Christopher Rivas Talks Being Brown & Making it in America with Betty Cruz

At a time when disinformation hate crimes inequality racial injustice and white supremacy are on the rise Christopher Rivas’ Brown Enough part memoir and part social commentary emerges. The debut work asks readers to proudly put their bodies and their identities into the conversations of race. Brown Enough is a roller coaster of finding one’s true self while simultaneously having a racial awakening amidst the struggle to be “perfectly” Latinx woke and as Brown as possible to make it in today’s America. City of Asylum welcomes author Christopher Rivas this December to share his story through the lens of Brown Enough in conversation with moderator Betty Cruz President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. 

The memoir explores love sex fake-it-till-you-make-it ambition bad Spanish color code-switching white-washing scandal Hollywood and more navigating these necessary and often revealing topics through fourteen chapters—each a distinct moment where Christopher explores his Brownness and how to own it. Brown Enough is the quest to find an answer to the questions he has been asking his whole life in every conversation during every date at every job: “What are the consequences of not being in the conversation?” “What does it take to be in it?”

City Theatre will produce the DNAWORKS production of THE REAL JAMES BOND…WAS DOMINICAN. Written and Performed by Christopher Rivas Developed with and Directed by Daniel Banks January 18 – February 16 2025.

You can purchase your own copy of Chris’ book Brown Enough at City of Asylum Bookstore.

Host or Publisher City of Asylum Pittsburgh