Narratives and storytelling has been a long standing tradition in the Latina/o community. It is often in that way in which we learn; by hearing stories from the elders in our families or communities telling us of our long standing traditions from our ancestors before us, events that have occurred when the thought of us was not even conceived, still in our mother’s womb or too young to remember. I grew up with story telling and learned the importance of narratives. To my family and to our community, narratives gave a platform to the unheard. But throughout the existence of our community, we have been shamed and conditioned into believing that we should not speak up for what we believe in due to fear or retaliation of what the majority in the United States could do to us. I’ve slowly seen this fear stripped away by the courageous acts of many in […]

To graduating from Valpo and settling back into my hometown of Aurora, Illinois – this past month has been a whirl-wind and I’ve been trying my best to get used to my post-grad life and my fellowship with the League of United Latin American Citizens in the local council in Aurora, Illinois. The president of the local council and my supervisor and mentor, Art Velasquez, who, despite being 80 years old, continues to be a fearless leader and champion for the rights of the Latino community in Aurora. Since first meeting and getting to know each other Art told me “mi’ja, we’re going to put you to work” [mi’ja roughly translates to ‘my daughter’ and is used as a term of endearment in the Latina/o community]. In getting to know his story and the various forms of discrimination and barriers he has faced and overcome, Art has mentored and inspired […]