In the compelling and prideful speech at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2001, Sonia Sotomayor, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice in 2009, uses effective rhetorical techniques, such as sharing personal and emotional experiences of her family, listing foods in Spanish or an example of what a Latino or Latina means to build credibility, and pathos to appeal to patriotism, in order to highlight and embrace what it means to be a Latina, or any person of any race, in America.

To start, Sotomayor opens the speech by sharing the background story of how her family got to the United States to have a context of how her background shapes her story growing in a different country with a different culture. Sotomayor starts with a rhetorical question and a funny compounded word "Newyorkrican" to lead into the story of her family coming to the states during World War II. She then highlights the struggles of her family, stating that her parents came to the United States to escape "poverty" and to "find and secure a better life for themselves and the family that they hoped to have." By sharing the background story of the family, Sotomayor is building the common yet effective narrative of a family with the American Dream coming the land of freedom and opportunities in order to achieve a better life. The story reminds the audience of the values many Americans are proud of: they are a country of opportunities, they welcome and celebrate the different peoples coming here in this land of diversity while continuing to strengthen the values they hold dear of. Sotomayor is saying that she is also one of the many people who are proud of and celebrating this beautiful thing about America. And, considering that she is giving a speech in California where there is a large population of Latin-American living, the opening of her speech surely leaves a strong impression in the minds of many students who can relate to her story of being a proud Latina.

To demonstrate the beauty and her understanding of the culture, Sotomayor utilizes lists of things that are close to her, and the values that are meaningful to her, to further highlight her pride of being  a Latina in America. She states that the special part of her identity is the "mucho platos de arroz, gandules y pernil," or the "morcilla, patitas de cerdo con garbanzo, and la lengua y orejas de cuchifrito" that she has always eaten at familiy holidays and special events. The list of plates is not to say that she eats Puerto Rican foods; she has cleverly used the foods to highlight the unity, the beautiful moments she has with her family, and the connection between the people of the same community. In a country where her culture is not the dominated one and her people are at risk of losing their identity, which Sotomayo also addresses when she says her brother, "like too many of [them] educated [in the United States], barely speaks [Spanish]," people have to get together to celebrate and continue the traditional values of their culture, starting with the foods. The fact that Sotomayor is able to name the plates in Spanish, while mindfully providing translation, proves how she values her identity as a Latina: she is proud of her background, she is not going to hide it, she is going to show it to people to know. At the same time, she is also aware that naming foods in Spanish is not enough to prove her Latina identity. She then states her definition of what it means to be a Latino or Latina, briefly those who were colonized by Spain and continue to use the Spanish language. Sotomayo then jokes that she has been "very well educated" knowing well that it is the rhetorical intention in order to proves her understanding of her background, while reminding the students to never forget the origin of where they come from, start by learning history. Through the list of foods and her definition of being a Latina or Latino, Sotomayo effectively strengthens her claim as a proud Latina while celebrating the beauty of her culture.

Last but not least, Sotomayo draws her personal story back to the current events happening in the United States. After highlighting the beauty of the American Dream earlier in the speech, Sotomayo now states the challenges people like her have to face as many people are "race and colorblind" and forget the diversity that makes America the land it is known today. After telling the story of her life like the beautiful dreams of living in America as a Latina, Sotomayo wants her audience to face the truth that "many of [them] struggle" in a country that does not really know "how to deal with its differences." Americans have always been proud that their country is built by the sacrifices of many immigrants, but today Sotomayo, the Justice of the Supreme Court, and many other Americans are seeing the otherwise. Sotomayo implies that not knowing how to preserve the differences is losing the identity of America. What makes America so powerful is because people work hard and willing to die for their land, while they are still allowed to be themselves, to celebrate their identity and their culture, not because there is a common race with a common doctrine, the scary ideology many Americans had sacrificed to prevent it from destroying world freedom and democracy. Eliminating the differences in many ways could be interpreted as an attempt to pave the way to a authoritarian society, and proud Americans, or "Newyorkricans" like Sotomayo have the responsibility to not make it the reality. That is why she states she does not want "political struggles that create a Latino or Latina identity." It should be an essential and beautiful thing about America, not something people have to go down the roads and fight for. Sotomayo uses the current events in the United States to once again highlight her pride in her identity, and that she would do anything in her authority to continue the diversity in America, start by reminding the audience listening to her to always be proud of who they are, just like how she is proud of being a "Puertorriquena."

By using personal experiences and stories, listing the things she values in her own language, and connecting her stories to the current events in America, Sonia Sotomayo successfully highlights and embraces her identity, as well as the diversity in America, in the compelling and prideful speech at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2001. Seeing the stories of immigrants begin to be heated again in the last few months, people have to be more aware that America is built by immigrants, and the diversity in the United States should be appreciated more; it is so easy to lose this beautiful value of America.