Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro discussed her book, Negras (Spanish for Black): Stories of Puerto Rican Slave Women (2017), during the virtual author talk hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and Words Without Borders (WWB), in honor of Juneteenth on June 14,
Pizarro shared how, for her as a Black Puerto Rican, the holiday of Juneteenth is about “freedom, resilience and rebellion.” Juneteenth (June 19) was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, under the Biden administration, and it is considered the longest-running African American holiday. Read more about the history of the holiday here: https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth.
She also shared that The Little Prince, a book written by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was her favorite book growing up. From reading this book at nine or 10 years old, Pizarro said she had a “deep connection with the author, which made me love literature.”
As an author, she stated freedom as her motivation when writing, which led her to get a tattoo of the word in Spanish (from Spain), which is libertad.
Pizarro’s grandmother raised her, and thus Pizarro had a really strong connection with her. “As a storyteller, some of my grandmother’s stories became the book,” she continued.
It was important for Pizarro to focus on her female ancestors and their history in this book, as a result of some of the stories her grandmother shared with her growing up, which she took as a sign from them to write it. She added that she often felt “at peace when writing.”
Those who are interested can order the book via Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Yolanda-Arroyo-Pizarro/dp/1542882419?language=en_US.
Those who are interested can register for the BPL virtual writing workshop with Pizarro here: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/telling-our-stories-virtual-20230621.
