#carolina dalia gonzalez

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“My name is Carrroleena, not Carolina. The rolling of the “r” adds a prevalent Spanish accent, unlike the pronunciation of “North Carolina”.

It seemed odd for me to explain how my name is pronounced, considering I am one of at least twenty-five Carrroleena’s in my high school. But “How do you say your name?” became a commonly asked question when I stepped out of the Miami bubble by attending summer programs and traveling to far-off destinations.

The question usually presents itself on a sticky summer day, when my lips are dry and the beating sun tints my skin a shade darker. I puff up my chest and with a smile on my face, I respond, “It’s Carrroleena. You just gotta roll the r,”

Each syllable in my name carries the weight of my Cuban heritage. I was born from the children of Cuban exiles, who fled Castro’s communist regime to give their children and future generations a better life and a foundation in the land of opportunity.

Not one ounce of my explanation is in vain. I keep alive the story of how my abuelos came to the U.S. with solely the clothes on their backs and the pesos in their pockets. The story of how my abuelo’s company was ripped from his hands by Castro, leaving him with no choice other than to pump gas for forty-nine cents an hour. Their sacrifice and strife is in each stressed vowel, in each consonant of my name…”

A sample of her piece shown above, we’re honored to have Carolina’s work presented in La Raza Anthology. She’s one of our many promising young Latinxs with powerful messages in their works. We hope her work can inspire you as much as it did for us <3

“Carolina Dalia Gonzalez is a Cuban-American girl who hails from Miami, Florida. She began her own non-profit organization, Deferred Action for Dreamers, in 2012 with the mission to help the undocumented youth of her community. Deferred Action for Dreamers has helped over 2,000 undocumented immigrants since its inception and continues to carry out this mission. Carolina will be a freshman at Barnard College in New York City this coming fall and is very interested in the prospect of becoming the first latina president.”