“The resulting characterization of Díaz as a dangerous and aggressive sexual predator from whom all women must be protected reinforces racist stereotypes that cast Blacks and Latinxs as having an animalistic sexual ‘nature.'”

The award-winning author, recognizing his protected status, based his career and existence on misogyny, to the point that he could no longer differentiate the sexism portrayed in his fiction from his real life mistreatment of women—particularly women of color.

“We are not the stories that people who are full of hate tell about us”

Para los que leyeron la traducción al inglés que hizo José Santana acerca de un correo electrónico criticando al autor Junot Díaz, le pasamos la versión original en español que Santana compartió con nosotros. Esta versión también se encuentra aquí. (Observación del editor: Errores ortográficos y mecánicos son del autor y no de nosotros.) “La Soberanía […]

Remember José Santana? He was the Dominican government official who sent a scathing email to author Junot Díaz about the whole Haiti-Dominican Republic citizenship controversy. The email accused Díaz of being a “fake and overrated pseudo intellectual” who doesn’t even speak Spanish well. Santana emailed us a response to our story and had it translated […]

Many were wondering when author Junot Díaz would respond to a barrage of critiques, including those from a Dominican author and a government official. This morning, Díaz’s Facebook page posted the following comments:

In an email obtained by Latino Rebels, José Santana, the Executive Director of the Dominican Republic’s International Advisory Committee on Science and Technology, an organization created by former president Leonel Fernández, lambasted author Junot Díaz for critical comments about current Dominican politicians, specifically in how they are using the current controversy surrounding Dominicans of Haitian […]

Last week Dominican writer Giovanny Cruz wrote a rather scathing and nationalistic op-ed in notimundord.com basically slamming fellow Dominican writers Junot Díaz and Julia Álvarez for writing a letter to The New York Times criticizing the Dominican government for its recent ruling on citizenship for Haitians. The October 29 Times letter, co-signed by Díaz, Álvarez, Mark Kurlansky […]

Last night Junot Díaz appeared on “The Colbert Report” talking literature, immigration, and Freedom University, a college for undocumented student. Like he tells Colbert, “Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That’s just the truth of it.” And then what about the “Superman Question?” You do know that Superman is […]

Tuesday at the Edinburgh World Writers' Conference, writers from all over the world—including Pulitzer Prize novelist Junot Diaz—issued a statement condemning Arizona's House Bill 2281, the law that allowed for the banning of books at Tucson Unified School District  and the dismantling of TUSD's Mexican American Studies program.   We, the undersigned writers attending the […]

It’s difficult to unlearn silence.

Global protests against racial injustice came on the heels of the pandemic, and Dominicans are now being publicly confronted with their Blackness.

Start promoting and uplifting their voices.

Because collectively, we move closer to reclaiming our identity.

It’s a case that few are following, but we have been for years.

Student protesters are confirming that free speech is alive and well at college campuses.

DMC editor-in-chief Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez discusses their latest crime fighter, and why it’s important for kids of color to see themselves reflected in comics.

I have become highly skeptical of immigration movies. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because our collective has received so many emails this year, that it suddenly feels like overkill. Immigration rights is a “hot topic,” and while more and more projects have become real movies and even Oscar winners, very little has happened […]

Dear Governor Cuomo, As members of the Dominican-American community in New York City, we were appalled that, during a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, you failed to address a grave situation of ongoing human rights violations in the country. Since a ruling issued by the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal last year, the Dominican government has […]

Bronx Writers Center director and Rebelde Charlie Vázquez sat with Daniel José Older at a Brooklyn restaurant to discuss —among other things— the spirit world in storytelling, the importance of building community and how the publishing industry needs to restructure its acquisitions and marketing strategies if it wishes to engage more Latino readers.   CV: […]

With all the talk about the Dominican Republican and its whole “Haiti” issue, just a reminder (yes, we got this from some of our Facebook fans) that a similar situation is also happening in The Bahamas, and it has been going on for a while. Like since the 1970s. Watch. Lakay (Home) – Documentary on […]