William Shakespeare said it best. All the world’s a stage.
Witnessing Benito “Bad Bunny” Ocasio’s wins at the 68th Annual Grammys on Sunday, February 1st, I proudly noted that this stage represents everything I want to be a part of. It’s a stage where a Puerto Rican musician can win Album of the Year for a record performed entirely in Spanish. It’s where someone representing a population under attack used their platform before millions of viewers to declare, “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.”
That declaration was a true representation of what beats inside the heart of a Puerto Rican artist.
In case anyone missed it, Bad Bunny released a rallying cry for everyone watching—especially those being targeted by hate—and urged his worldwide audience to fight back with empathy, unity, and compassion.
I am a proud Latina. I come from people who emigrated to this great nation from Ireland, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Trailblazers. Dreamers. Hard-working people who believed in a dream that stood just within reach, even though it meant sacrificing everything they knew to move faithfully ahead to a country they believed in.
That is the spirit of my ancestors, and the promise of my nation, the one I fight for today.
And while the world may be a stage full of actors, and I’m a battle-trained Army officer, my weapon of choice in this battle consists of words on the page. It’s why I sat down and poured my heart out when intentionally crafting every word in my debut novel, At The Island’s Edge.
After living and working in Puerto Rico for nearly five years, I wanted to share with a broad American audience the power and the beauty of a culture that took me by surprise with its compassion and kindness. Arriving on the shores of Puerto Rico, I was a mainlander. An outsider. It never mattered.
I knew that painting Puerto Rico as a character in my novel meant highlighting the island as a healing element for a woman battling PTSD from the front-line battles of Iraq. This book gave me the opportunity to show the world the truest essence of the Puerto Rican people. Their artistry. Their resilience. Their unending loyalty to the people they love. What is even more beautiful is to witness how easily and openly they love. Experiencing the open arms and warm hearts of the island’s citizens has forever changed me, especially as an artist.
On Sunday night, Bad Bunny showed the world how good it feels to amplify the power of our Latine identity when his album Debí Tirar Más Fotos made history as the first Spanish-language album to win Album of the Year. His work challenges old hierarchies about what listeners really want. I can only hope that the readers who journey to Puerto Rico through the pages of my novel or any of my fellow Latina authors’ books can experience a similar journey, a sense of fulfillment in the unique footprint of a multicultural people, and the beauty of their evolution.
I immediately think of the brilliant romances penned by USA Today bestselling author Priscilla Oliveras, which feature multicultural protagonists and their journeys of the heart. I couldn’t write about this topic without hearing her perspective.
With more than ten books on the market showcasing the Latine culture, here’s what Priscilla had to say.
Gracias for the opportunity to share in spreading the positive energy Benito emanates and his mission to uplift our Puerto Rican comunidad, and diverse people across the globe. His award-winning work accomplishes what I—like you, C.I.—strive to do with my novels: shine a bright spotlight on the strength of the Latine spirit and the enriching gifts we bring to the neighborhoods and cities where we live, work, volunteer, and contribute.
Whether I’m writing a series about Puerto Rican sisters like my familia on my mami’s side, or one revolving around Cuban American firefighters in Key West where I spent my adolescent years, or one featuring a group of foster sisters in an all-female mariachi band in San Antonio, TX, where my Papi was born and raised, I strive to welcome readers into my characters’ vibrant story world. I want to enmesh readers in the celebrations, foods, customs, beliefs and experiences of characters who, like me, are proud of their Latinindad.
The story worlds in my contemporary romances look much like the diverse world in which we live today filled with good times and bad, conflict and hard-earned resolution, sorrow and joy, hope and love. I write in a genre that understands the power of hope and love, which brings us back to Benito’s wise words shared at the beginning of this essay: “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.”
We invite you to read and support Latine and other diverse authors and their books throughout the year. Doing so can be an engaging way to expand your perspective and put Bad Bunny’s heartfelt proclamation into action.
Happy reading, sharing and leading with love, fellow BookTrib-ers!
AT THE ISLAND’S EDGE by C. I. Jerez
At The Island’s Edge is a powerful story of second chances, healing, and the enduring bonds of family. Lina is a combat medic seeking a better life for her son when she discovers the quiet magic of finding her way home. This novel deals with the deepest realities of war from the unique viewpoint of both a woman and a mother. Told with the tender compassion you can almost feel among the island breezes, this story is for readers who believe in the power of family, culture, and following the path back to who you were always meant to be.
HER PERFECT AFFAIR by PRISCILLA OLIVERAS
Her Perfect Affair is book 2 in the acclaimed Matched to Perfection series featuring three talented
Latina (Puerto Rican) sisters in Chicago. In Her Perfect Affair, “Oliveras tops her excellent debut… [her] integration of cultural and class differences, familial expectations, and career objectives into the couple’s romantic decision making immeasurably enriches a moving plot about good people making difficult choices.” (Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW).
Oliveras’s novels are sweetly sensual stories with big, complicated family dynamics, vibrant settings, rich cultural dynamics, and heart-tugging emotions.