“Santería was traditionally an unacknowledged and underappreciated aspect of what it meant to be Cuban. Yet the syncretism between the Yoruban religion that the slaves brought to the island and the ...”

“The war that killed my grandfather and great-uncles and thousands of other blacks is only a footnote in our history books.”

“For me, the sea was a great comfort, Pilar. But it made my children restless. It exists now so we can call and wave from opposite shores.”

“We speak in Spanish when we make love. English seems an impossible language for intimacy.”

“Papi, I don't know what to do anymore." Lourdes begins to cry. "No matter what I do, Pilar hates me.""Pilar doesn't hate you, hija. She just hasn't learned to love you yet.”

“There are white people who know how to act politely to blacks, but deep down you know they're uncomfortable. They're worse, more dangerous than those who speak their minds, because they don't know ...”

“Cuando vayamos al maryo te dir mi secreto:Me envuelve, pero no es ola...Me amarga..., pero no es sal...”

“I resent the hell out of the politicians and generals who force events on us that structure our lives, that dictate the memories we'll have when we're old.”

“We speak in Spanish when we make love. English seems an impossible language for intimacy.”

“But who can remember pain, once its over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“I know what you are learning to endure. There is nothing to be done. Make sure nothing is wasted. Take notes. Remember it all, every insult, every tear. Tattoo it on the inside of your mind. In lif...”

“My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it's operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely ...”