@Rage_method_chi
“I’ve seen neighbors stop talking. Coworkers stop being friendly. Where ego and nationalism has become personality.”
It is a reimagining of the piece Amor A Todas Horas, by Simon Silva, but showing a mother’s fear, and sense of imprisonment in our great city.
I can not imagine what someone in her position would feel, but I want them to know that I understand. The community understands.
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Both parents arriving here as undocumented immigrants. My mother as a young child. My father arriving as a young man. My father, crossing over railroad tracks, coming to a new city, where he had never been to, didn’t speak the language, had nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Armed only with a dream, motivation, and 2 of his siblings. His only desire to make a life he and his future family could enjoy.
How has your immigration story impacted your relationship with your family and community? What does your family/community look and feel like?
Friendships have been impacted most. Those i thought were allies to the community and culture, revealed to be impostors. I’ve seen neighbors stop talking. Coworkers stop being friendly. Where ego and nationalism has become personality.
What is your relationship to home and/or tradition and how has that changed?
Its driven me to dive deep into why we do and celebrate the things we do. Not only Mexican traditions, but also American. To find the origins of our customs.
When do you feel the pull between your present life and your roots the strongest, and how do you reconcile those competing feelings?
I feel it most at work. I hear comments being whispered, gestures being made, some out loud and some quietly. I have to remind myself that i am not there to make friends. I am there to make my presence felt. To out perform everyone who doubts me, just as my father has always taught me.
What is your hope centered around? What dreams are you building for yourself?
I am creating the American dream for my children and their children, through art and entrepreneurship