ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not have been completed without the support and generosity of so many people. I want to begin by expressing my profound thanks to the people I interviewed for this project, whose identities I have kept anonymous. I am humbled that they not only chose to entrust this stranger with their stories, but that they befriended and welcomed me in the process.

I began the research for this project while a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). It was an honor to be guided by the esteemed scholars on my committee, Charles Briggs, Raúl Fernández, Daniel Hallin, and Sara Johnson. I am eternally indebted to my chair, Ana Celia Zentella, who remains a trusted advisor. As an accomplished and well-respected scholar who maintains a strong connection to the community and demonstrates true and enduring affinity for her students, she is an example of the type of scholar I could only hope to become. I am grateful too that Raúl Fernández has continued to be a mentor. I cannot thank him enough for the many, many nuggets of savvy wisdom he has imparted along this journey and for his enthusiastic support and advocacy. My cohort members Faye Caronan Chen, Tere Ceseña Bontempo, Ashley Lucas, Theo Verinakis, and Thuy Vo Dang, along with Myrna García, Gina Opinaldo, and Cecilia Rivas, were a needed source of laughter and encouragement. I thank you for allowing me to feel, even today, that we are always in this together. I cannot forget the contributions of colleagues and friends such as José Fusté, who encouraged me to pursue my work by putting me in touch with contacts. Mama Kialueka in Miami and Cousin Michelle Archie in Los Angeles took me in whenever I needed a place to stay while conducting field research. Thank you for opening your homes to me.

I am grateful for the institutional support I have received in grants and fellowships at various stages of the research and writing for the book from: the UC-CUBA Academic Initiative; California Cultures in Comparative Perspective (UCSD); the UCSD Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity; the Center for Citizenship, Race and Ethnicity Studies at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York; the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South at Duke University; and the College of William and Mary’s Faculty Summer Research Grant program. I am truly appreciative for my postdoctoral experience in the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South at Duke, where I gained from the leadership of then-director Antonio Viego and assistant director Jenny Snead Williams, and from the intellectual guidance of my truly inspiring advisors William (Sandy) Darity and Holly Ackerman. I am thankful too for the Duke Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender (REGSS), for granting a book manuscript workshop award that provided me the opportunity to benefit from the invaluable expertise of Marvin Dunn and Nancy R. Mirabal, to whom I am also very grateful.

The book was in its final stages and completed after I joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology at the College of William and Mary. I have been fortunate to have such supportive departmental colleagues, every single one of which has helped me in profound ways. I give Amy Quark special mention because she volunteered to help me navigate the book publishing process. She ended up reading the whole manuscript several times, helping to reorganize and evaluate final drafts. I could not be more thankful for her investment of such a significant amount of time and effort to mentor a junior colleague. I appreciate also the welcoming friendship of Jennifer Bickham Mendez and the great advice and leadership of chairs Kay Jenkins and Graham Ousey. Several William and Mary students took interest in my research and worked as assistants: thank you Jennifer Fay, Benoit Mathieu, Jamesha Gibson, Olivia Leon Vitervo, and also Abbey Potter from the University of Virginia.

The careful eyes of Lennox Archer, Maria Teresa Ceseña Bontempo, Susan Silver, Philip Christman, Petra Rivera-Rideau, and Ali Neff helped me refine the writing at various stages. Joseph Jiménez served as a Spanish translator and blessed me with his firsthand knowledge of Cuban Miami and Miami culture more broadly. There simply are no words to express the gratitude I have for you all and the roles you took in this process.

I am elated that this book found a home at Cornell University Press. I thank Jim Lance for believing in the book when it first crossed his desk. As an editor he was a kind and calm presence, whose efforts allowed me to further develop the book to greater potential. I also want to thank the anonymous reviewers, whose close reading of the book, expertise, and insights helped me truly transform the work. While exploring the book publishing market, the manuscript was simultaneously reviewed by another press; I thank their readers as well, who contributed ideas that I ended up incorporating into the final work.

Writing a manuscript can sometimes be a lonely undertaking, so I cherish the social and emotional support I have received from my friends. Here I name just a few: Jennifer Dabu, Perlita Dicochea, Cherie Espinosa, May Fu, Esther Hernandez, Dalida Lim, Erin Malone, Jennifer Mata, Shannon Norwood, Angie Roberts-Dixon, and Estella Robinson. Though you have not been directly involved in this book and many of you are outside my current academic circles, you have sustained me and have inspired my work in ways you don’t even know.

Space does not allow me to elaborate on the immeasurable contributions of all the people who have helped shape this book. But I reserve these final words for a note of thanks and dedication to my family. I draw upon the strength of my parents, who, having fought the good fight for so long, encourage me directly and through their example. I give thanks to them for inspiring me through their love to keep the faith, and I give thanks to the One who makes all things possible. My siblings Jamal and Lennox have provided years of comradery and laughter. Lennox, though you are the youngest, we can all agree you are the smartest! Thank you for reading and improving all my work. My friendship with Tere Ceseña Bontempo began when we were both pursuing our doctorates, but she has become truly a sister to me. I count your presence in my life a tremendous blessing.

The love, care, and patience of Scott Wisniewski is a treasure. We met just as this project was getting underway. Though we are in totally different professional worlds, you have stuck by me, absorbing all the specific challenges my kind of work can bring to a family and a partnership. Together we have built a loving family that now includes two beautiful little humans. The three of you interrupt and complicate all my plans—to bring me the utmost joy. You inspire me to hold fast to the only things that truly matter in the end.