The identity of a Latina in the community of East L.A.

My identity that stands out the most would be being Latina. Being Latina has made me bilingual and that’s pretty cool being able to speak two languages. Being Latina in a way shows some of my personality. Being Latina makes me a part of a group of people who have their own unique cuisine, music, and cultural and artistic traditions than other people.

This part of my life has been impacted by the community I’ve lived in because we get along and most of us all share the same culture and beliefs. Some connections I have made between who I am what I know about my neighborhood is that most of us are the same as in the way some parents raised us. The way we see things, and our traditions that have been passed down by generations are other commonalities. Also some of us grew up together.

Living somewhere else other than my community would have an impact in me and change who I am, so I’d rather stay here in my community where I have been raised and know the people. Little by little our community is going through changes. We should decide the change that are going to be made since it’s our home.

Some suggestions I have for city planners who are considering making some drastic changes would be to keep the culture of our community and express it in variety of ways. For example, the colors of things/places should be different and not all the same. Murals could also be a way of showing our Latin culture and also having something like a plaza for us to come together as a community can be great to have festivals or to celebrate and show our culture.

My community does have a big impact in my identity and if I had a different community, I would not be the person I am now.