buying, selling, profit, inheritance. She knew that rich only made the rich richer and the poor were doomed by association. You have to take chances in life, if you want to make anything of it( Angie Cruz pg. 17) This passage of the book bring us a new perspective in which a Dominican woman is ambitious. She wants a better life and to be around rich people. She knows that she cannot live of love. How is that this narrative come to play? This book was giving us the perspective of an immigrant woman who lived in Dominican Republic, but wanted more therefore she moved to America. Can values be affected by social economic problems as we see in this book Esperanza wanted more from life? That is why she forgot love and only want luxury. Can we say that Dominican women are ambitious, well Cardi B was a stripper but she wanted a better life, therefore she wish to be a singer and she made it. One things these stories have in common is search for an opportunity to take a risk. Knocking doors like how Amara la Negra did when she was trying to be a singer, Dasha Polanco knocked plenty doors before she became famous too. Keep sigue pa arriba. Another example of Dominica woman, who is not Afro decedent but has this Echa Palante way of seeing life is Julia Alvarez a prominent writer who born in NYC in 1950, and moved to Dominican Republic until she was ten years old. Julia mentions that how she become a writer it was when she moved back to America, she was coming from a culture I which everything was communicating in an oral way. Reading a book in solitude was see as stranger. Learning English was her challenge, she took that skill she has and become a writer. Can we say that Dominican woman is that one who follows her passion? My only answer will be yes. The Dominican heritage is alive in the hearts of these women who are trying to follow their dreams through education or through arts and music. What about the Hermanas Mirabal which also a story that resembles courage if you grew up in a Dominican household, you probably heard about them. These three sister were murder during the dictatorship of President Trujillo. The sisters were against Trujillo regimen and he was in love of Minerva that moment he meet her in a party. She refused his insinuations, since for her Trujillo was a horrible human being. Mysteriously the sisters were killed. However these sister became heroines in Dominican Republic. In the prior lines I mentioned the big number of Dominican who immigrated legally to America escaping this monster, Trujillo therefore if you heard stories of people leaving their country to look for something better. In opinion these future generations will be stronger and proud ready to take the change. Let’s take a look in a Dominica hair salon, entrepreneurs in foreign country, plus Dominican women know about hair. In these beauty parlors we can find all kind of Dominican women, those who moved here, or those who born here, whichever is the case they all found a connection through Spanish, music and fiesta. In these places we can do research where we can see a Dominican American women in their whole splendor. If you want to see how the subject our study behaves. We only need to spend couple hours there, to feel the Dominican vibe, here an example “When Chabelly Pacheco – a Dominican-American who moved to Long Island when she was five years old – walks into her favorite Dominican salon on Brooklyn’s Graham Avenue, it’s more like entering a home than a business. (We can see how business for Dominican women is about make you feel at home as a result Spanish is there, calling you tongue) The salon is filled with smoke, hair spray and women of all ages. Everyone in the room greets her: The hairdressers kiss her on both cheeks, while the other customers say hello. Daughters sit alongside their mothers with curlers in their hair, feet dangling from their chairs. (Touching is a fundamental part of life in the lives of Dominican women, el besito con las amigas, el abrazo para sentirte en familia) For first-generation Dominican women like Pacheco, these salons can serve as a place to bond with fellow Dominicans. (These beauty parlors are a tool to connect with identity with someone who is like you, someone who speaks Spanish) “I don’t really feel connected to my culture,” said Yoeli Collado, a friend of Pacheco’s who moved to Long Island from the Dominican Republic when she was three years old. “When I speak Spanish, I feel powerful… But other than that I don’t have much I can connect to. So going to a Dominican salon is part of my culture. For me, it’s one of the only ways I can identify.” (As we see these beauty salon have meaning just your hair, also makes you keep up with your identity as Dominican woman, who find here a warm welcome with a feeling and a home welcoming) It is all about make you feel as if you were in Dominican Republic but in NYC. The people bring their culture everywhere they go and also open business with that deep meaning after all that is why these Dominican women go there because they feel understand and welcoming