Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity

Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity has made the rounds as an excellent non-fiction book to provide a voice for Latin/Hispanic Heritage Month. I was eager to read it as I continue to diversify the types of non-fiction and broaden the types of authors I read. Paola Ramos's background in journalism led her to traverse the United States in search of Latinx communities and their stories.

Ramos made her trips before the Covid-19 pandemic, so keep that in mind as you read the book. Who knows how those stories have changed since the pandemic spread worldwide and dramatically affected BIPOC communities. In the author's words, the X in Latinx often represents the intersectionality of a Latin heritage and something else. Ramos talks about the terminology of "Latino/a" and "Hispanic" as primarily anglicized terms to overwrite the complexity of peoples of the Americas, especially in areas where the Spanish and Portuguese colonized the Americas. Throughout the stories she tells, some people vehemently push back against anglicized terms while others embrace them.

This book has many interesting yet common stories, and they are all woven together with the Latinx thread. What does Latinx mean to every individual within these communities? What does it mean to the world? And perhaps most importantly, what does it mean for our nation going forward?

Finding Latinx is one of those books that you have to read to judge. A review won't do it justice. There are so many stories and voices that cannot be summed up neatly in 300-500 words. Check out and absorb stories of the many communities encompassed in the ever-evolving term of Latinx.