About the Book

The idea for this book began in 2011, when I first drew a sketch for a book I wanted to write called "Queen Carnival". Back then, I had just finished my undergraduate in Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. My dream was to move to Colombia and rediscover my roots. I dreamt of living in the coast and becoming a writer like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The original idea was about a girl who felt she was not beautiful enough to be the queen of the Carnival de Barranquilla, the second largest carnival in the world after the one in Rio de Janiero. After talking to her family, the girl finds that she is beautiful on the inside and out, and she becomes the queen.

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Originally, I had thought the girl would look like me. However, I started looking into the former queens and found that there has never been a Black or Afro-Indigenous queen of the carnival. Upon reading more, I discovered that it takes a lot of money to pay for the dresses. Though it has not been labeled as a race issue, the Afro and Indigenous communities in Colombia are the most affected in terms of socioeconomic status, health, education, and even access to clean water and other basic needs.

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For me, the queen of the carnival was and will always be Totó la Momposina, a Colombian artist, singer, teacher, and curator of our culture. Totó has done amazing work in interpreting the music created by various composer, including Mario Gareño's "Yo Me Llamo Cumbia". I grew up listening to Totó la Momposina, and my mom would teach my sister and I how to dance cumbia in our tiny living room in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to keep our traditions alive. 

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This book, then, is a culmination of my heritage as a Colombian and mestiza woman whose love for Colombia burns in her heart and lights the candle when I listen to cumbia. When Dr. Darnel Degand announced that we could do a literary project for the EDU 247: Response to Culturally Diverse Literature, I knew that this was the book I wanted to make. Along the way, I learned about the history of cumbia, rediscovered the sounds of the great Afro and Afro-Indigenous women that have contributed to its creation and preservation, and found new voices. I have danced to every one of the videos I saw all over my apartment and replayed each one at least five times! I also became an artist struggling to find the time to make art in academia where reading and writing words are still privileged above all other forms of being, knowing, and power.

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I know I have much left to learn and grow, which is why I appreciate your feedback, comments, and questions. This book is for you and for the future children in search of their identities.

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Con mucho amor, 

Anna