Influencing future generations
I attended a fundraising dinner last night for an organization dedicated to education, empowerment and advocacy for the Latino community. The main focus of many of the organization's efforts are youth - from pre-K through college. As I sat and listened to the Executive Director and the featured youth speaker, I heard the story that is so often repeated for Latinos.
I was the first....
My family came to the U.S. seeking better opportunities for me and my brothers and sisters....
If it wasn't for the people that believed in me, I would have headed down the wrong path....
Yet, Representative Steve King still believes that the majority of our youth are drug mules with no aspirations, goals or desire to make their parents' dreams of a better life and actual reality. Mr. King, that makes about as much as sense as the teacher who told me she always looked up to the cholas in East LA. She admired their wing tipped eyeliner and their khakis, desperately wanting to be like them. She thought that would bond us. You know, because ALL Latinas aspire to gang bang growing up. Stupid is as stupid does. SIGH!
Maybe those individuals who have so much to say about who we are as a cultural group, especially all of our "deficits", should take the time to speak to us and really get to know who we are, what we want and what we are ready to offer this country. Maybe they'll find out that our parents really DO care but they don't attend PTA meetings because they are busy working multiple jobs instead of collecting welfare. They might also find out that our parents fight hard to keep us out of gangs, away from drugs and alcohol, and they are often very strict disciplinarians. Then again they might hear the stories that are often told to us of dreams that never became a reality because of a lack of educational opportunity or the need to work to help the family. I guess judging, assuming and sticking to the talking points is easier than finding out the truth.
In my own dissertation I address the influence of the family and generational struggle that contributed greatly to the success I enjoy today. Success defined in the very "American dream" sort of way. Good job, great salary, degrees, materialistic measures, retirement fund, etc. I have it all and it makes my parents proud that I "am someone".
Any examination of myself must begin before I was even conceived. What came before me has had a tremendous impact on, and has had a large role in, shaping who I am today. My approach to education, my work ethic, my belief system, and my values have been shaped and deeply ingrained by a family structure that existed long before I did. I cannot get away from it, nor do I believe that I would want to. All of these factors combined affect my way of thinking and the lens through which I perceive the world.
As a young father my grandfather faced many challenges. He migrated north from south central Mexico where traditions and beliefs are very much alive, even today. Upon reaching the thriving city of Juarez with his wife and young children, he set out to build a better life. Before long there were seven children and still not enough money. He knew that he must cross illegally into El Paso for the opportunities and the money lay north of the river. Many a time I have heard him state how he would stand on the bank of the river staring across at El Paso. He would view the cars and the homes and the lifestyle that were so different than his own. He vowed that somehow that life would be available for his children and, one day, for his grandchildren.
My grandfather, his family and my father endured much racism, humiliation, trials and tribulations that collectively determined how I would be raised. Family pride begins with the educational accomplishments of each consecutive generation. Because of those experiences my upbringing has been such that family, faith, achievement, education, and success are the ideals that shape who I am today.
Now I am creating my own knowledge. I am creating my own responsibility to others who may be in the situations that they are in because of the circumstances that surround them, even if they didn’t choose to be surrounded by them. None of my grandparents completed grade school. My mother has a fifth grade education. My father only completed high school because of pride. Of my grandfather's eight children, all of his children entered the school system. Seven of the eight received high school diplomas. Within my generation, my siblings, my cousins, and myself have far excelled the expectations that society and the family had of us. In three generations we went from laborers of low socio-economic status with little education to highly educated, successful professionals. From one little, stubborn Mexican migrant worker have grown three engineers, two PhD’s, teachers, and nurses.
And by the way, Representative King, not a single one of us were drug mules or leeches off the welfare roles.
I was the first....
My family came to the U.S. seeking better opportunities for me and my brothers and sisters....
If it wasn't for the people that believed in me, I would have headed down the wrong path....
Yet, Representative Steve King still believes that the majority of our youth are drug mules with no aspirations, goals or desire to make their parents' dreams of a better life and actual reality. Mr. King, that makes about as much as sense as the teacher who told me she always looked up to the cholas in East LA. She admired their wing tipped eyeliner and their khakis, desperately wanting to be like them. She thought that would bond us. You know, because ALL Latinas aspire to gang bang growing up. Stupid is as stupid does. SIGH!
Maybe those individuals who have so much to say about who we are as a cultural group, especially all of our "deficits", should take the time to speak to us and really get to know who we are, what we want and what we are ready to offer this country. Maybe they'll find out that our parents really DO care but they don't attend PTA meetings because they are busy working multiple jobs instead of collecting welfare. They might also find out that our parents fight hard to keep us out of gangs, away from drugs and alcohol, and they are often very strict disciplinarians. Then again they might hear the stories that are often told to us of dreams that never became a reality because of a lack of educational opportunity or the need to work to help the family. I guess judging, assuming and sticking to the talking points is easier than finding out the truth.
In my own dissertation I address the influence of the family and generational struggle that contributed greatly to the success I enjoy today. Success defined in the very "American dream" sort of way. Good job, great salary, degrees, materialistic measures, retirement fund, etc. I have it all and it makes my parents proud that I "am someone".
Any examination of myself must begin before I was even conceived. What came before me has had a tremendous impact on, and has had a large role in, shaping who I am today. My approach to education, my work ethic, my belief system, and my values have been shaped and deeply ingrained by a family structure that existed long before I did. I cannot get away from it, nor do I believe that I would want to. All of these factors combined affect my way of thinking and the lens through which I perceive the world.
As a young father my grandfather faced many challenges. He migrated north from south central Mexico where traditions and beliefs are very much alive, even today. Upon reaching the thriving city of Juarez with his wife and young children, he set out to build a better life. Before long there were seven children and still not enough money. He knew that he must cross illegally into El Paso for the opportunities and the money lay north of the river. Many a time I have heard him state how he would stand on the bank of the river staring across at El Paso. He would view the cars and the homes and the lifestyle that were so different than his own. He vowed that somehow that life would be available for his children and, one day, for his grandchildren.
My grandfather, his family and my father endured much racism, humiliation, trials and tribulations that collectively determined how I would be raised. Family pride begins with the educational accomplishments of each consecutive generation. Because of those experiences my upbringing has been such that family, faith, achievement, education, and success are the ideals that shape who I am today.
Now I am creating my own knowledge. I am creating my own responsibility to others who may be in the situations that they are in because of the circumstances that surround them, even if they didn’t choose to be surrounded by them. None of my grandparents completed grade school. My mother has a fifth grade education. My father only completed high school because of pride. Of my grandfather's eight children, all of his children entered the school system. Seven of the eight received high school diplomas. Within my generation, my siblings, my cousins, and myself have far excelled the expectations that society and the family had of us. In three generations we went from laborers of low socio-economic status with little education to highly educated, successful professionals. From one little, stubborn Mexican migrant worker have grown three engineers, two PhD’s, teachers, and nurses.
And by the way, Representative King, not a single one of us were drug mules or leeches off the welfare roles.
