One of the most important goals a parent has for their child is that they are better, smarter, more successful and all of those wonderful things than they were. This is a story about the relationship between a daughter and how much she loved and respected her mother and father for everything that they were willing to sacrifice so that she would have all the opportunities that they knew she deserved. Starting with her memories of being carried on her mother's back from Mexico to America and the process of becoming citizens she made it a point to make sure that her mother knew how much she loved and respected her. As she grew up in America, she experienced racism within the educational system as well as her mother making sure that she knows that unlike her she will never be anyone’s maid. Angelica became everything that her mother wanted her to be, an independent woman who found her love for life when she decided to write the stories of her people because she felt like there weren't enough people representing them in Hollywood. A very simple and loving look at how far people are willing to go to ensure that their children have opportunities, the ability to make their own choices, and the ability to live free and bring to life all of the things that make their culture amazing.
Betterment
I thought I had surpassed the greatest challenges of my life and had done so by the age of 21 years old. In that moment I had no idea what I was saying. Coming from Mexico was a difficult trip. We heard stories back in Mexico of people dying in the desert and being chased by people that wanted to capture them to sell them into modern day slavery and being arrested was always a fear. But we made it. My mother strapped me on her back and she made the trip. “Hold on tight Angelica, hold on tight baby girl.” I can honestly say that I don't remember exactly how long it took us but I do remember that it was a strategic plan. We left in the summer because there were so many people traveling in the summer it gave us more of an opportunity to blend in. My father stayed in Mexico because if something were to happen to us, he wanted to make sure there would be someone in Mexico to receive us. Dried fruit, dried meat, and nuts, that's all the food we took with us. It was light and easy to transport and it didn't go bad as quickly. There were emergency water stations set up for rangers in the desert but immigrants took advantage of them as well. I remember my mother drinking the water and then washing her face and washing my face. I was three years old and I know that I had to have been heavy for my mother after all of those hours and days we spent making our way to America but she never put me down and she never stopped.