Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White

“Nevertheless, the artwork also makes it clear that this personal and cultural journey is not the sole focus of the graphic memoir. Prominently centered and carefully set in the foreground, a tightly cropped frame of a young African American couple—holding candles and singing—subtly obstructs the geographical destination of the United States.” (Peterson, Breckenridge). Although the story is about Weaver’s migration to America, she decides to focus on how her racial identity is affected by the Civil Rights movement. As an Argentinean immigrant, Weaver's position within the racial hierarchy was ambiguous, and she often found herself struggling to understand her place in the world. She uses her personal experiences to highlight the ways in which race intersects with other aspects of identity, such as class, nationality, and language. The novel by Lila Quintero Weaver is an autobiography. In an interview with Danny Salter, Weaver describes the book as a memoir(https://youtu.be/3Ju4MSU5Ng8). Weaver describes the book as a fast read. The book is more than a regular novel; it is a graphic novel. Besides being the book's author, Weaver is also the illustrator since she is the artist who draws the pictures illustrated in the book.

           Weaver's mother was also an artist who inspired Weaver's artistic side. An exciting fact told in the story by Weaver is that since she and her brother were not allowed to watch television, their creative side came to life as they spent hours drawing and painting. The personal narrative by Weaver is her narrative as a young Argentinian girl who moves with her family to Marion, Alabama, during the 1960-1970s. Even though Weaver describes herself as "Passing" because she looks white, she still suffers racism when people realize her family is Hispanic. She explains how she stud up to defend others who were suffering racism.

           Besides the remarkable drawings in the novel, one enjoys the narrative of the struggles that some go through to find self-identity. Self-identity seems to be a strong theme in the story. The title of the novel "Darkroom" could be interpreted as a metaphor to describe what was happening in society at the time. The novel has reached out to classrooms. It has also been translated into Spanish by Karina Elizabeth Vazquez.