La Puchurula

Growing up, I never understood the consequences of being a Latina in America. I say consequences because in this country, being a woman of color is a disadvantage. I’m from Bushwick, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, a working-class neighborhood. Because my family members barely spoke English, they worked dead-end jobs. My mom did the best she could to shield me from the struggles we faced, but I saw the world we were a part of. We may not have lived off the government’s money, but we were still poor. It’s because of this that my mother stressed the importance of education. To this day, she says, “Estudia, para que nadie te tenga de menos.” I always tell my mom that I won’t let her hard work go to waste. She came to this country for a better life, but because she grew up in extreme poverty, Bushwick was enough for her. To me, though, Bushwick is my extreme poverty. There’s a whole world waiting to be changed for the better. The need for Latinos in positions of power is proving crucial with the Latino population being the largest minority group in America. Education is always the beginning step in a much larger movement.