Lin-Manuel Miranda’s desire to represent Latinos and their unique experiences in predominantly white spaces began long before his incredible Broadway success.
In an intimate conversation for NBC with his father, Luis A. Miranda Jr., the “Hamilton” creator discussed how being one of very few students of Puerto Rican descent in his high school ignited a desire to embrace and share his culture with his peers.
“There’s sort of two ways of dealing with being an outsider, being a minority culture in a school. You either blend in or you grab that flag and you wave it as hard as you can,” he explained in the special Hispanic Heritage Month-themed interview with NBC. “And I think I was very much of the grab the flag school, particularly in high school when I realized this is awesome. I bring something to the table that my peers don’t. I bring dope Latin music, and I bring dope food. And I live in a part of town where it’s really different from the rest of New York, and it’s actually really exciting.”
The 36-year-old award-winning composer and performer, who directed his high school’s production of “West Side Story,” went on to explain how he used theater to teach his peers about his Puerto Rican heritage. “It became an opportunity to bring my culture to school, and instead of a negative thing like, ‘Oh, no, there’s no Latinos,’ it’s like, ‘Oh, no, I’m gonna bring what being Puerto Rican is,” he said.
The father-son duo also recalled how their family celebrated Three Kings Day (Jan. 6), and how they’d each explain the holiday to non-Latino children.
The younger Miranda said he described the celebration as an “extra Christmas,” when he was a kid to his non-Latino peers but his father had a much different take. When children asked why the kings didn’t visit their home, his dad would joke: “Unfortunately, you’re not one of the chosen ones.”
Watch the Mirandas reminisce about their family’s past, and the ways in which their shared culture has influenced their respective careers in the video above.
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