¡Oye! ¿Como va? Happy Latinx Heritage Month to all our readers! As you all know, I am a proud first-generation Angelina from East L.A. I have been busy looking up my ancestry and stole my sister’s DNA results to bruit about as my own. I found out we have a rich ancestry that spans the globe—all courtesy of conquistadores, slaves, migrants, and indigenous peoples. Compare the DNA map and our pie chart: It represents 1 percent East Asian, 2 percent Sub-Saharan, 2 percent Ashkenazi Jew, 4 percent Arab, Egyptian, and Coptic, 30 percent Native American, and a whopping 60 percent Iberian!

Ancestry Composition

In the 2020 Census, I was finally able to designate myself as “mestiza,” whereas before I had to choose “other.” My sister’s DNA shows how integrated our histories are and that all of us are free to decide who we are by heritage. I don’t think I’m Spanish—I’m ethnically Mexican, and American. What heritage do you embrace? Let’s all celebrate who we are!

Yours in multiethnicity,

—Martha Y. Zavala