Latin
“Where you were born does not matter—when you’re here, you’re a New Yorker”
European
Italian | French | Spanish
Portuguese | Romanian
Romani | Jewish
Caribbean
Cuban | Haitian | Dominican
Puerto Rican | Trinidadian
North American
Mexican | French-Canadian
Central American
Costa Rican | Guatemalan
Honduran | Nicaraguan
Panamanian | Salvadoran
South American
Colombian | Ecuadorian | Venezuelan
Argentine | Bolivian | Brazilian
Chilean | Paraguayan
Peruvian | Uruguayan
Latin was originally Italian. The Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance are the foundations of Western Civilization. Romans loved silk. Marco Polo and the Silk Road connected the Latin world to Asia. The Portuguese connected Africa, South and SouthEast Asia. The Spanish and Portuguese Empires connected the Indigenous Americas and brought Africans to the Americas. Since the European discovery, the Americas have been the land of opportunity, slavery or escape. So we are all here.
At times for better and at times for worse, Roman Catholicism influenced it all, either directly or indirectly in direct opposition. That remains a profound influence on us, but today we are also Santería, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, Athiest and every other idea under the sun. All seek to understand and explain the mystery of life. Life itself is the miracle that binds us all together.
New York Latin Culture Magazine sees the world through a Latin lens, but regardless of where you start, any honest examination of humanity leads to the same place. Africa is mother and we are all African.
Our physical “differences” come from just one tenth of one percent of our DNA (0.1%). If you visualize all of humanity as your ten fingers, that difference is equal to about the white of one fingernail. Differences are an illusion promoted by politicians and religions in the pursuit of wealth and power.
So this is who we are, one people of the world with countless cultures. Knowing where we come from offers the freedom to be anything we can dream of. Whoever you are, and wherever your parents, grandparents or ancestors came from, Dios te bendiga (God Bless You) in whatever way that works for you.