Happy 10-Year Anniversary to Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

I can’t believe it’s been ten years since my memoir, Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria) was released. The book was released on March 4, 2008 in hardcover and earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly! I was ecstatic.

Kinky Gazpacho is my story, but it’s also the story about the Black experience in Spain. I so desperately wanted to find a connection to Blackness in my husband’s homeland, for myself and for my children and I found it. I found an entirely hidden history of African slavery and Black culture all over Spain, but particularly in Andalusia. Kinky Gazpacho is absolutely a memoir, complete with juicy details about my love affair with el esposo, but it’s also a detective story about Spain’s African past.

Clearly the story resonated with many people, which makes me extremely happy because as I chronicled my journey, I often feared that my experience was unique but not universal, but I was wrong.

This message, in fact, just appeared in my inbox yesterday from a reader.

Hi! I just finished Kinky Gazpacho and I absolutely loved it. I flew through it and enjoyed every word. I saw so many similarities between our experiences…I especially enjoyed your focus on Spain’s problem with reconciling its own history…Your book was lovely and such a joy. Thank you for writing it.

The fact that 10 years later people are still reading my work and finding value in it, is what inspires me to keep writing. Even more exciting, while I cannot take any credit for it, is that Spain is finally coming to terms with its Black past. There is a growing number of films, books, articles, conferences and think pieces being written about Blackness and Spain by Spaniards. The country is still dealing with everyday racism, of course, but I’m so excited to see this level of engagement with Blackness. In fact, there is one film that is making the rounds at film festivals around the world (and will soon be coming to Philly) that examines the Black influence on Flamenco and Spain in general. It’s called Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories.

Check the trailer and see why I’m so excited.

Happy Anniversary Kinky Gazpacho! Viva España!

Peace!