Sandra Aguilar / Mexico
Being Hispanic is knowing you are part of this huge community that has each other’s backs regardless of what part of the world we come from. We are all related, and not necessarily by blood, but automatically see each other as family. As soon as we make some type of connection with someone, we label each other as primos, tios, tias and compadres. We become this huge family.
I am a 27-year-old Mexican American woman who is lucky enough to call 2 places home. My birth home is Oakland, California. And my other home is Jalisco, Mexico. All my childhood memories are from these two worlds that are nothing alike. Here in California, life is so routine and moves so fast that you kind of forget to enjoy life. In Mexico, life moves at a different speed, and you wake up knowing there is an adventure waiting for you to take on. Both having their own language, their own food and their own traditions.
I feel blessed to be part of these two worlds. The food, the language, the music and the daily life itself is part of who I am. They say that a person that speaks more than one language can accomplish a lot, and I strongly believe that. I speak fluent English and Spanish, and I use both languages all day, every day. I feel like I can better express myself using both languages. The music, I can honestly say that if anyone opened my Spotify, they would laugh a little. I can listen to Hip Hop and Rap one minute, and the next I am listening to Banda and Rancheras. It’s like I have no barriers and no divisions between these two places I call home. Although physically we see otherwise on the news, my two worlds are together, and I cherish them both equally. To me, it doesn’t matter what opinion people have of my two worlds, and whether they should be together or apart. Being Hispanic gives me the right to be part of two worlds that I love and that I hold dear to my heart, and no one can take that away from me.
I am a 27-year-old Mexican American woman who is lucky enough to call 2 places home. My birth home is Oakland, California. And my other home is Jalisco, Mexico. All my childhood memories are from these two worlds that are nothing alike. Here in California, life is so routine and moves so fast that you kind of forget to enjoy life. In Mexico, life moves at a different speed, and you wake up knowing there is an adventure waiting for you to take on. Both having their own language, their own food and their own traditions.
I feel blessed to be part of these two worlds. The food, the language, the music and the daily life itself is part of who I am. They say that a person that speaks more than one language can accomplish a lot, and I strongly believe that. I speak fluent English and Spanish, and I use both languages all day, every day. I feel like I can better express myself using both languages. The music, I can honestly say that if anyone opened my Spotify, they would laugh a little. I can listen to Hip Hop and Rap one minute, and the next I am listening to Banda and Rancheras. It’s like I have no barriers and no divisions between these two places I call home. Although physically we see otherwise on the news, my two worlds are together, and I cherish them both equally. To me, it doesn’t matter what opinion people have of my two worlds, and whether they should be together or apart. Being Hispanic gives me the right to be part of two worlds that I love and that I hold dear to my heart, and no one can take that away from me.