Some folks become lawyers because it is a profession that runs in the family, others find their way into the legal field through a different path. Byron Abraham Suarez, Deputy District Attorney for the County of Santa Clara, remembers that he and his sister served as translators for their parents, like many immigrant children, both even trying to explain contracts and ... Read More »
Category Archives: Featured Story
“Brown Immigrant Girl Whose Presence Can’t Be Ignored”
Teresa Marquez’s story is one of hope, inspiration and hard work. She has been with East Side Union High School District for twenty-six years. As Associate Superintendent of Educational Services at East Side Union High School District, she is the highest-ranking Latina in the District who paves the way for opportunities in the public education field for other ... Read More »
Their Vision Became A Longterm Reality (Mexico)
My name is Cynthia Mendoza. I am 15 years old and my interviewees were my grandparents. My grandmother Angélica Cuevas de Ontiveros is 64 years old and my grandfather Francisco Ontiveros is 67 years old. I decided to interview my grandparents because I never got the full story and I feel that I can honor them through sharing their stories. ... Read More »
Vietnam to San Jose via Australia
I interviewed my mother, My Son Truong, who immigrated from South Vietnam to Adelaide South Australia in 1994 and then immigrated with me from Australia to San Jose, California in 2010. Throughout my life, my mom, My Son Truong, has always been in survival mode, always working or doing something — never staying still. ... Read More »
Poverty Leads to A Huge Transition
My father, Donato (name changed) emigrated from a small village called Rio Tigre located in Oaxaca Mexico. Rio Tigre is a small village with 286 inhabitants. In the 1900’s the economy in Oaxaca Mexico was terrible. Oaxaca is split into hundreds of local governmental units called municipios (municipalities). Each of these municipios is ... Read More »
A Dual Citizen’s Life of Family, Freedoms, and Change (India)
At age 81, Vimala Vajjhala (maiden name Bhagavatula) has experienced the wonders and difficulties of two vastly different nations, living as a dual citizen of India and the United States. Brought up in a small village called Bobbili in South India, Vimala described a simple but enjoyable life. (6 sisters, 1 brother) Her family impressed social values of obedience, work, ... Read More »
Isaacson Family (Latvia)
The Isaacson Family hails from the Province of Piltene, part of a region of western Latvia historically known as Courland. “You have totake the train to Riga,” a descendent later recalled. “Take it at night, you’d get there the next morning.” Courland was Latvia’s oldest Jewish community. It’s believed that the first Jews arrived in Piltene around 1571–probably merchants from ... Read More »
La Vie en Rose: The Legacy of Two Stories
The ensuing stories will follow the trajectories of two different families who immigrated to New York from Eastern Europe at different point in history. They are ultimately connected by marriage, and their legacies live on. The Weill Family Teddy Roosevelt’s doppelgänger, Nathan Glickman (née approx. 1866; Moscow, Russia) and the ever ... Read More »
Chin Up and Success Follows
My journey begins in 1975 in a small town in Mexico, Guerrero Michoacán. The sun is up and the white truck with a big red speaker on it is already making its way around town announcing the newly married couple, and the dead cow by the river. Geez can’t he wait till noon to come around can you… I WANNA SLEEP ... Read More »
Dreaming For His Daughters (Mexico)
“Tengan hermanitas para que se compren una torta en la escuela.” Here’s some money sisters, buy yourselves some food at school. These are the words my father expressed to his younger sisters. In the municipality of Parácuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico there was a family of 16, ... Read More »