Guest Post for The 20 Something Latina: Music Monday: “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo

Hola lind@s,

I recently had the opportunity to script a piece on first love, Spanish and Elvis Crespo’s hit “Suavemente” for a wonderful blog called The 20 Something Latina.  I love the 20 Something Latina because of the writer Anali Maritnez’s beautiful  and honest posts that reflect experiences us 20 year olds are going through. Check out a bit of the post below!

When you are asked the question “what is one song that has changed your life?”, it is difficult to choose just one. I can easily name fifty tunes that have lifted my spirits or narrated important moments in my life. Whether it was the time that Ms. Gomez, my 9th grade Spanish teacher, sat down and translated “Te extrano” by Xtreme or the summer I discovered pride in my heritage through the rhythms of the Los Rakas tune “Africana”, it is music that takes me back to moments, mindsets, people and places.

“Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo was no different; it welcomed me into the world of Latin music with a warm abrazo. Watching the music video of a young passionate singer shake it Ricky Martin style, reminds me of the 90’s when most music videos looked like an episode of Reading Rainbow. I found “Suavemente” after the 90’s had passed. I was a middle school student in a college prep program.

One of my teachers had organized a Latin dance performance for the end of the summer awards ceremony so I asked her if I could dance with him.

For sake of this post, I’ll call him Miguel.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

❤ BGLW

 

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Black Girl, Latin World in 2015, let’s go!

It’s the START OF SOMETHING GOOD!

When Black Girl, Latin World took flight in 2011, it was purely a hobby.  I was inspired by African American, Latino World, the LatiNegr@s Project and many other bloggers and Afrolatino advocates to share my stories dealing with the subject.  Since 2013, this blog has been connecting me with beautiful readers who keep me inspired as I write about my experiences as an African American engaging in diaspora.  Every email I get from a person who wants to know about Afrolatino theatre work or comment about your experiences keeps me writing.

I’ve taken a bit of the break from this blog because I needed to graduate.  I did it! I’m now a University of Texas at Austin graduate!  Now, as I seek employment, I plan to focus on my passions…writing and Afrolatinidad.

Black Girl, Latin World will be adding some new and awesome projects that I hope you all will love.

• Spotlight of the Month-Monthly highlights, guest posts and interviews with organizations, artists, writers and everyday people passionate about Afrolatinidad and the diaspora.
• #MultilingualBlackPeople – A movement, discussion  and empowerment space for multilinguals in the Black Diaspora!  Monthly posts on language learning, Spanish phrases and my own Portuguese learning journey.
• Connections Across Diasporas: African Americans and Afrolatinos-More posts on the connections between Afrolatinos and African Americans in history, music and the arts.
• Escribela Negra– A collection of blog posts focused on empowerment through writing for the African American and Afrolatina woman!  Chock full of notes, advice and stories from and about writers of color.

I’m also working on a play centered around Afrolatinidad and I look forward to sharing that progress with you.  And you can follow my work as a Her Campus writer too.

I am stoked about this new year and looking forward to connecting with you all.

Of course, if there is anything you would like to see featured on BGLW or if you’d like to be featured yourself drop me a line at at blackgirllatinworld@gmail.com.

Okay, you’ve heard my plans for this new year.  What are your goals? Do you want to start a blog?  A movement? Learn a new language?  Gain a better spiritual relationship?  Gain a healthy lifestyle?  Share it below or tweet me with the hashtag #BLGWGoals.

❤ BGLW