February 2016 ~ Issue 5
Established in 2010, BoriquaChicks is an entertainment and lifestyle news blog that provides readers access to popular celebrity news stories and real life topics.
Founder, Raquel reflects on why she started Boriqua Chicks:
"As a child, I always loved to read about celebrities in the latest magazines—making sure that I stayed current in television, film and fashion news. However, there was one thing missing, I didn't really see a lot of stories about Black Latinos/as. Growing up with a Puerto Rican mother and an African-American father on the South Side of Chicago, I didn't have a lot of people around me that I could identify with.
Often my world was split in two parts. My mom created a home where we could embrace our Puerto Rican identity and we spent many summers visiting our family in Puerto Rico. In Chicago my African-American family and friends were influential in shaping my African-American identity. Whether people understood me or not, I always felt I had the best of two worlds*-- whether it was eating my mother's arroz con pollo (rice & chicken) or my paternal grandmother’s soul food.
Some years ago my friends began to say, "Why don't you start your own blog? You're always reading and talking about other blogs." I thought to myself, 'I guess so, why not?' I started the blog in 2010 and it has grown with a wide audience over the years. I started casually blogging and wanted to share news about topics I was interested in. Early on, Boriqua Chicks covered a lot of entertainment stories [some ratchetness :) too] with a focus on celebrities of color—specifically, African-Americans, Latinos/as and Afro-Caribbeans.
The addition of my sister Rebecca has strengthened the blog. My blog wasn't started to be divisive (as some people have questioned), but to share my thoughts with audience members that could personally relate to my story and those who have an affinity to read what my sister and I write about. Over the years we have worked to offer quality content and have also integrated more lifestyle topics into our editorial.