08/23/2026
Culture. Heritage. They tell the stories of who we are. Mine are complex. Multilayered. Over the years I've fought to hear the voices of very present family and ancestral ghosts. Names. Foods. Ways. Phrases. Raised Blackity Black, traced in the U.S. since the 1500s, but later learned of our Afro-Latin, Indigenous, Gullah Geechee roots. One of those bloodlines is Puerto Rican.
Newark-based Latin communities have genuinely gone out of their way to celebrate, preserve, and pass on culture. Los Barranquiteños Puerto Rican Art & Culture Neighborhood Festival is one of them. Yesterday I brought my folding chair and an open heart, knowing I was going to see dear friends again and meet new ones. A gentleman approached me and said, "You're the lady I see all the time taking pictures all over the place. Where's your camera?"
Well first, it was nice to be recognized as The Lady With the Camera. Capturing culture through a lens has been a lifetime passion. I answered, "I wanted to chill and enjoy today." But I regretted having only my crappy camera phone shortly after arriving. Shoulda brought my camera bag! Always so many delicate moments of love, joy, and intensity. I tell you, with all the groups I've belonged to over the years, I've learned that the dedication of routinely coming together for protest, commemoration or celebration has a passion that can sometimes only be captured in pictures. To all my friends across the diaspora, across the globe, I love you. Let us seek out our commonalities. Let us fearlessly learn about our differences. Barranquiteños
