Translator: Amira Alsahli Checker: Nada Qanbar
I forgot how many times someone asked me,
“How do you speak Spanish fluently?”
Spanish speakers as well as non-speakers!
Because I know I’m not what they imagine when they think of a Latin woman.
My favorite way is to reveal that I speak this language
To participate in conversations that occur near me.
Because the other person will usually say: “Hablas español”
“I hope I did not speak inappropriately,” he said.
We usually assume we know someone’s background
But what I learned since the age is very small
I will not know the story of this person until I ask him.
I know I’m not what most people think
When they imagine an American Mexican woman,
And do not fit with their assumptions
Which they carry on the children of immigrants.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center,
More than 11 million people live in the United States,
They are unregistered immigrants.
According to the Migration Studies Center,
More than five million children born in the United States
They live with an unregistered father.
I was one of them at some point.
My mother from Mexico.
She was born and raised in the state of Colima,
My brother is also from there.
I asked her about her experience
In crossing the US border for the first time last year,
Our conversation was recorded.
For the first time, I understood how brave she was.
I realized that my generation of these immigrants,
He will not know fear or loss as he has known us.
The story of crossing the border illegally
Is an important part of my family’s history.
I have been entrusted with strength to stand before you today,
American daughter of a Mexican immigrant
Is developing the first bilingual Spanish media program,
As a faculty member at the Reynolds School of Journalism,
(clap)
In 1976, Khali lived in (United States)
She has arranged her date with Coyote, or a humane getaway,
In a hostel in Tijuana.
(Tijuana) is a Mexican city on the border of California,
It is a 27-hour drive from TECOMAN, where my mother lived.
She was 20 years old
When she crossed the border illegally to live with her brother,
Leaving my brother who was two years old,
To live with my grandparents in Mexico.
Her first attempt was not successful.
Where I ran in the desert, people began to shout around,
She chopped herself up at the bushes and hid her breath.
She could hear the wheels of patrol cars approaching the border,
They were arrested and brought back.
After almost a day of this experiment, I continued with another human smuggler,
She entered California this time.
She worked as a child educator for a year in (Southern California)
Before returning to Mexico.
Six years later, my mother lived with my brother in Tijuana,
There she met my father.
Will be very ashamed,
When you realize that I am telling your people how they met exactly.
Because, during the stages of our growth,
My sister and I used to say that they met by a “mutual friend”.
(Laughter)
Somewhat.
Think of it as the Mexican match.com site in the early 1980s.
(Laughter)
There is a woman of speech, in (Tijuana)
She has a book of pictures of men and women looking for love,
My father saw my mother’s picture and chose it,
He led for more than two hours to see her alone.
Although she did not speak English very well,
He did not speak Spanish very well, but it worked somehow.
They married,
My mother moved with my brother and dad to Long Beach, California,
She began to attend English classes while she was pregnant.
She became an American citizen in 2000.
(clap)
thank you.
I am classified as a colored woman.
I stand between two worlds.
As a white woman and a Mexican.
Most people do not know about me
I feel real when I speak Spanish.
As a white woman, people lead me
Their concerns about differences or immigration.
They ask me things like,
“How do I get close to them without appearing aggressive?”
I have good friends
They have the names of ethnic families
They try to choose different students,
They later discovered that they were not Hispanic.
As a classic,
I hear some Latins talk about the ignorant white man,
Some share their incredible stories with me
About their trip to the United States.
I see the distinction between Latins
Who do not speak English
Or who do not speak Spanish fluently.
It’s amazing to me that after 30 years of feeling hurt by things
Which people said about my mother,
People still tell me that if they hear someone speak Spanish
Assume directly that they are illegal immigrants.
Or just like one of my students at the university
Her parents warned her
That teachers may not expect much from them,
Because it is Mexican.
Or as my colleague
Who heard by chance that the only reason I had my current job was that I was
I was the only candidate of Latin origin.
I did not speak English until I was five years old.
I remember clearly as I came out of the nursery
To prepare bears in English.
As I grew up, people kept asking me if I spoke Spanish well
Because of my Mexican breeder.
(Laughter)
Yes, I always wondered why they did not assume she was my mother.
Nor did I happen to be my friends’ fathers
They did not stop their cars next to the strawberry field
On their way home from my primary school
To run outside their cars
Shouting “Allí viene la migra” “Allí viene la migra”
The way my mother used to warn field workers
That there is a towing truck approaching.
Did not your fathers do that?
(Laughter)
Everyone here today assumed something about someone,
Someone you meet for the first time,
Often a person you already know.
We are really good at releasing judgments on other people.
We impose sentences on them based on their appearance,
Their voices, the names of their families,
Whether or not they have tattoos,
And certainly based on the color of their skin.
I am also guilty.
Sent a message to a movie producer
Ask him to talk to my students
About the controversial content it produces.
