People Are Always Trying to Place Labels...

I am culturally mixed. My mother was African Amerian mixed with some Cauasian from her father side and With my Puerto Rican father, as a child I identified as black. The black community didn’t consider me apart of who they were- African American because of my hair and skin tone. Back in the day, we used broad terms. We didn't used the words, Afro Latina / Latino / etc. African American was a synonym for Black and others who fell under this category wasn't recognized. Black girls didn’t like me and were jealous. They were always trying to compare me to them. They had the “booty” and I didn’t. I had the “good,” long hair and they “didn’t.” End result, I just hung out with boys. Boys didn’t care. I remembered when I was younger my mother’s friend made a comment to me, “Are you a boy or girl?” That made me feel really bad and it stuck with me always until this day. People are always trying to place labels on others. My one piece of advice I would give to other Blatinas or anyone for that matter is... Don’t mind what people think of you, KNOW yourself! - Gloria