Quotes About Heritage

Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor.

I was 22 when my mother gave me the original box set of 'Roots' and she said, 'I want you to watch this.' I watched the whole thing back to back in the span of 24 hours. It had a profound effect on me. It felt like my story.

My father is Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino; my mother is half-Irish and half-Japanese; Greek last name; born in Hawaii, raised in Germany.

My grandparents were from Spain, and I had a Spanish passport.

As a singer, it's basic to preserve what I like to do, which is music, and also to remember my cradlesongs in Spanish.

There are some Chicanos who don't want to be Chicanos - they want to be Mexican-American, Hispanic, or even Spanish.

My thoughts, my feelings, my spirit, they are all in Spanish.

When you look at me, you can't really tell what I am, but I'm black, white, Native, Spanish, and a little bit of Filipino.

I could attempt a project in English, but I'd like to continue singing in Spanish.

I grew up speaking Spanish. The woman who helped raise me was only Spanish-speaking, so it was one of my primary languages as a kid. And I lived in Spain for a while.

I've always wanted to be able to say that I come from Los Angeles, California and feel quintessentially American - even if I said that in Spanish.

I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii.

My father was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. His family is from Spain. My father never taught me how to speak Spanish when I was little. That's very disappointing to me. I'm still planning on learning it on my own. I really want to travel to Spain and immerse myself in the culture and learn it on my own.

People have lots of misconceptions about me. My mum, who is half French and half Spanish, gets outraged when I'm called quintessentially English. I owe my looks to my mum-which was 90 percent of getting my first job. And, some people would argue, 90 percent of my entire career.

I'm often mistaken for Spanish or Latin descent.

I'm a mongrel in the sense that I'm Spanish, English, Latino, Jewish, north, south - all these things are mixed in me.

I'm very, very Spanish. I have fat cheeks on both ends. I'm sitting on my Spanish part. And it's my heart, the way I am, the way I speak. It has nothing to do with the way I look.

Before anyone learns my last name, they always assume I have some type of Latin background in me somewhere. I love it! I think the Latin culture is sexy. It's one of my goals to learn to speak Spanish one day; then I will really be able to fool people!

My parents were both Spanish-speakers and they used to speak to me and my siblings in Spanish and we'd answer them in English.

Sometimes people say to me, 'Ah, you're not really Spanish; you're British.'

Everything that is really Mexican is either Aztec or Spanish.

In French literature, you can choose a la carte; in Spanish literature, there is only the set meal.

I want people to take pride in Spanish Harlem. These are people that everyone in the community could relate to... people who mean something special to us.

I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes people think I'm not Puerto Rican, because my name doesn't sound Spanish.