Reyna Grande “Dancing” Between Two Cultures

‘Dancing’ Between Two Cultures

By Gloria Alvarez, EGP Staff Writer

Reyna Grande is one of the 70 or so prominent Latino authors who will be featured at the “Twelfth Annual Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival” taking place Oct. 10-11 on the Cal State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) campus.

Grande, whose new book “Dancing With Butterflies” was released just this week, will be in Los Angeles for the festival, one of several stops on a two-month long book tour.

Grande, who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child and an undocumented immigrant, says she is committed to activities that help expand Latino literacy, and inspire a joy of reading, the mission of the event’s non-profit sponsor, Latino Literacy Now.

Her writings have been deeply influenced by her experience crossing the border and the challenges that come from living between two cultures: “The rural, impoverished one left behind and the challenging, urban one she came to embrace in Los Angeles.”

Her real life story is in many ways the backdrop for her novels, she says.

“Dancing With Butterflies,” a follow-up to her award-winning debut novel “Across a Hundred Mountains,” tells the story of four unforgettable women who, despite their differences, are bound together by their Mexican roots and their love of Folklórico dance.

Abuse, disillusionment, mid-life crisis and the search for self-acceptance punctuate their lives at intersecting crossroads in life and love. Ultimately it is their shared roots and mutual passion for dance that binds their friendship.

EGP asked Grande about her work with the Festival and her latest novel:

EGP: How long have you been involved with the Latino Book & Family Festival?
GRANDE: This is my first year on the planning committee of the festival. Two years ago I was asked to participate as an author and when I showed up to do my presentation I was very disappointed. The quality of the festival was very bad and I was both sad and angry. Last year the festival went on a hiatus. When I heard that it was coming back this year, I contacted one of the people in charge and offered to volunteer and help out as much as I could to make this festival get back on its feet.
I was able to get some friends on board and together we have managed to turn the festival around. For the first time ever the festival will have 70 Latino authors, 24 panels in English and 12 in Spanish. This will be a great year for the festival.

EGP: Why do you think it is important to participate?
GRANDE: The first reason is that this is the ONLY Latino book festival we have. There are many book festivals in Southern California but very few Latino authors are featured. The Latino Book & Family Festival is a place where Latino authors can showcase their work.
Another reason is that I believe in what the festival is trying to do—promote literacy in the Latino community. Although Latinos are the fastest growing minority in the U.S., we are lagging behind when it comes to education. This festival introduces attendees to Latino authors who have inspiring stories of how reading books/writing led them on the path of success. For example, on Sunday we have scheduled a panel called Barrio Stories: Inspiring Tales of Survival, where we feature four authors (including Luis J. Rodriguez) who will talk about their experiences in gangs and how writing and reading saved their lives. You won’t get these kinds of panels in non-Latino book festivals.

EGP: Will you be holding a workshop/book signing?
GRANDE: I will be doing two panels: History Past and Present in the U.S. Latino Novel and Border Stories: Writing about the Immigrant Experience. I will be signing books after my panels, and I will of course be running around making sure everything is running smoothly!

EGP: Your book is about four Mexican women, what do you think other Mexican, or any woman for that matter, can learn from their experience? Is it possibly about seeing yourself in the characters in the novel—the strength you may not know you have?
GRANDE: The reader, no matter their race, will see herself in these characters. Even though my book is about Mexican/Mexican-American characters, the struggles they face are universal. Yesenia is dealing with aging; Elena is suffering from the death of her child; Adriana is wounded from growing up with an abusive father; Soledad is trying to start her own business and get her career going. So the thing is that even though I write about Mexican characters I am writing about human beings. What culture hasn’t had sibling rivalry, dead relatives to mourn, dreams that haven’t come true, obstacles to overcome, marriages that fail, illicit love affairs, forbidden love?

EGP: Many say that Mexicans do not have a strong history or interest in formal education. We have a high drop out rate, poor test scores, little desire to speak or read English well, how do you respond?
GRANDE: I say that there is some truth to that, but one must look at what the circumstances are that cause this problem. Mexicans (and other minorities) who live in poor neighborhoods are being educated in under-performing schools. Mexican students don’t get the skills they need to succeed, and little by little they start falling behind to the point where they end up dropping out of school. To make this matter more personal, let me just say that my two youngest siblings who grew up in skid row in downtown L.A. with my mother, both dropped out of high school. Why?
They attended 9th Street Elementary, which, as we later learned, is one of the worst schools in LAUSD. They were both born in the U.S. and yet that school was teaching them in Spanish. My siblings didn’t learn English until they got to middle school. Even though they kept failing their classes, they kept moving up a grade year by year. One time when my little brother was in 10th grade at Roosevelt H. S., I attended a parent-teacher conference and I learned that his reading level was 2.0 (second grade level). So what was he doing in 10th grade and why did he keep getting promoted from grade to grade, I asked his teacher?  My brother dropped out of school shortly after that. The system fails our students. It is no wonder they give up.  So it isn’t that Mexicans don’t want to have an education. But rather that the system sets them up for failure.
Every time I speak to an audience of Latino college students or high school students I see a strong desire to succeed, to obtain an education. The desire is there, we just have to nurture it, support it, encourage it. Mexicans are hard-working people. We are survivors. If given the tools, we can go a long way.

EGP: What pushed you to succeed?
GRANDE: I grew up in Mexico in extreme poverty. It sounds like a cliché but I lived in a shack with no running water, a dirt floor. I had lice and tapeworm. I was always hungry for food but also hungry for the parents who had left me behind in Mexico while they worked here in the U.S.
When I came to the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, I knew that I had been given the opportunity of a lifetime. I wanted all those hardships that I lived through in Mexico, all the years being separated from my parents—to mean something. To be worth something. So I went to school. I pursued my dreams. I worked hard to make them come true. Now I can look back and say that all those sacrifices that my family made weren’t in vain. I went from being an illegal immigrant to an award-winning author.
But let me just say that I didn’t do it alone. In my first semester of college I had a teacher, Diana Savas, who made a big difference in my life. She made me believe in myself, in my talents, and when things got tough she was there to help. When I transferred from junior college to UC, Santa Cruz, I met teachers there who continued to be supportive.
It is very important for young people to have someone who believes in them. But it is also very important for young people to believe in their potential and what they can accomplish.

The Los Angeles Latino Book & Family Festival will feature an outstanding lineup of  Latino authors, including Victor Villaseñor, Pat Mora, Luis J. Rodríguez, Josefina López, Helena María Viramontes, Randy Jurado Ertll, María Amparo Escandón, Graciela Limón, Gustavo Arellano, Margo Candela, Héctor Tobar, Evelina Fernández and Mary Castillo, among many others. There are activities for the entire family, including a children’s area and stage; panel discussions and writing workshops; and music and dance performances. For more information visit the festival’s website at http://www.lbff.us, or call (760) 434-4484.