Editor's note

Over the last several months, reports of white women claiming Latina or other identities have surfaced in the news. Often, each instance quickly turns into a spectacle of morbid shaming or source of ridicule before seemingly disappearing from the public conversation entirely. Not this time. Last month, Prism published an investigative report challenging human and civil rights attorney Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan on identifying as a Latina.

The news set off intense discussions about appropriation, elitism, colorism, and the currency attached to being Latina. Activists, scholars, and advocates involved in Puerto Rican politics, decolonization work, racial justice struggles and civil rights issues have convened privately and semi-publicly. Pain, anger, and old and fresh wounds have been tended, some cauterized.

We, at WMC IDAR/E, have heard you and we invite you to submit your reflections, comments, and declarations to us at: IDARE@womensmediacenter.com. Your words and ongoing feedback will inform and shape a future story or think piece. We will not use your name or quote you without explicit consent. Consider this an invitation to engage, and together, unpack power and privilege.

For now, we invite you to read the following essays by Sofia Quintero and Myriam Gurba.

Michelle García
IDAR/E Advisory Committee Member/Guest Editor