 Your name is basically who you are. So when someone makes fun of it, or tries to invalidate it, it's hard not to take it personally. Spanish names can be easy to made fun of - "Is no one in your family creative so they names all the males Juan or Jorge or Joseph?" "That's not how you spell Cristina in America. So we'll spell it correctly for you since you're now here." "Your name is what? That's a stupid/weird name." It's hard not to grind your teeth when someone you have told over and over again how to pronounce your name says it wrong and they don't care enough to care how it hurts you.
These are the stories of Carmi and Esmeralda and their names and Latinx identity,,,  Photo: Robert Tudor It’s 2008 and there I was, standing on a subway platform, in downtown Manhattan waiting for my train, not to board it… but to jump in front of it. Fresh out of family court, feeling tired and very much defeated after going in convinced that my days of physical, mental, financial, and sexual abuse where over. Standing there waiting to end my misery, I thought of a little boy who would grow without his mom, then I thought maybe, just maybe, there’s more to life than this. My son who is the light of my life was very small at the time and was being used in court to punish me because I dared to think that I could be so much more than just somebody’s domestic punching bag. After a few trains came by, I snapped out of it, turned around and walked away, but that was only the beginning.
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Hi! I'm Melissa, an Australian-based Latina science educator, podcaster, and freelance writer. I spend a lot more time on Instagram and Twitter, but blogging is my first love. Thanks for stopping by — I hope you stay a while.
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November 2022
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