This week on Race of Your Own, actress and storyteller Adargiza De Los Santos joins us to talk about identity, Hollywood, and what it means to take up space when the room was never built for you.
Adargiza grew up in Brooklyn straddling two worlds: a Dominican household and American everything else. She was code-switching before there was even a word for it. Her mother, an immigrant, raised 8 kids sola y sin ayuda, and that strength runs through everything Adargiza does. Somewhere between those two worlds she found storytelling, the one thing that made sense in both languages.
Today you've seen her in The Pitt, Ted, The Lincoln Lawyer, Abbott Elementary, The Horror of Dolores Roach, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Grey's Anatomy, This Is Us, Shameless, Bosch, Criminal Minds, and Castle.
Before Hollywood she was a Museum Educator at El Museo del Barrio, The Museum of the City of New York, and The Queens Museum of Art. There she used storytelling to give people access to art and history that was never meant for them. Her motto: build the door if it doesn't exist. Ya tú sabes.
In this episode:
🔸 Growing up Afro-Dominican in Brooklyn and learning to live in two cultures
🔸 How Afro-Latinas are seen, and too often overlooked, in Hollywood
🔸 Lessons from a mother who raised 8 kids on her own
🔸 Turning museums and classrooms into spaces of belonging
🔸 Living in New York, Houston, Puerto Rico, and Spain, and reconnecting with her Dominican roots
🔸 Her work as a mental health advocate and why being different is never being wrong
📲 Follow Adargiza: Instagram @adargizadelossantos
🎧 Subscribe to Race of Your Own for more Latino and immigrant stories that deserve the spotlight.
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