OUR MIGRANT SOULS: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino,” by Héctor Tobar“Our Migrant Souls,” the new book by Héctor Tobar, begins with a direct address to the many Latinx students he has taught during his years as a professor at U.C. His tone is gentle and tender as he recounts the stories they’ve shared with him in essays and office visits — stories of migration and homecoming, trauma and resilience, doubts and joys. “You are a deep brown and you are fair-skinned,” he writes. “Your eyes are black and they are green, and you are 19, and 20 and 21.” Tobar describes a multitude of young people navigating complex ancestral histories and shifting notions of identity. “I will weave what I know with what you have taught me,” he promises them, “and together we will arrive at an understanding of our times, and our ‘people.’”Tobar, who has spent several decades reporting on immigration, culture and Latin America, is well equipped for such a task.

---