Growing up, my parents loved talking about their childhood in their intimately small community of San Fernando, Pampanga. My dad would relay stories about coming home from school and riding his bike around the neighborhood shouting “Pandesal! Pandesaaal!” trying to get people to buy his family’s freshly-baked rounds of sweet, warm and crispy ... Read More »
Life could have been worse for me. I was thirteen when I got my first job, selling bread and vegetables for about two years. Because of the Vietnam war, there were few jobs, meaning, this was the only way I could support my family. I was the youngest of eight siblings; four brothers, four sisters. ... Read More »
My name is Saundra Stamps. My parents were both born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), and I was born in San Mateo, California, but spent most summers in New Orleans. I was fortunate to grow up in a two-parent household. My father was an entrepreneur and the first African American owner of an upholstery and interior design business ... Read More »
I was darker than most, as were my kids, and had often gone through numerous racial encounters. I had been called ‘nigger’ or ‘bum’ by people who didn’t want to hire me or even by people on the street as I walked by with my children. I was born in Niuatoputapu, Tonga. It’s a small island and one of the ... Read More »
Helen Goudi was born in 1925 in the small village of Githio in the Peloponnese region of Greece. Her father died when she was three years old, leaving her mother to care for four children. After completing the fourth grade, Helen left school to support her family in any way she could. She harvested olives, babysat, and sang at events. ... Read More »