It bears the name of a family of Latin origin,
He talked about being an illegal immigrant.
I thought it would be an excellent example of my bilingual project,
Because it has a Latin background.
I never heard of him after that, and last summer
I attended a conference that was one of its key speakers.
At some point he spoke about his Filipino background.
(Laughter)
I plunged into my seat,
Because I made the same mistake with him
Who warned him of others.
I still feel ashamed of it.
Assumptions defy us,
It may severely affect our lives.
They represent rigid viewpoints.
But how do they form?
Are you affected by your identity?
Your family?
Maybe what happened to you.
But do you know who lives life without bias?
They are children.
I like to see my daughters discover new situations
Because this reminds me
We are not born with preconceptions.
When my grand daughter was a modern walk
I just started talking, forming sentences,
We went to the store.
For parents in the hall,
You know that children will say exactly what they think.
(Laughter)
We stood by the line, and then she said,
I swore she was screaming,
“Look at my mother, her skin is like chocolate.”
(Laughter)
She was referring to a black woman, people around us,
Including this woman, they heard what she said.
But what I realized then,
My daughter was describing the woman she saw.
Were not attached to racism,
It was not related to any provisions.
So, with all the eyes that were watching me, I took a deep breath and said:
“Yes it is, but is not it beautiful?
Do you want to know it yourself? “
You always have the strength to challenge your assumptions.
At some point in your life,
This force temporarily robbed you.
Maybe you have had a bad experience
And began to classify all those associated with it in the same way,
But imagine if the next time you find yourself in them assume something
I stopped.
Just numbered to five in my mind.
May look as if they are eternal,
Especially if you stand on a stage staring at a sea of people in front of you.
(Laughter)
It’s a trick she has developed over the years to become a better audience
I gather my thoughts and communicate them more clearly.
We are afraid to be wrong.
We do not like to look like we do not know what we’re talking about.
So we write something, or shake our head quietly.
Instead of learning to say three simple words:
“I do not know”.
Perhaps the most liberal phrase I have learned.
Have the courage to admit what you do not know.
When you are out next time
And you hear someone speaking in another language,
Or when you look at your contact list
Trying to choose one by his name only,
Or when you meet a child does not look like a sponsor,
Take a breath,
Challenge your assumptions that crept into your mind,
She was brave enough to ask.
Because these five seconds have changed your concept
Your entry into the world is boundless.
Thank you so much.
(clap)
I forgot how many times someone asked me,
“How do you speak Spanish fluently?”
Spanish speakers as well as non-speakers!
Because I know I’m not what they imagine when they think of a Latin woman.
My favorite way is to reveal that I speak this language
To participate in conversations that occur near me.
Because the other person will usually say: “Hablas español”
“I hope I did not speak inappropriately,” he said.
We usually assume we know someone’s background
But what I learned since the age is very small
I will not know the story of this person until I ask him.
I know I’m not what most people think
When they imagine an American Mexican woman,
And do not fit with their assumptions
Which they carry on the children of immigrants.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center,
More than 11 million people live in the United States,
They are unregistered immigrants.
According to the Migration Studies Center,
More than five million children born in the United States
They live with an unregistered father.
I was one of them at some point.
My mother from Mexico.
She was born and raised in the state of Colima,
My brother is also from there.
I asked her about her experience
In crossing the US border for the first time last year,
Our conversation was recorded.
For the first time, I understood how brave she was.
I realized that my generation of these immigrants,
He will not know fear or loss as he has known us.
The story of crossing the border illegally
Is an important part of my family’s history.
I have been entrusted with strength to stand before you today,
American daughter of a Mexican immigrant
Is developing the first bilingual Spanish media program,
As a faculty member at the Reynolds School of Journalism,
(clap)
In 1976, Khali lived in (United States)
She has arranged her date with Coyote, or a humane getaway,
In a hostel in Tijuana.
(Tijuana) is a Mexican city on the border of California,
It is a 27-hour drive from TECOMAN, where my mother lived.
She was 20 years old
When she crossed the border illegally to live with her brother,
Leaving my brother who was two years old,
To live with my grandparents in Mexico.
Her first attempt was not successful.
Where I ran in the desert, people began to shout around,
She chopped herself up at the bushes and hid her breath.
She could hear the wheels of patrol cars approaching the border,
They were arrested and brought back.
After almost a day of this experiment, I continued with another human smuggler,
She entered California this time.
She worked as a child educator for a year in (Southern California)
Before returning to Mexico.
Six years later, my mother lived with my brother in Tijuana,
There she met my father.
Will be very ashamed,
When you realize that I am telling your people how they met exactly.
Because, during the stages of our growth,
My sister and I used to say that they met by a “mutual friend”.
(Laughter)
Somewhat.
