#latino heritage month
La Raza Anthology: Unidos y Fuertes - An unique anthology filled with comics, illustrations, poems and short stories celebrating & analyzing Latin American heritage. - http://kck.st/2bV7S3P
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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.”
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Here’s a preview of art by some of our talented Latinas featured in our anthology!!
Brianna Valdez
In addition to many more wonderful Latina contributors! You should definitely check out & follow our amazing contributors >>here<<
>>> PLEDGE HERE TO GET OUR BOOK FUNDED<<<
LAST DAY TO PLEDGE IS SEPTEMBER 26th! EVERY CONTRIBUTION COUNTS SO PLEASE PASS IT ON! THANKS! <3
Born in 1996 in Chile, A.C is currently studying 3d Animation. The artist is heavily inspired by SouthAmerican culture and young artists from all over the world and portrays their perception and personality through different characters. Interested in every art form, wants the art and animation industry to grow in South America as an important contribution to the different countries.
Where is your family from?
My family is composed by two nationalities. My mother is Russian and my father is Chilean. They met because my father was exiled from Chile during the dictatorship. My mother was (and is) really interested in South American culture, our language, history, etc. My father was giving a talk at her university about Chile’s political status at the moment. They then started talking more and more about those kind of topics and after many many difficult situations they ended up marrying and moving back to Chile where I grew up and study right now.
What are some of your influences/inspirations?
At the moment my influences are the beautiful sketches by Daniela Strijleva and Chris Chua. South American artists that I like are Illustrators like Catabu, Hugustrador, Liniers and painters like Maliki and Decur, which I take reference from, among many others. What I look in their art is their message, the storytelling, that every piece of art that these people create has a strong meaning and such passion. I learn from them every day, and I keep looking for more growing artists that give such feelings.
Can you tell us about your piece for La Raza?
My piece for LA RAZA is called “Mito y Tradición” its a mixed media illustration that uses the description showed by the internet of those two characters when in reality they are bigger and more than that.
What inspired you to draw these legendary figures?
When I choose to draw “El diablo” from “La diablada” celebrated on the north of Chile and of course countries like Perú and Bolivia I wanted to portrait a character that is very well known around here but maybe unknown most of the people who know very little about South America. “La diablada” is a really colorful and fun celebration that unites families and preserves traditions in a very powerful way, using loud music and delicious food. On the other hand, there is “La Pincoya” a local and very popular myth of the south of Chile, a beautiful woman that helps lost fishermen return to land.
With this design in particular I wanted to fight the usual representation that artists give her. She is usually seen as a stereotypically “perfect” woman, showing that most of the times people wont go for a different character design, a more interesting and unique than the usual that already exists, specially on women. And again, with the design I present I’d like to welcome those artists or anyone who starts to design something from a story to go further than the popular representation and to love our characters more to give them a unique life.
Do you have any projects coming up?
Right now i’m working as a visual developer on a animated shortfilm called “El Último” set in a futuristic Chile. Some personal projects that i’m working on the scripts of two webcomics called “Confetti” and “Amigo” that I hope to start sharing at the end of this year or at the beggining of the next one.
Be on the lookout for “Mito y Tradición” in our book La Raza Anthology: Unidos y Fuertes. Check out Ale’s blog for more of their awesome work!
