Latina Columnist Dolores Prida Dies at 69

By Aiyana Baida, Voxxi

Cuban journalist and prominent Latina writer Dolores Prida died Sunday morning from heart failure in New York City, reports Diario de Cuba and CNN. She was 69.

Prida was a one of the founding members of Latina Magazine and wrote the advice column Dolores Dice where she helped readers through marriage troubles, confidence issues and gave them advice from one Latina to another.

The night before Dolores Prida died she attended the 20th anniversary celebration for the Latina journalism activism group LIPS, reports Latina Magazine. Supreme court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and host of the gathering Maite Junco, the former editor of The New York Daily News, VIVA New York were also in attendance.

Prida wrote a weekly column for El Diario NY, the oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in New York. Her last column on gun control, Tiros por la culata y escopetas bajo la almohada was published Thursday, Jan. 17.

Dolores Prida: A powerful voice for Latinos

Dolores Prida, the eldest of three children, was born in 1943 in Cabairien, Cuba. She left her homeland for the United States two years after the 1959 revolution, reports El Diario.  Prida took literature courses at Hunter College and started her writing career. She became known as a powerful voice in the Latino community. One of her best quotes is, “I don’t need to be ‘discovered.’ I’ve never been lost.” Prida wrote plays and musicals but became well known for her columns which advocated for Latinos in the U.S.

Her work appeared in The New York Daily News, El Diario NY and Latina Magazine among others.

In an email to Latina Magazine, Sotomayor said of her seeing her “longtime friend” at the Sunday night LIPS party:

“As always, she was filled with life and plans for the engaging work she was involved in. Dolores was a visionary. As a writer she inspired us to think deeply about our culture. She will be missed.”

Junco said Dolores Prida’s legacy will be as a pioneer for Latinos, as she was writing about her beloved Latino community before mainstream media took notice.

“I think Dolores was ahead of us in knowing the Latino community and its full potential in the United States,” Junco told Latina Magazine. “Now people are reporting on us like its the newfound Latinos, but Dolores was already writing about it and pushing for our seat at the table.”

Dolores Prida is survived by her siblings Maria and Lourdes.

This article was first publisehd in Voxxi.

Aiyana Baida is a multimedia journalist whose work has been featured in Highlands Today, The Sun Sentinel, United Press International, The Miami Herald and The Miami New Times among other publications. Aiyana earned her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Miami in 2009 while freelancing for several media websites.