When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio

This book was entertaining and an eye opener into the wonderful Afro-Puerto Rican culture in Spanish Harlem. The characters were so moving and her description of events, both happy and painful, were colorful. The book takes the readers to a rich and cultural unique community of Puerto Ricans in New York City. It explains that the community has been around since the turn of the 20th Century and that Puerto Ricans had a thriving community in East Harlem. Ms. Moreno Vega lets us know the issues that take place because of racism and sexism, and even self hatred of one's hertiage. And there is the relationship with her abuela and the tradition of Santeria/Lucumi that she was taught that was so much a part of her childhood. It is a wonderful coming-of-age book. I immediately parted with the book (gasp) and sent it to my sister, who then passed it on to her teenage cousin. We all just felt so enlivened by the book, that we each say it's one of our favorites. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is surely a treasure that needs to be discovered by more people.

Wow is all I could say as I kept my eyes glued to the pages. It brought back so many stories that I use to hear about the old times. When spiritual practices were once actively practiced in the African American community even though the story is about Nuyoricans. I really appreciated how she included in her story about the great salsa singers and how they would perform at the Apollo Theatre. I won't tell you everything she writes about but, I can say that Vega painted a wonderful picture of her childhood. That makes you easily relate to her experience of being a brown-skinned Latina in the middle of the 20th century. Her story however, makes you want to have a rich relationship with her Abuela (Grandmother), who was the glue of her family. She also paints a very descriptive story of how it was growing up as a Nuyorican in East Harlem. There is also a great wealth of information in this book regarding Afro-Puerto Rican practices, which makes the book even more exciting. As others have expressed, I hated to put this book down and definitely hated for it to end. Since reading this book I have recommended it to others because it is a great memoir.

This book is fantasic especially when the author Herself reads from it. I had the pleasure of meeting her last year at Enoch Pratt library in Baltimore. Dr. Vega also has a documentary based on this gem of a book that she shows when she features the book. A must read AND see! MS. AMber

"When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio" is an excellent read in my opinion. As a student of African spirituality I gathered so much information from reading this book and from the words of wisdom Ms.Vega so lovingly remembers from her Abuela. I got a notebook and a pen and diligently took notes on such things as how to spiritually cleanse a house and what incense to use to keep unwanted spirits away. Like a previous reader I cried at the end of the book especially since Ms.Vega is the only one in her nuclear family left; all of her immediate family is now in the spirit world and in the case of her older sister,Socorro there is no date or details of her untimely death. Ms.Vega skillfully depicts in her memoir the co-existence of both the spirit and the human worlds and shows us that even though loved ones have passed on they are still here to protect us. This book really shows the importance of the human spirit in our family and communities which seemed so prevalent in the 1950's and 1960's when Ms.Vega grew up in El Barrio but is sadly lacking in families and communties today destroyed by drugs and violence. I especially liked Ms.Vega's descriptions of how spirit guides and the spirits themselves possess a "medium" of which abuela is one and how the Puerto Rican families in El Barrio really relied on the wisdom and guidance of these spirit guides. This book also shows how music and spirit are entertwined whether used in worshipping the African dieties are on the stages of major concert halls like the Palladium and Apollo Theaters. This memoir is one that is unique amongst most family memoirs because this one focuses on ancestral and familial spiritual ties that make us who we are. Very well done Ms.Moreno.

Kudos to Marta Moreno Vega for this beautifully written, heartfelt memoir. When the Spirits Dance Mambo brings to life the hopes and dreams of Puerto Ricans living in East Harlem in the 50s and 60s. The book opens with young Marta and her sister Chachita huddled under the bed covers with a telephone. Their brother is on the line, and he's at the Palladium club, listening to live mambo music by some of the worlds best musicians. He holds up the receiver of the pay phone so his sisters can experience the music. In Marta's world, the mambo, and the other songs and rhythms of the Carribean, is everything. Her elderly grandmother--the most extraordinary character in this book--tells her that music is the connection between people and the spirits who guide and protect them. Her parents--a hard-working immigrant couple--are transformed into an elegant lady and gentleman when they dance together in the family's living room. This memoir is an excellent coming-of-age story that reminded me a little of Esmeralda Santiago's When I was Puerto Rican, but the emphasis on music, and on the mystic Santeria religion, makes it a much more rewarding read. You come to know and love the Morenos and especially Marta's abuela. It's an amazing portrait of one author's past told through words and music. I highly recommend this book.