I want to prelude this post by saying that:

1. I am super white and sporting the Viking look, with redheads and blondes on one side of my family. Yet my grandmother, mother, aunt, and cousins are darker than me.
2. I am not woke. I am not a red pill. I am somewhere in the middle, and taking bits and pieces that feel good to me.
3. I strongly believe that our perception of ourselves, our own empowerment and our world views matter. 
4. I am not asking for anything, just sharing my voice and truth. And I am ready to speak out about my culture.

I am late with this whole race movement thing. But I remember when George Floyd was murdered, and how before I heard the news, I channeled a Portuguese Viana Symbol (A very Portuguese Catholic thing – See my painting for a visual) and wondered why such a thing would come out today of all days and why it mattered.

Portuguese people are not perfect. They enslaved. They fought against other races. They can be extremely racist and I hear my own family being racist on a regular basis. I am not saying otherwise.

But here are a few little factoids for you.

1. We are mixed race. We have African, Arab, and Latin roots. 
2. Our culture is blended with said races.
3. Our culture, diet and our traditions are extremely similar to Latin America. Much like they do, we have All Saints Day (El Dia de los Muertos), Bruxas, Telenovelas, we have Miguel’s in our family, Maria’s and Adriano’s. My last name is Rodrigues, so the z switches to s. We celebrate Carnaval.
4. We look at Latina characters on TV and Movies and I say “Oh finally someone who almost represents me!!”.
5. A good half of Portuguese are darker skinned. Some even have coiled hair. (I myself have thick rebellious curly hair if I don’t straighten it) Some may be mistaken for an Arab, or Latin person. Some of my Portuguese friends have been considered POC.

The Portuguese are considered an ethnic minority in North America. Therefore you won’t hear about us, other than maybe when you go looking for spicy chicken, or a “pastel de nata” (custard cake). 

In this whole movement, I have felt erased. 

While Arabs, Latinos, and other POC are mentioned, our names are left out. 

And I am not saying our problems are necessarily the same or to their degrees all the time, but sometimes they can be.

In grade school and in high school, I was bullied for being culturally and physically different. 

For my diet, my body size/shape/curves, and even how my family behaved around me. I was bullied right along with the other non-white immigrant kids, by white kids. Because in that classroom, we were a minority. 

My parents also started from 0 as they immigrated from Portugal to Canada, and other white kids had perks and things that I did not.

I’ve since mended these wounds and have stepped into my power.

But I now refuse to be treated like a “white girl” when I faced some of the same issues that non-white kids faced growing up. When we share a culture and even physical features.

These are my brothers and sisters.

And I am not the only one who feels this way. My fellow Southern Europeans feel the same.

All I ask? Is that we start looking at the issue not as Euro-centric, but as Anglo-Saxon.

Because us Southern Europeans, we are not that different from our POC friends.