A previous post reviewed the Mayor of Worthington Minnesota’s defense of its large population of immigrants. Now, Andrea Durate-Alonso, a resident of that town and an American daughter of Mexican immigrants, has created an inspiring online collection of stories by the immigrants in that town. [1]
Her collection, entitled “Stories from Unheard Voices,” was prompted by her desire to debunk Donald Trump’s calling Mexican immigrants criminals and “rapists” in his 2016 presidential campaign. It documents an ”oral history” of the town’s immigrants: “Why did they come here? What are they escaping from? And how do their journeys shape the lives of their children?” Her interviews focus on individual experiences and empower the immigrants and their children to own their narratives and “feel human, to feel like they’re more than just undocumented, they’re more than just . . .immigrant[s]. They’re . . . actual human being[s] with feelings, with . . .emotions, who are more than just these other identities that they have.”
One of her interviewees, Elizabeth Coriolan, a Haitian-American, said it was a struggle for her to live in the town. “We have such a diverse environment around us in so many cultures. We can appreciate their art, their food, their language, their people, but in the same sense we hide them just so the Caucasians don’t feel uncomfortable.”
Another woman, named Teresa, left Mexico so her daughter could undergo surgery for a cancerous mole. She stayed, she said, “One comes to work, to fight, to get ahead to help also the family that one has in Mexico. I am already old, but my children here have a great future.”
Collecting these stories also has enabled Duarte-Alonso to re-evaluate her own life. “As a light-skinned Latina, she said she had privileges growing up.” Yet some said she was not “black enough” to be a Latina while others said she was not “white enough” to be white.
Duarte-Alonso was born in Dodge City, Kansas and with her father later moved to Worthington, after which she attended St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. There she obtained a scholarship which helped fund her creation of this website.
Conclusion
Muchas gracias and felicitaciones, Andrea! Great idea to create this important contribution for the people of Worthington, the State of Minnesota, the U.S., and the home countries of these human beings. I wish you every success as you continue your life’s journey!
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[1] Feshir, ‘Unheard Voices’ in Worthington now have their say, MPR News (Oct. 21, 2019); Stories from Unheard Voices (2019).
unbelievable stories …