Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
A Letter To My Mom,
An Immigrant: The Day
After Election Day
Please teach me how to forgive their hate.
11/09/2016 05:06 pm ET | Updated 4 days ago
Liliana Llamas
Multiplatform Journalist, Filmmaker
LILIANA LLAMAS
I saw you wake before the crack of dawn every day growing up in
our small Texas town. You were tired but determined; exhausted
but cheerful.
We were poor, but you were patient. Your patience gave me hope.
We couldnt afford the dance classes, so you put mirrors on the
wall and watched me dance in the living room. You saw me at my
worst but still expected the best.
At school, I was different, they would tell me. I was Mexican. My
eyebrows were too bushy. My skin was too brown. My Spanish
was too perfect.
But at home, I was different, too. I was American. I was Chicana. I
spoke English. I dressed differently. I wasnt Mexican enough.
Both worlds are what you dreamed for me a little brown girl with
an American dream. You never once doubted that dream, so I
confidently followed it. You told me I was enough, and I believed
you. I belonged.
You watched me assimilate to the same American culture that
says you dont belong here, but you knew that I did, and that was
enough for you. Because their criticism meant very little
compared to the American dream.
I am sorry that I never once asked if you missed home. Home,
home.
I am sorry that I never once thanked you for leaving behind the
country you so deeply love for my dreams, achievements, and
privileges.
You were brave. You and dad married, leaving behind everything
you knew about life so that everything I would learn could be
accompained with opportunity.
hard work. It will never be enough, but your sacrifices are the sole
foundation of our ethics and efforts in this journey. You are the
inspiring force behind our choices, because your bravery is not
taken for granted.
We are grateful.
I am neither from here nor there. Two lives separated by one border.
Two futures defined by opportunity or lack thereof. Your past and my
future brought together by your choice of strength, resilience, and
faith.
Thank you for teaching me about your life, our culture, and the
opportunities this country gives us.
Thank you for teaching me to love my countries porque no soy
de aqu ni soy de all. I am neither from here nor there. Two lives
separated by one border. Two futures defined by opportunity or
lack thereof. Your past and my future brought together by your
choice of strength, resilience, and faith.
I love being a Mexican-American. I love this country.
I just wish it loved us, too.