Blanca's story begins with her life in regards to her mother and the importance of family. She moves a few times and talks of the disconnect from her family and community. Blanca discussed the advantage of English, providing a much smoother path for her to become Valedictorian and make her way to college. We discuss the cultural implications of identifying as Latino, and how this has affected her growing up as an intelligent student, a member of her community, and her identity as it is intertwined with her mother.
The interview with Gerardo Herrera Garcia explores the topic of baseball and education when he moved from CulÃacan, Sinaloa, Mexico to Medford, Oregon. Gerardo accredits his accomplishment to learning English in eight months to the fact that he joined the baseball team at North Medford High School, and he was forced to learn at a quick rate. He now resides in Eugene, Oregon and has a baseball scholarship to Lane Community College.
This documentary that explores the life of Emiliana Aguilar, a Maya Quiché woman from Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala who arrived to Oregon in 2002 due to health problems that were the consequence of living and growing up in Guatemala during the war (1960-1996). This film explores the motives behind her arrival, her childhood experience marked by the civil war, and preserving and transmitting her language and cultural traditions, all which have been shaped by her strong Maya identity.
