- I know she had a lot of gems that I could have,
I could use.
And I know what I want to do is major.
(sighs)
And I think she would have been able to,
like, walk me through it.
(sweet, melancholy piano music)
A few months ago, I had to deal with something
that I have never dealt with before in my life,
and that was a death in my family.
Unfortunately, it was my great tia, Normandia Maldonado.
She was my grandma's sister.
And this death hit home because
it was so close.
It took until her death, and for me to go to the funeral,
to see how many people she impacted.
It opened my eyes to view her
in a way that I've never looked at her before,
besides being my Tia Mandia.
(inspiring guitar music)
So I went back to New York after the funeral,
and I went to CUNY College where all her archives were,
to go see and understand more of who she was,
why she impacted these people,
and the legacy she left behind.
Wow.
- This is where we do processing.
Here is where, a lot of people is here.
(mumbles)
- Look at how beautiful.
Oh, this is her passport picture.
- [Jessy Perez] Mmmhmm.
(chuckles)
How young, she was a baby.
(calming music)
- Came from the Dominican Republic at the age of 30 or so,
as soon as she came to this country,
the next year, she was already starting to do things.
- Wow.
This is, like, epic, look at this epic picture.
That's so dope.
(relaxed guitar music)
- You know, you see, like, your aunts
and your family, or your grandma, and all of these things,
and you, like, never picture them young.
(laughs)
'Cause you're like, "No, you're old,
"and I know you and you're old."
And then you look at this and you see, like,
how far they came.
My god, like, this is timeless.
Look how timeless this is.
(relaxed guitar dance music)
(laughs)
(woman speaking foreign language)
- How are you next to her, like?
That's crazy, it's Mandia and Celia Cruz.
And I'm sure they had, like, a dope conversation.
Like, I'm sure, like, they were able to,
they were able to connect.
Dos latinas, dos proud latinas,
just doing it.
- One of the biggest things in her house was--
And it was all of all of--,
all of them.
And then we would just always wanna go in there.
Always wanna see, like--
Like, and she would always be like--
It was the funniest, she was so small
but had this high-pitched voice when she would scream.
- One thing that she did do was that, you know,
she gave all of her evidence and artifacts
because if it wasn't 'cause of that,
you know, those things just go away,
and nobody even remembers it.
(light piano music)
(sniffs)
- Those are big shoes to fill.
(laughs)
- I started finding out more about my mom
and the impact she had on people
when she started getting sick.
(camera rattles)
(sniffs)
(somber music)
(lively, high-spirited music)
- [Julissa] Do you think she accomplished everything
she needed to accomplish?
- Oh, ah, no.
It was never enough for her.
She didn't know how to stop.
- [Julissa] Describe Normandia.
- I think she's an inspiration.
- If I got anything out of this, it's just,
(exhales)
she was, like, she was legendary.
You know it's funny, 'cause she used to always say--
Always would say that.
And sure enough,
now I do.
(airy, emotional piano music)
For what I want to do with my life,
for the career that I want to have,
for the role that I want to have in my
community, amongst my Dominicanos, amongst my Latinos,
she is the perfect representation of that.
And unfortunately, she passed,
before I could realize it.
And there has to be a reason,
and I don't know the reason,
but what I do know is that it gave me a sense of purpose.
And it allowed me to view what I am doing,
and what I want to do, and what I will accomplish
in a whole different light.
My tia has left a legacy by herself,
and I just hope to continue her legacy through me.
(electronic blips)