In a poignant stand-up performance, award-winning poet Carlos Andrés Gómez recalls a story of a woman who once questioned his heritage because she didn't feel he quite fit the mold of a Latino.
"After the show, she asked me: 'Carlos Andrés Gómez is your stage name, right? I mean I’ve never met a Hispanic who looks like you, so, ah, what’s your real name?'" says Gómez, who has Colombian roots.
The author of Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood went on to challenge the Latino stereotypes (something that affects many ethnicities across the globe) and pointed out the diversity within the community.
"I met Latinos who look like Juan Valdez and can't speak a word of Spanish," he says. "Others who look like Hilary Duff with a mother who looks like Hillary Clinton that are from Paraguay and teach Spanish grammar in Puerto Rico."
His words quickly started gaining momentum after the video was shared on the Facebook page of Mitú, a publication that describes itself as a "home away from home for Latinos in the U.S."
Actress Rosario Dawson, who is also Latina, liked the video along with more than 13,000 users. There were also tons of comments from people who said they could relate to Gómez's experiences, including a Latina mom who shared, "I'll never forget being asked if I was the nanny while walking with my redhead son — my Latina sister is a redhead and his dad is a redhead, but I look very Aztec."
Watch below, and please SHARE to help spread this poet's important message!
