I'm still refining what I want to do with this blog. Here is what I'm thinking: It should not be just a memoir, though the last post was very memoir-esque. What I want to do is take the stories of what I saw happen and still see happening with the Hispanic immigrants I know and use those stories to explore the (perhaps) unknown aspects of immigration. For example, I want to tell about the guys whose kids grew up without a father present because he was working in a kitchen in the US. Then I want to use that story to explore the psychology, consequences, and risk involved with illegal immigrants. Basically I don't want to just talk; I want to make a point.
And then I want to also talk about the differences and adjustments involved with immigrating--both legally and illegally. So for example, why it is more complicated for my lesbian friend to come out to her Mexican family and friends than to her American friends? Culture differences.
OK now that I'm organized, next post!
And then I want to also talk about the differences and adjustments involved with immigrating--both legally and illegally. So for example, why it is more complicated for my lesbian friend to come out to her Mexican family and friends than to her American friends? Culture differences.
OK now that I'm organized, next post!
Everybody's talking about it.
I know a songwriter/producer named Jayne who used to frequent my restaurant and wrote a song called "Crossing the Border" that tells the story of a guy who...well, the title gives it away. It's a beautiful song, and it shows, as she says, "a sympathetic look at the other side of America's internal conflict over immigration." The lyrics go like this:
...Four days in the desert, seven survived.
He carried a woman barely alive.
Coyotes would take your money...and your life.
Crossing the line so far from home,
looking behind me, I'm all alone
six more miles to Arizona, push on.
And et cetera. Jayne has gotten to know some of these people like I have, and for many of them, they have a choice between extreme poverty with no opportunity to move up, or...the US. I was born into this country where I can do whatever I want if I work hard enough--I didn't have to earn the right to be here. These people came from places where no matter how hard they worked, they would probably remain painfully poor their whole lives. If people had to earn their citizenship instead of being born with it, I'm sure I would fast be changing places with most of my illegal buddies.(Of course that could bring up the question: Are they as hard-working and dedicated as they are for the very reason that they lived in such hopeless poverty?)
So Jayne is thinking about this, I am thinking about it, and something changes when you get to really know the individuals behind the issue. When my 33-year-old friend Monica was counseling me on relationships using the wisdom of her far more difficult life, or when 20-year-old Carmen got on to me for letting worries keep me from doing things, I realized that aside from being poor and illegal, they were wiser, kinder, and stronger than most of the people who look down on them.
So music is talking about it.
Then when I went to see Juno, I saw two previews back-to-back that really caught my attention. Both were films about huge issues in the US--one about the war in Iraq(Stop Loss) and one about...illegal immigration, Under the Same Moon. Both movies are shown from the perspective opposite the government, and both are fairly bold.
Mira!
Under the Same Moon looks great. It also looks very familiar. A mother leaves her son with his grandmother in Mexico while she goes to do grunt work in a kitchen in the US. Then the grandma dies, and "Carlitos" crosses the border to find his mom. The thing that sounds best about it to me is the truth of the story. America offers so much that people often leave their families to come work temporarily and return moderately wealthy. The story is also about how this little boy finds community with strangers, and that too is very culturally accurate. At my restaurant, the strong bond of all the employees was amazing, and it was not in circles but encompassed all of the waiters and hosts. Now the cooks and bus boys are a different story and a different bond, but that will have to come up in another post.
So movies are talking about it.
Everybody is talking about it.
I'm tired.
I know a songwriter/producer named Jayne who used to frequent my restaurant and wrote a song called "Crossing the Border" that tells the story of a guy who...well, the title gives it away. It's a beautiful song, and it shows, as she says, "a sympathetic look at the other side of America's internal conflict over immigration." The lyrics go like this:
...Four days in the desert, seven survived.
He carried a woman barely alive.
Coyotes would take your money...and your life.
Crossing the line so far from home,
looking behind me, I'm all alone
six more miles to Arizona, push on.
And et cetera. Jayne has gotten to know some of these people like I have, and for many of them, they have a choice between extreme poverty with no opportunity to move up, or...the US. I was born into this country where I can do whatever I want if I work hard enough--I didn't have to earn the right to be here. These people came from places where no matter how hard they worked, they would probably remain painfully poor their whole lives. If people had to earn their citizenship instead of being born with it, I'm sure I would fast be changing places with most of my illegal buddies.(Of course that could bring up the question: Are they as hard-working and dedicated as they are for the very reason that they lived in such hopeless poverty?)
So Jayne is thinking about this, I am thinking about it, and something changes when you get to really know the individuals behind the issue. When my 33-year-old friend Monica was counseling me on relationships using the wisdom of her far more difficult life, or when 20-year-old Carmen got on to me for letting worries keep me from doing things, I realized that aside from being poor and illegal, they were wiser, kinder, and stronger than most of the people who look down on them.
So music is talking about it.
Then when I went to see Juno, I saw two previews back-to-back that really caught my attention. Both were films about huge issues in the US--one about the war in Iraq(Stop Loss) and one about...illegal immigration, Under the Same Moon. Both movies are shown from the perspective opposite the government, and both are fairly bold.
Mira!
Under the Same Moon looks great. It also looks very familiar. A mother leaves her son with his grandmother in Mexico while she goes to do grunt work in a kitchen in the US. Then the grandma dies, and "Carlitos" crosses the border to find his mom. The thing that sounds best about it to me is the truth of the story. America offers so much that people often leave their families to come work temporarily and return moderately wealthy. The story is also about how this little boy finds community with strangers, and that too is very culturally accurate. At my restaurant, the strong bond of all the employees was amazing, and it was not in circles but encompassed all of the waiters and hosts. Now the cooks and bus boys are a different story and a different bond, but that will have to come up in another post.
So movies are talking about it.
Everybody is talking about it.
I'm tired.
1 comment:
This whole blog is really insightful and intriguing... a lot of times people get so caught up in the "issue" of it all that they forget about the actual people, and I'm glad to see you're giving them a voice. It might be awhile until things change to help people, but I think even one person saying this urges change on. :D
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