Immigration Stories

Interview Description Esperanza Rodriguez entrevista a su suegra, Eugenia Rodriguez sobre su niñez en un Rancho y los 15 hijos que tuve con su esposo. [Esperanza Rodriguez interviews her mother-in-law Eugenia Rodriguez about her childhood on a ranch and the 15 children she had with her husband.] Facilitator Subject Log 1:35 Eugenia nació en Mexicali. Se crió en La Paz con su abuela y su tío. 08:30 El papá de Eugenia regresó cuando tenía 14...

Interview Description Rosa Rodriguez (49) talks with son Alfredo Alexis Rodriguez (30) about their family and her life. Facilitator Subject Log 01:58 Rose was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She talks about leaving when she was six-months old. 02:45 Rosa talks about going back to Guadalajara in 2004 to see her father for the first time in 42 years. 12:40 Rosa talks about her grandparents and the store they owned named "El Pirri. "Her...

Interview Description Tania Rodriguez, 32, talks to her fiancee Fabricio Aguilar, 29, about her involvement in AIDS care and education, the arts magazine the couple has founded in El Salvador, and motherhood. Facilitator Subject Log 0:45 TR talks about her job as an AIDS health educator, in which capacity she provides cultural and linguistic competency training. 6:30 TR on her responsibilities on the board of an AIDS care organization....

Interview Description Waldo Romo (81) is interviewed by his sister Gloria del Carmen Sierra (64) about their father, a hard working man with a good sense of humor. Their father was in his 50s by the time his wife gave birth to Gloria, so she never got to know him well and relies on her brother's stories to keep his memory alive. Facilitator Subject Log 2:50: three errors in Waldo's birth certificate 21:15: mother didn't trust American food unless it...

Interview Description Delia interviews her mom about being adopted, reuniting with her 17 siblings, and her brain aneurysm. Facilitator Subject Log 13:44 Carmen had a brain aneurysm. Her heard the doctor telling her daughters that she had a 2% chance of survival. 15:43 Today Carmen can vote for her daughter in the state legislature. She cries every time she votes. Her father, Ralph, would have loved voting for Delia. He thought it was a privilege and...

Interview Description Ana Maria Ruiz (46) talks with her sister Veronica Ibarra (30) about their mother. Facilitator Subject Log 05:20 Ana talks about living with her grandparents in Guatemala without her mother because her mother Maria Montenegro was living in Los Angeles, CA. Ana was 7 when her mother left. 09:30 Ana tells the story about how she came to Los Angeles when she was 14. She arrived with her mother. 14:50 Ana talks about the...

Interview Description Berta "Bertie "Saavedra and Pauline Cázares interview their father, Zeferino Saavedra about work and growing up in Mexico and the US. Facilitator Subject Log 00:50 Zeferino remembers coming to the US from Nuevo León Guanajuato, Mexico. He earned money picking up bottles and scraps on the way home from school. 10:15 The building of City Hall at La Placita. Zeferino was one of the first to climb to the top of the building....

Interview Description Nicole Di Rocca asks her parents about their recent family trip to Cuba and her parents' immigration from Cuba over 40 years ago. Facilitator Subject Log 01:22 Thais reads a poem she wrote called "49 years "about the recent family trip back to Cuba. 10:08 Thais and Javier talk about their parents' exodus from Cuba following Castro's revoution. 15:30 Thais expected to have her Quinceañera in Cuba but couldn't go...

Interview Description Deborah Martinez (55) interviews her friend, Alfie Salazar (74) about her life, especially in relation to her identity as Hispanic. Facilitator Subject Log 02:19 Alfie talks about her patents, and her childhood on her father's farm in Monte Vista, CO where she was born. 06:14 Alfie tells stories of the magpie bird tattle telling (in Spanish!) on Alfie and her siblings and cousins when they would get into trouble....

Interview Description Bamby Salcedo, 40, y su amiga Brenda Del Río González, hablan de su trabajo comunitario y activismo, de la discriminación que sufren las mujeres transgénero y de los momentos y cosas que les sirven de inspiración. [Bamby Salcedo, 40, and her friend and coworker Brenda Del Río González, 42, talk about their community work and activism, about the discrimination faced by transgender women, and the moments and things that inspire them.] ...