Welcome to “De Los Reads,” a monthly feature dedicated to amplifying the vibrant and diverse voices of Latinx authors. In a literary landscape hungry for diverse voices, journalist Natasha S. Alford’s debut memoir, “ American Negra ,” offers a refreshing perspective on what it means to be Afro Latina in the United States.
Alford, who is vice president of digital content for the Grio and a CNN political analyst, explores the complexities of growing up as a bicultural child and discusses her embrace of her Black identity while acknowledging her Puerto Rican heritage. “To me, saying I was Black was not about downplaying my Puerto Rican roots but about rejecting a system that seemed to have rejected me by default,” she writes in her book. “I didn’t look like the Latinos people expected to see in America — it seemed like everyone had gotten a clear memo.
And not only was it fairer skin that made you Latino in America but the ability to speak Spanish.” Many Latinxs are confronted every day with the idea of “performing their identity” by speaking Spanish or even eating certain foods, she says, arguing that American society has many expectations about what Latinos should be. “I wrote this book for the Latinos who’ve been asked, oh, how do you speak Spanish so well? People act surprised when they order certain kinds of food or they ask for directions.
Even with me not being fluent in Spanish, the little Spanish that I speak, I always get sort of surprised.