Quotes by Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

55 quotes found

Common Themes

“I fall in love with Paraso. Its like a giant playground where Im never scolded for running around recklessly, where Im almost overwhelmed with the amount of attention and love I receive from Mamis ...”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

alone coming-of-age family home

“I guess it all depends on whom you ask and when you ask. Race, I've learned, is in the eye of the beholder.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

hispanic hispanic-american identity latina

“...being Latino means being from everywhere, and that is exactly what America is supposed to be about.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

america being-latina being-latino hispanic

“Foisting an identity on people rather than allowing them the freedom and space to create their own is shady.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

freedom freedom-of-thought hispanic identity

“The tension between people is palpable, and the ideal of what it means to be and look American becomes a preoccupation to folks around the country, including me.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

america american-people american-society hispanics

“Alices razor-thin blond hair is what people in Santo Domingo call bueno, but I dont understand how that kind of hair can be good. It doesnt move at all, or ripple like the water in Boca Chica when ...”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

boca-chica good-hair hair hair-drama

“Are Latino-Americans white? Black? Other? Illegal aliens from Mars? Or are we the very face of America?”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

america hispanic hispanic-american hyphenated-identities

“Lately, Mamis eyes have been so dark, I dont like looking into them because Im afraid Ill fall in.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

darkness eyes family-relationships mami

“The things that come to us easily, our propensities, are carried on a deep subconscious level into our next life. There are no coincidences.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

after-life afterlife ancestral-memory coincidence

“Paradise is a state of being, more than just the name of a suburb or a home.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

being home paradise spirituality

“Listen kid, its just you and me now, so lets help each other out. Always be honest with me, and show me how to be the mother and father I never had. Ill make a mess of things sometimes, and Im sorr...”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

mother motherhood mothers-and-daughters single-parenthood

“She looks like an empty shell of a woman with her soul hovering above her. We believe in spiritual guas in Santo Domingo. Hers is her own self. I can see Mamis soul desperately trying to find its w...”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

lost lost-innocence mami spiritual-guides

“This is what I know about my parents. They spent the next several years trying to forget each other, and me.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

coming-of-age divorce families family-saga

“Nobody, she felt, understood her--not her mother, not her father, not her sister or brother, none of the girls or boys at school, nadie--except her man.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

adolescence first-love infatuation love

“Perhaps finding out that we carry New World history in our genes will transcend racial checkboxes altogether and enable Latino-Americans to rethink what America is supposed to look like.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

hispanic hispanic-identity latino-american latino-american-identity

“Shakespeare had it right all along: Love will kill you in the end.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

love-kills love-lost relationship-advice romeo-and-juliet

“Women destroy me. I allow them to.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

cheating infidelity machismo male-and-female-relationships

“We arent encouraged to think for ourselves and ask questions. We are expected to accept what they teach us as infallible truths.”

— Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina

coming-of-age educational-inequity educational-system infallibility

“You are meant to be, despite how you got here; youll see someday.”