Shades of identity
Shades of identity
By Jan Peña-Davis – “My bad, girl, I thought you were black.” Fifteen-year-old Delisha Lopez recounts as she remembers how her new locker partner greeted her at the start of this school year. A sophomore student at Roberto Clemente Community Academy in gentrified Humboldt...
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Mi patria
Mi patria
Amalia Gonzalez – It was early in the morning. I had just woken up. My cousin Jonathan was driving. He picked me up from the airport and we drove five hours to my parent’s hometown in Mexico. Mexico is the best part of my year. Every year in December, me and my family,...
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Latino Monster Love Saga
Latino Monster Love Saga
By Jenny Patiño – Recently on “Lopez Tonight,” George Lopez asked fans waiting in line for the premier of “New Moon” to get him to like the movie. He joked that he couldn’t get behind the vampires and didn’t understand the pasty white skin. At one point he asked...
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My mother’s expectations
My mother’s expectations
By Annabel Garcia – Walking into the kitchen, I moved my hands across the chair leaning forward listening to my father talk about his day. I finally let myself fall into the chair as my mother called “Annabel ve a limpiarme la sala.” It felt like an order from a general...
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A beautiful struggle
A beautiful struggle
By Elizabeth Rodriguez – For me, growing up as a Puerto Rican woman in Chicago has been bittersweet. In the typical Chicago Latino neighborhood of Humboldt Park, I was definitely odd for a number of reasons. I was not Latina enough because I wasn’t born in Puerto Rico, my...
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Stop separating families
Stop separating families
By Mariela Quintuna – It was October 26, 2008 when the news came in that my brother-in-law, Hector, had to go back to Mexico to finish the process of becoming a legal permanent resident in the United States. My sister, Silvia and he had decided that same year that he needed...
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My mother never learned English
My mother never learned English
By Amalia Gonzalez – Growing up I had one important job in my family. My job was to be a translator. Like this one time I was about 13 years old. My parents had to get time off from their jobs to attend one of my school conferences. They would introduce themselves timidly...
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My mother’s determination
My mother’s determination
By Luz Garcia – “Cuando yo tenía tu edad….” That’s how my mom begins her lectures in the morning when I decide to skip morning chores and sleep in. She quickly reminds me of all the things she did when she was my age and how sleeping-in was, if anything, a luxury....
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Remembering my tío
Remembering my tío
By Angelica Jimenez – As I got ready for mass this morning, memories of my tío Mike came rushing to my mind. Tío Mike was one of my mom’s six brothers, and he acted as the head of the familia and breadwinner. He began working at the young age of five as a migrant...
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More than a recipe
More than a recipe
By Benita Zepeda – It was probably the most confusing, exhilarating, and fascinating moments I had ever experienced in the unfamiliar world of the kitchen. I was never one that could be found spending my time there. Mi madre, mis abuelos, and even mi padre were culinary innovators,...
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