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Lessons abroad: a college student encounters hate, finds love in Spain
Ebony, March, 2008 by Lynette Holloway
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Lori L. Tharps was a junior at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., when she set her sights on studying abroad in Spain in 1992. She had known from an early age that Spain would be part of her destiny. But she was not prepared for the pain and uncertainty that came with it. She highlights those details in her memoir, KINKY GAZPACHO (Atria, $22). Arriving in Spain, she encountered rampant xenophobia toward Blacks. The country, she discovered, had a long and complex history with West African slavery. And just as her love affair with Spain was about to end, she fell in love with the unlikeliest of people--a Spaniard, whom she later married. Tharps, a freelance journalist, author and teacher in Philadelphia, took time to chat with Ebony about her compelling--and funny--story.
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EBONY: Was it a difficult story to craft?
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THARPS: After writing an article for a travel magazine about my amazing discovery of Spain's hidden history of having African slaves in their country for over 200 years, I knew I wanted to write a book about it. However, I am not a trained historian and I didn't want to write an academic text. I wanted to share this unknown aspect of Spanish history with the public and eventually I decided the best way to tell the story would be through my own unique experience in Spain as a Black female. So I ended up writing a book that is a memoir, but it is also a travel essay, a love story and an exploration of an unknown part of history.
EBONY: Personally, was it hard to write the story?
THARPS: The most difficult part of re-creating your past is making sure that your memories don't hurt other people. But I was determined to get my story out there because, beyond sharing this fascinating information about Spain, my story is one not often heard when discussing the Black experience in America. As we begin to finally expand our definition of what it means to be Black, I think KINKY GAZPACHO will be a welcome addition to the conversation.
EBONY: What a fun title. What is the origin?
THARPS: I actually came up with the tide long before I knew I would write this book. At the time, I had just finished writing my first book, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (St. Martin's 2001), and it seemed everything about the Black experience in America could be traced back to our hair. I was joking with my husband that my next book would be the story of how we met and fell in love and that it should be called Kinky Gazpacho--the Kinky referring to me and my kinky hair and the Gazpacho being the traditional tomato soup from Spain that my husband could not live without.
EBONY: What surprised you most about people's behavior?
THARPS: The first time I went to Spain, for my junior year of college, I was shocked that when people saw me they would stare mad point at me like I had two heads or something. This was 1992 and I just couldn't believe that a Black person could cause so much commotion. This didn't really happen in the big cities like Madrid and Barcelona, but in the smaller towns sometimes I felt like a walking freak show. As more and more African-Americans start to travel, though, this happens less and less.
EBONY: What advice do you have for young writers?
THARPS: I teach writing at Temple University and I always tell my students that there are two things you must do to call yourself a writer. You must read and you must write. Read everything that you can and when you're not reading, you should be writing.
EBONY: What is next?
THARPS: Right now, I am working on a novel that explores issues of motherhood, race and class. As with all of my writing, I hope it makes people reconsider their ideas about those very touchy and taboo subjects.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
