Our Hispanic Roots

This is quite possibly the most useful manual on Hispanic ancestry ever published. Building on the previously published Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage (1984), it provides detailed information on the records, sources, and reference works used in research in all major Hispanic countries.

The Hispanic contribution to the making of the United States has been blatantly glossed over by most historians for the past three hundred years, despite the gallant effort of a handful of them who sought to do justice and set the record straight. This misrepresentation of the historical facts has rendered a whole nation to become oblivious to its true beginnings and formation, crippling its character and jeopardizing its future. This book, based on established and undisputed historical records, is a new attempt to bring out the whole truth, to make us realize how this nation really came into being. The making of present-day United States did not begin in 1607, nor was it confined to thirteen unsettled colonies barely occupying a minute portion of a vast continent. We need to set the historical clock back and then forward, from 1513 on through well past 1776, and give due credit to Spain and other Hispanic countries, such as Mexico, for laying down many of the foundations that made us what we are today. We need also to be proud of our Hispanic heritage, and trumpet it with equal fervor and appreciation as we do it with other less deserving ones. It is only then that we would be able to define our character both as a nation and as a people.

The Hispanic contribution to the making of the United States has been blatantly glossed over by most historians for the past three hundred years, despite the gallant effort of a handful of them who sought to do justice and set the record straight. This misrepresentation of the historical facts has rendered a whole nation to become oblivious to its true beginnings and formation, crippling its character and jeopardizing its future. This book, based on established and undisputed historical records, is a new attempt to bring out the whole truth, to make us realize how this nation really came into being.

Did you know that there are over 5000 types of potatoes sold in South America? Or that in Honduras, a song about conch soup reached the Billboard Top 100 Charts? Latino culture spans Southern and Central America as well as the Caribbean, but often when we think of Latino foods, we think tacos, burritos, and other common Mexican dishes. Proud to Be Latino: Food/Comida teaches children how different Latino countries use similar ingredients to create unique regional dishes. The dishes and their descriptions are given in both English and Spanish, and parents will enjoy the sidebars with additional fun facts about Latino food and culture. This bilingual board book takes the reader beyond a basic language primer and dives deep into the heart of Latino culture . . . which is the food, of course!

A beautifully tender story touching on the range of emotions immigrants may feel when leaving their home countries – excitement and sorrow, fear and courage. Anita watches the dragons high above her as she hops from one cement roof to another in her village in the Dominican Republic. But being the valiant princesa she is, she never lets them scare her. Will she be brave enough to enter the belly of the beast and take flight to new adventures? A Barnes & Noble Bookseller Favorite. A BookTrust Book of the Month. A Love Reading For Schools Book of the Month. “A gorgeous story about the love of one’s homeland and the courage it takes to emigrate”—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED “Anita's courage as she flies off with the dragons to a new land will linger long after the final page”—Girls Read The World “What a punch this book packs. Hannah Carmona’s lyrical narrative is paired with THE dreamiest artwork by Anna Cunha – I’m obsessed with the color palette, and the gentle simplicity of her spreads is calming, yet full of energy”—The Little Literary Society

An intersectional history of the shared struggle for African American and Latinx civil rights Spanning more than two hundred years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history, arguing that the “Global South” was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Scholar and activist Paul Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress as exalted by widely taught formulations like “manifest destiny” and “Jacksonian democracy,” and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms US history into one of the working class organizing against imperialism. Drawing on rich narratives and primary source documents, Ortiz links racial segregation in the Southwest and the rise and violent fall of a powerful tradition of Mexican labor organizing in the twentieth century, to May 1, 2006, known as International Workers’ Day, when migrant laborers—Chicana/os, Afrocubanos, and immigrants from every continent on earth—united in resistance on the first “Day Without Immigrants.” As African American civil rights activists fought Jim Crow laws and Mexican labor organizers warred against the suffocating grip of capitalism, Black and Spanish-language newspapers, abolitionists, and Latin American revolutionaries coalesced around movements built between people from the United States and people from Central America and the Caribbean. In stark contrast to the resurgence of “America First” rhetoric, Black and Latinx intellectuals and organizers today have historically urged the United States to build bridges of solidarity with the nations of the Americas. Incisive and timely, this bottom-up history, told from the interconnected vantage points of Latinx and African Americans, reveals the radically different ways that people of the diaspora have addressed issues still plaguing the United States today, and it offers a way forward in the continued struggle for universal civil rights. 2018 Winner of the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award

Quijana is a girl in pieces. One-half Guatemalan, one-half American: When Quijana's Guatemalan cousins move to town, her dad seems ashamed that she doesn't know more about her family's heritage. One-half crush, one-half buddy: When Quijana meets Zuri and Jayden, she knows she's found true friends. But she can't help the growing feelings she has for Jayden. One-half kid, one-half grown-up: Quijana spends her nights Skyping with her ailing grandma and trying to figure out what's going on with her increasingly hard-to-reach brother. In the course of this immersive and beautifully written novel, Quijana must figure out which parts of herself are most important, and which pieces come together to make her whole. This lyrical debut from Rebecca Balcárcel is a heartfelt poetic portrayal of a girl growing up, fitting in, and learning what it means to belong.

Life as a Latino in America is complicated. Living between the two worlds of being Latino and American can generate great uncertainty. And the strange mixture of ethnic pride and racial prejudice creates another sort of confusion. Who are you as a Latino? Who are you as an American? What has Christ to say about your dilemma? How can you accept who you are in Christ with joy and confidence? Orlando Crespo has taken his own journey from Puerto Rico to an immigrant neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts, and back again to his Latino roots. In this books he helps you to reflect on your own voyage of self-understanding and on what it means to have a mixed heritage from the days of the original Spanish Conquest to the present. His straightforward approach also takes him to what the Bible says about ethnic identity--about a people who were often oppressed by more powerful cultures. He helps you to see how Jesus' own humanity unfolded in the context of a people who were considered to be inferior. Thus Crespo finds both realism and hope in the good news of Jesus. There is more, however, than merely coming to terms with who you are. Crespo also shows how Latinos are called to step out positively in ministry to the world. You can make a positive impact in on the world in racial reconciliation, in bicultural ministry and more because of who God has uniquely made you to be. Here is a book for all Latinos who want to live confidently in Christ.