in their native language or the language their mother speaks. This is the narrative of many of Dominican Hair salons, I have being in plenty salons in NYC and they all have the same story. When you enter everyone speaks Spanish and warm Caribbean energy feels deep inside your soul nothing to do with the white people’s hair salon. Here is a cafecito waiting for you the rollos will be part of the first part of the glamour. After that la fiesta no para everyone happy wanting to make you look as if you were a star. All the women are sexy and happy proud of speaking Spanish then I think about the author that we read in class, Gloria Anzaldua and her essay “Speaking Tongues” where she mentions this wonderful poem by Cherrie Moraga. No I lack language. The language to clarify, my resistance to the literate. Words are war to me. They threaten my family. To gain the word to describe the loss. I risk losing everything. I may create a monster. The words length and body, swelling up colorful and thrilling looming over my mother, characterized, her voice in the distance unintelligible illiterate. These are my monster words. Why did I think of this beautiful poem because everything I hear or read about how powerful our Spanish language is I feel it in my soul as these Dominican women feel the same. Gloria Anzaldua claims in this essay that we women of color are part of an idiosyncrasy we did not choose. We are a product of the politics of our country which will dictate if we emigrate or stay, however Dominican women like the poem says are ready to change to keep chasing their dreams. In the research paper from the Sociology Department of Smith University, “Hair Race-ing: Dominican Beauty Culture and identity Production” by Ginnetta E.B. Candelario. Where she explains the importance of the hair which will determinate your skin color, therefore although these hair salons are tool to keep identity also are a way to be classify into a skin color. As see the less curly you hair is the more white you are. A principal aspect of the Dominican hair culture between pelo malo (bad hair) y pelo Bueno (good hair) as the same is religion between the angel and the diablo, the bad hair is coarse and kinky and the good hair is soft and silky. Therefore when a Dominican woman enter this beauty parlors automatically gets categorized . For Dominican women hair is” the principal bodily signifier of race “as a result will determinate your origins. “I hear my mom say it all the time,” Pacheco (Dominican-American woman) said. “The hair carries the woman’ – that’s the mantra in my family. If your hair is fine, you’re fine.” At the end is all about the hair? The Sociologist Ginetta Candelario has found that Dominican women goes to salons far more consistently than any other women in the U.S., spending up to 30 percent of their salaries on beauty treatments. The answer is yes for Dominican women is all about the hair. However, can beauty be a source of empowerment, even if it means using time for, suppressed one’s blackness? Can that be possible through having the straight hair look or can be that a process of assimilation. I think that many opinions can be given here however at the end the individual should do use of his free will. After writing this project about Afro Dominican women, I can say that all Dominican women come in different shapes and color, all of them are ambitious since they are daughters of immigrants. Who moved here looking for a better lives, those dreams are chasing constantly for generation to generation, to keep this empowerment going and flowing. You can be anything a singer, an actress, a writer, an owner of a hair salon anything you want.. It is in the DNA of the Dominican women to be powerful to be shinning to be a star. Think of all the examples I have given here in this paper from the Cardi B to Amara la negra to Julia Alvarez a prominent writer or the examples of beauty parlors, where you can always find a welcoming vibe. These examples are here to understand the humongous ways to see a Afro Dominican Women or A Dominican Women but the most important part is these women ancestors came from Dominican Republic for a chance they took the risk. Dominican women are ready to take a risk any time and starting something new is not new to them. Getting out of a difficult situation as it was with the Dictator Trujillo was the starting point of these immigration to American in which many women with big dreams came to have daughters who will follow those steps. Bibliography
Cruz, A. (2006). Let it rain coffee. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Black Behind The Ears: Dominican Racial Identity From Museums To Beauty Shopsby Ginetta E.B. Candelario". Vol 52, no. 3, 2008, pp. 83-85. Wiley, doi:10.1111/j.1557-203x.2008.00027_4.x. Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest Of Empire. Penguin, 2011. Rodriguez y Gibson, Eliza, and Ellie D Hernandez. The Un/Making Of Latina/O Citizenship. BET International". Bet.Com, 2019, https://www.bet.com/style/living/2018/01/24/amara-la-negra---henessey-carolina.html. |