From the tropiques: building personas for ethnographic research

Another Thursday night, it was the beginning of November and the fall weather had never given us a break. It was raining and walking from 125th street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Exodus was annoying. Laila had planned a workshop with Exodus’ youth and I was about to interview Thomas. Laila, Amanda, Gemma and Maria – a visiting scholar from Malmö University, Sweden – and me buzzed the bell and climbed two flights of the narrow stairs.

Something I enjoy about doing ethnography is the tension between the uncomfortable moment of finding your way in to the community - which posture to assume, which language to use – and the sensitivity you have to have in order to uncover your interlocutors. Reading between his lines on his attempt to either scare you or drive you away. But that night after a round of icebreakers and introductions I realized I had a trick in my sleeve.

Here in the US I can use my Latino origin to connect with minority communities. I’m just the second generation in my family born in Brazil and my European features make no one guess that I’m from the tropiques. However, I feel comfortable leaning on my warm blood and my portuñol. That and the fact that Brazil, the country of futebol and Neymar, had hosted and was humiliated in the World Cup just a few months before. The channel with youth was open for me.