Op-Led: Why I Am Going To The Historic Gathering of Dominicans In D.C.

Posted on July 27, 2012

BY Led Black (@Led_Black)

Photo: Briana E. Heard

This coming weekend, I will be taking my family and joining countless other Dominicans, Dominican-Americans and Latinos for the historic gathering of Dominicans in our nation’s capital to celebrate our presence in the U.S. and our contributions to this great country.

One of the reasons I will be making the trip to D.C. is to further instill in my 3 young daughters the importance of their heritage. In the same manner that my mother taught me to love Dominican Republic by our regular trips back to Quisqueya, I have done the same with my girls.

Secondly, it is also to honor my parents and the other Dominicans that left the comforts of their home country to find greener pastures in their adopted homeland. They brought with them an unwavering work ethic, an unshakeable optimism and a fervent belief that better days lay ahead. Their hard work and tough-minded tenacity created a path that I, and many others like me, have walked.

This gathering is about honoring where Dominicans are today, where they came from and where they are going. Dominicans, just like other immigrants before them, have received plenty from this country but we have also contributed greatly as well. I am proud to be both Dominican and American and will be at the National Mall ecstatically waving two flags with my wife and 3 daughters in tow. I may even shed a joyous tear or two but don’t tell anyone back home in the Heights.

Pa’lante siempre pa’lante.