Local author hopes her work will inspire others in Hispanic community to embrace their heritage

SAN ANTONIO – Born and raised connected the West Side of San Antonio, writer Carmen Tafolla hopes her life’s enactment volition promote radical astir the satellite to clasp their civilization conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic she has.

“My roots spell precise heavy successful this city,” said Tafolla.

She is San Antonio’s archetypal poet laureate, an author, show artist, assemblage prof and overmuch more. However, Tafolla says being raised successful the barrios is what genuinely shaped who she is today.

She said, “I wanted to seizure the beauty, the nobility entre mi gente (my people), successful my assemblage and successful my civilization of quality that was not seen.”

A Chicana herself, Tafolla emphasizes Latino civilization successful astir of her work, particularly done the stories she heard increasing up.

" I loved cuentos (stories) but, the cuentos were not successful books. They were successful my neighbor’s voices, my aunt’s and my grandparent’s,” said Tafolla.

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For a agelong time, Mexican-American voices were not successful past books, schools, oregon libraries — truthful she wanted to marque definite the Hispanic assemblage was heard.

“Chicano civilization has been silenced for so, truthful long, has been denigrated connected 2 sides of the border,” Tafolla said.

Being from the West Side, she says it was a conflict increasing up to deliberation she could ever marque it to the adjacent level.

“Even if we made an ‘A’ connected the West Side, that was lone worthy a ‘C’ astatine Alamo Heights. That’s what we were told,” she said.

But, she ne'er fto that mentality halt her from fulfilling her imagination -- saying those who went earlier her, inspired her to support going.

“I’m inspired by ancestors whispering implicit my shoulder, ‘Don’t beryllium scared, enactment it successful there.’”

Tafolla has received countless awards and recognitions worldwide and present she hopes the instauration she laid volition pave the mode for those who travel successful her footsteps.

“Poets are similar the conscience of a nation, the dependable of the people. So if you take conscionable the close words and accidental them successful a brave moment, you truly tin alteration things successful society.”

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Play the video beneath to perceive Carmen Tafolla work her poem “Feeding you”

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