Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora by Saraciea Fennell

       


Written by Saraciea Fennell

Published by Flatiron Books in 2021

ISBN: 978-1338255812

Plot Summary: This anthology is written through 15 different stories and the purpose is to show that each Latinx person has a different story and a different path. These stories do not have the same experiences and many of them outright talk about the marginalization of the Latinx community. Eres un Pocho was a personal favorite as it talks about the story of Mark Oshiro as a queer transracial adopted kid. It goes through many very sad aspects of his growing up and why he felt like he was a threat to those around him even though he was just trying to live his life. The other standout in this anthology to me was Caution Song by Natasha Diaz as she tells her story through a poem about what it means to be who you are and to be grilled by a stranger about your heritage. 

Critical Analysis: This anthology goes through many ups and downs and it does an excellent job of showing that even though people might come from a similar background, that their experiences and life situations can be very different. The editor does a good job of showing how skin color is just skin deep and that every person has a story that is worthy of being told especially in the case of the Latinx community who have been seen as less than for many years. Invisible by Ingrid Contreras was the most heart wrenching story as we learn about the violence of racism subjected upon her by her inlaws through many different types of abuse. 

These stories feel like they were written for a primarily Caucasian audience and while many of the stories were heartwrenching, it makes me wonder why these stories are put in such a well developed collection of essays and poems. We should be looking at our own biases and take the time to reach the people around us who have experiences that are different than ours and be an ally for everyone. It feels a bit like the authors have to get these stories out in this anthology because they didn't feel seen in their lives. I know that this anthology made me stop and think about what I am doing in my life to make those of different backgrounds feel welcomed and included. 

Review: Kirkus

Fifteen Latinx writers lend their voices and experiences to acutely personal narratives and poetry. In her introduction, editor and contributor Fennell provides a mission statement, one centered on “letting our truths run wild, and pushing against whatever it is you think is the ideal Latinx individual.” The truth, it seems, is undefinable and utterly human, with recurring themes cropping up throughout the collection: questions around mental health in Latinx communities, colorism and racism, the boundaries of language (known and unknown), and finding comfort and familiarity in food. Mark Oshiro’s “Eres Un Pocho” opens the anthology with an interrogation of what “it means to be Latino, what it means to be queer,” and the drawbacks of assimilation. In Meg Medina’s “The Mark of a Good Man,” the heartbreaking tale of a Cuban uncle’s arrival in the U.S. underscores the potency of migration and the limits of the American dream. Meanwhile, Kahlil Haywood’s “Paraíso Negro” recounts the writer’s numerous trips to Panama and a slow examination of Afro-Latinx identity, while Ibi Zoboi’s “Haitian Sensation” complicates and explores what it means to be Haitian, Black, and perhaps (not) Afro-Latina. This volume presents an impressive roster of voices from an array of cultural backgrounds claimed and unclaimed. The contradictions and interplays that emerge between essays serve to illuminate the immeasurable realities of the Latinx diaspora.

A tremendously thought-provoking (re)construction of Latinx experiences. (about the authors) (Nonfiction anthology. 12-18)

Connection: Students can learn more about the Latinx diaspora and how to be inclusive and helpful to those people here. https://oral.history.ufl.edu/projects/latinao-diaspora-in-the-americas-project/

More Books by about the Latinx People

Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity by Paola Ramos  ISBN 978-1984899095

Big Chicas Don't Cry by Annette Chavez Macias ISBN 978-1542039291






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