|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
I have never enjoyed a memoir more than Luis A. Miranda Jr.’s Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America.
Like many people, I was listening to Hamilton nonstop in 2015 and 2016. My brain is a sponge when it comes to anything pop culture or fandom, and I soaked up everything I could about Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the show’s impact. That included Lin-Manuel’s father, Luis A. Miranda Jr., namely his love for The Sound of Music and the support he showed for Lin-Manuel.
So I was beyond thrilled when I learned that Hispanic Executive would be featuring the senior Miranda and his new memoir on The Latino Majority podcast and as a digital cover for our American Dream series. I, being the avid reader that I am, jumped at the chance to review Relentless.
Luis A. Miranda Jr. Introduces Relentless
The memoir accomplishes two things. The first is pulling back the curtain into Miranda’s life and what shaped him into the person he is today. You learn about his first nineteen years growing up in Puerto Rico, falling in love with the movies (he saw The Sound of Music at least eighty times) as well developing his political views and pursuing a career in psychology. He brings you with him to New York City, where he pivots from psychology to community organizing and advocating for the Latino community through local government, nonprofits, and political campaign consulting. At the heart of everything is his family.
The second thing Relentless accomplishes is imparting Miranda’s political savvy and knowledge on the impact Latinos have made and continue to make in America. He takes you behind the scenes of working with different New York City mayors as well as different senatorial campaigns—and you learn about the failed campaigns, too. Maybe you won’t see eye-to-eye with Miranda, but he earns your trust and respect throughout the book.
Miranda is straightforward with his assessments and observations, and I often found myself laughing in delight at his phrasing and storytelling. This was true throughout the book, and half of the passages I underlined were the ones that drew such a laugh. Miranda even calls out this style of “shock therapy” throughout the book: “I want people to pay attention, to get out of their comfort zone.”
There is a lot to learn from Miranda, and Relentless only cracks the surface.
—
You can order Relentless and/or Incansable today.
