Hispanic Heritage Month may be officially over, but that doesn't mean we can't keep celebrating accomplishments across the United States (or fighting the fight). Then again...why are we still fighting this fight?
I received an email from SocialWork@Simmons about participating in their #MoreThanALabel: Immigrant Stories, Simmons College’s online MSW Program’s campaign to promote transcending labels. By participating in this campaign, I will be sharing my story and how I believe we can shatter the stigmas often attributed to immigrant communities.
So what is my story? Well...I was born in Plainfield, NJ to a great duo of Colombianos. Mom and dad came here in 1979/1980 for many reasons...the main being a better life for their children. Now I'm not one to assume what life would be if my brother and I were born and raised in Colombia, but who knows.
Today, mom and dad may still be struggling, but we help them as much as we can. Sure we complain that they never really learned English that well nor attempted to get a better education for themselves, but they are our parents and they helped us out by granting us opportunities we wouldn't have gotten in Colombia.
We are more than just a label. We are the new era of Latinos. Things have drastically changed over the course of 30 years and I find it difficult to understand why a certain GOP presidential candidate would say negative things towards mi gente. I wish we didn't have to keep fighting this fight but because it is the U.S., someone will always have something to say about someone whether it's marriage equality, immigration, etc. The best way to break down these stereotypes is by being a positive role model to our ENTIRE community.
Just look at more and more of these fascinating #MoreThanALabel stories.
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