Rosemarie Ayala-Soto

There once was a young woman. She came from a long line of strong individuals. Sugar cane pickers, veterans, and musicians. All were men and women of great intellect. People who sacrificed for their families in their everyday jobs. She was like them, a warrior.

As a small child, she listened to stories and lullabies from her mother’s ancestors and jokes from her father’s family. She grew up dancing “Mata La Cucaracha” with her grandfather and learning to love her beautiful island of Puerto Rico. She called herself a “Mancha De Platano”, a Plantain Stain. Yet, to her this brown skin was her ancestry: Spaniard, African, and Taino. The bleeding artistry of poise and pride are woven into her flesh. The lashes of cultura and idiomas had come together to form her. Into the identity that God had intended for her. She grew up believing in her rights as a human being. And so she became an activist.