Italian | Dominican
Being rejected by my cultures has always been a source of sadness growing up, but I learned to channel this desire to belong through learning other languages and getting to know other cultures. That was the beauty of growing up in New York was being exposed to people from all over the world. This desire to understand other cultures then led me to work in foreign affairs. My work has led me to living and working across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, working within the UN system and learning almost five other languages apart from the ones that are mine (Italian, Spanish and English). For a long time, I tried to suppress my Hispanic identity. I used to downplay my Latino side in the US and Italy because nobody would acknowledge me for my Italian side at all, and it used to bother me. When I look back to it, I don't understand why I did that growing up, but I do believe strongly it was because I was made to feel less than for being mixed.
I've lived in all three of my countries, Italy and the US the most but most recently I spent a good portion of last year in the Dominican Republic. In fact, in 2021, I spent time living mainly between the US, Italy and the DR. I was searching for belonging and being home. I wanted to be among ‘my people’. But I was always the Black sheep in all of them; too foreign for America, too Brown for Italy and too White for the Dominican Republic. Where in the past this would hurt me, I've let it go. I've realised home is no longer a place, but instead in the hearts of those people who love you for who you are.
Fearlessness and this audacity to be unapologetically myself is what made me realise I could make a difference. I grew up feeling alone and wishing there was someone out there like me who could inspire me. But instead of searching for that person, I can be that person instead. In the struggle to be myself, I can change and inspire others to be a little bolder. While my work is about bringing countries and governments together, maybe my own image can bring hearts more together as well. By accepting and seeking to understand themselves.
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