Think of it as the Mexican match.com site in the early 1980s.
(Laughter)
There is a woman of speech, in (Tijuana)
She has a book of pictures of men and women looking for love,
My father saw my mother’s picture and chose it,
He led for more than two hours to see her alone.
Although she did not speak English very well,
He did not speak Spanish very well, but it worked somehow.
They married,
My mother moved with my brother and dad to Long Beach, California,
She began to attend English classes while she was pregnant.
She became an American citizen in 2000.
(clap)
thank you.
I am classified as a colored woman.
I stand between two worlds.
As a white woman and a Mexican.
Most people do not know about me
I feel real when I speak Spanish.
As a white woman, people lead me
Their concerns about differences or immigration.
They ask me things like,
“How do I get close to them without appearing aggressive?”
I have good friends
They have the names of ethnic families
They try to choose different students,
They later discovered that they were not Hispanic.
As a classic,
I hear some Latins talk about the ignorant white man,
Some share their incredible stories with me
About their trip to the United States.
I see the distinction between Latins
Who do not speak English
Or who do not speak Spanish fluently.
It’s amazing to me that after 30 years of feeling hurt by things
Which people said about my mother,
People still tell me that if they hear someone speak Spanish
Assume directly that they are illegal immigrants.
Or just like one of my students at the university
Her parents warned her
That teachers may not expect much from them,
Because it is Mexican.
Or as my colleague
Who heard by chance that the only reason I had my current job was that I was
I was the only candidate of Latin origin.
I did not speak English until I was five years old.
I remember clearly as I came out of the nursery
To prepare bears in English.
As I grew up, people kept asking me if I spoke Spanish well
Because of my Mexican breeder.
(Laughter)
Yes, I always wondered why they did not assume she was my mother.
Nor did I happen to be my friends’ fathers
They did not stop their cars next to the strawberry field
On their way home from my primary school
To run outside their cars
Shouting “Allí viene la migra” “Allí viene la migra”
The way my mother used to warn field workers
That there is a towing truck approaching.
Did not your fathers do that?
(Laughter)
Everyone here today assumed something about someone,
Someone you meet for the first time,
Often a person you already know.
We are really good at releasing judgments on other people.
We impose sentences on them based on their appearance,
Their voices, the names of their families,
Whether or not they have tattoos,
And certainly based on the color of their skin.
I am also guilty.
Sent a message to a movie producer
Ask him to talk to my students
About the controversial content it produces.
It bears the name of a family of Latin origin,
He talked about being an illegal immigrant.
I thought it would be an excellent example of my bilingual project,
Because it has a Latin background.
I never heard of him after that, and last summer
I attended a conference that was one of its key speakers.
At some point he spoke about his Filipino background.
(Laughter)
I plunged into my seat,
Because I made the same mistake with him
Who warned him of others.
I still feel ashamed of it.
Assumptions defy us,
It may severely affect our lives.
They represent rigid viewpoints.
But how do they form?
Are you affected by your identity?
Your family?
Maybe what happened to you.
But do you know who lives life without bias?
They are children.
I like to see my daughters discover new situations
Because this reminds me
We are not born with preconceptions.
When my grand daughter was a modern walk
I just started talking, forming sentences,
We went to the store.
For parents in the hall,
You know that children will say exactly what they think.
(Laughter)
We stood by the line, and then she said,
I swore she was screaming,
“Look at my mother, her skin is like chocolate.”
(Laughter)
She was referring to a black woman, people around us,
Including this woman, they heard what she said.
But what I realized then,
My daughter was describing the woman she saw.
Were not attached to racism,
It was not related to any provisions.
So, with all the eyes that were watching me, I took a deep breath and said:
“Yes it is, but is not it beautiful?
Do you want to know it yourself? “
You always have the strength to challenge your assumptions.
At some point in your life,
This force temporarily robbed you.
Maybe you have had a bad experience
And began to classify all those associated with it in the same way,
But imagine if the next time you find yourself in them assume something
I stopped.
Just numbered to five in my mind.
May look as if they are eternal,
Especially if you stand on a stage staring at a sea of people in front of you.
(Laughter)
It’s a trick she has developed over the years to become a better audience
I gather my thoughts and communicate them more clearly.
We are afraid to be wrong.
We do not like to look like we do not know what we’re talking about.
So we write something, or shake our head quietly.
Instead of learning to say three simple words:
“I do not know”.
Perhaps the most liberal phrase I have learned.
Have the courage to admit what you do not know.
When you are out next time
And you hear someone speaking in another language,
Or when you look at your contact list
Trying to choose one by his name only,
Or when you meet a child does not look like a sponsor,
Take a breath,
Challenge your assumptions that crept into your mind,
She was brave enough to ask.
Because these five seconds have changed your concept
Your entry into the world is boundless.
Thank you so much.
(clap)
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