Hispanic religiosity is often misperceived in individualistic categories. But a strong sense of community, inherited from our indigenous and African foreparents, is central to the cultural and religious legacy of U.S. Hispanics/Latinas. The functional unit of the community is the family. Familia is not just the nuclear family, but the extended family, similar to the Hebrew concept of mishpahah. It not only includes blood relatives, but also friends, neighbors, and even those who come from the same town of origin. Puerto Rican society, for example, has the concept of hijo/a de crianza: a child that is adopted through the informal ties of community. If a child needs a home, a family who is able takes the child in and raises her or him as one of its own. No difference is made between los/las hijos/as de crianza and one's birth children.
Familia is a sanctuary. It is the place where one's identity is affirmed and the source of moral decision-making. Here one's language or beliefs are not mocked as in the larger society; here Hispanics/Latinas can feel they belong. "To be exiled from family and friends," writes Paul J. Wadell, "would be not to exist."
Great article by another wonderful Latina theologian, Loida Martell-Orterol. Read the entire article here.
Comments