Recently, I asked: what jobs did your parents work to get u to where u are?
Your response was powerful. Now, more than ever, immigrants do the toughest work. Clean, cook, toil in fields, factories
This is my tribute to all our parents who helped us rise
lat.ms/3a4zC1B
Your response was powerful. Now, more than ever, immigrants do the toughest work. Clean, cook, toil in fields, factories
This is my tribute to all our parents who helped us rise
lat.ms/3a4zC1B
Many children of immigrants make a pledge early on to care for our parents, to be their translators, their personal assistants, their protectors. In some cases, their retirement fund. When you consider how far they’ve brought us, in a single generation, it’s the least we can do.
Several thousand of u shared ur parents story with me. Some shared memories u hadn’t spoken of in years: the smell of engine oil on ur dad’s shirt, the cuts & bruises on ur mom’s hands, the sound of the sewing machine rumbling through the house day & night bit.ly/30tQRpL 
So excited to see this piece run in the @latimes & hear more about your parents & abuelos. Use #ParentsWork I'll be reading & tweeting 🎉
I'll also be talking with readers all day on a special page we created for us to share our histories. Come say hi 👋
lat.ms/3gz4km6
I'll also be talking with readers all day on a special page we created for us to share our histories. Come say hi 👋
lat.ms/3gz4km6
Grateful for all the families who trusted me to share their story in this special piece. There's @ofeliagonzo from Arizona whose dad, Valdemar, worked as a miner for almost 40 years. latimes.com/california/sto…
.@FrancesWangTV
from Miami proudly shared the many jobs her mom, Corrina, worked in the U.S.
She sold purses, hand creams, paintings, sports memorabilia, even pet hermit crabs, with tiny puka shells & plastic palm trees.
“She did it all just to survive”latimes.com/california/sto…
from Miami proudly shared the many jobs her mom, Corrina, worked in the U.S.
She sold purses, hand creams, paintings, sports memorabilia, even pet hermit crabs, with tiny puka shells & plastic palm trees.
“She did it all just to survive”latimes.com/california/sto…
Kelly Reyes from Virginia spoke of her dad, who worked 3 jobs for more than a decade.
“Where I live, I don’t know many people who share my parents’ struggles..I forgot it formed a sense of shame in me. This made me realize I don’t feel shame anymore.” latimes.com/california/sto…
“Where I live, I don’t know many people who share my parents’ struggles..I forgot it formed a sense of shame in me. This made me realize I don’t feel shame anymore.” latimes.com/california/sto…
Hace algún tiempo, les pregunté:
¿Qué trabajos hicieron sus padres para traerlos a donde están hoy?
Miles me respondieron.
Sobre los hombros de nuestros padres, los cocineros, niñeras y jardineros, hemos viajado muy lejos...
latimes.com/espanol/califo…
¿Qué trabajos hicieron sus padres para traerlos a donde están hoy?
Miles me respondieron.
Sobre los hombros de nuestros padres, los cocineros, niñeras y jardineros, hemos viajado muy lejos...
latimes.com/espanol/califo…
Thanks so much for connecting to my piece about our immigrant parents. The idea for this essay began, as most things often do, with my mom. She’s the matriarch of our big Salvadoran family, our conscience & our glue. Here she is in the 1980s working at a dry cleaner.
She’s smiling in the photo, but steaming people’s clothes was tough work. Her face would burn, hands cramp up. I was often a few feet away in a corner on the floor, doing homework. That’s how we were those early years in the U.S.: always pushing through things together.
While she & my stepdad worked all the jobs, I tried my best as a kid to handle all things related to this crazy, new place: America. The translating, the speaking up & pushing back in spaces where we were often seen as less than or invisible.
Pausing today to honor my mom, to honor all our parents, was a gift. I’m grateful to everyone who shared the story and told me about their families. Thank you.
