it’s costa rica’s independence day today + the start of hispanic/latinx heritage month i am so so proud of where i came from, who i am, the struggles my family & i have faced and have overcome throughout the years, my beautiful language, my culture and so much more.

growing up i lived in a predominantly white community where one of my most prominent memories of it is, being put on the cover of my school newspaper with a couple other hispanic kids for a story on “hispanics graduating”. at the time i didn’t see anything wrong with it,

just like i didn’t see anything wrong with my friends using “funny” slurs towards me. it’s one of those things where, you know something is off about it, but no one is standing up to it so you don’t question it. it wasn’t until i moved to los angeles five years ago that i finally

found what i was looking for. it sounds cheesy, but to finally meet people who looked like me, who spoke like me, who acted like me, who had the same type of childhood memories as me was so refreshing, it was like something i didn’t know i was missing. i am so proud of who i am,

i am so proud of where i came from, who it’s building me up to be. and now more than ever, if you are not using your voice to stand up for our women in detention centers getting unnecessary hysterectomies, our children getting “lost” at the expense of ICE, our fight for DACA,

our family working in the fields for little to not pay + in these terrible conditions, then i’m publicly saying you are no friend of mine anymore. happy hispanic/latinx heritage month, i know it’s a tough and weird time for us right now but i’m not too worried,

as hispanics, siempre buscamos el camino. vote, support your local elotero and remember to treat everyone with kindness.

oh and another thing, 1. just because someone has an accent doesn’t mean they don’t know english. 2. no human being is illegal 3. hispanics/latinos are the hardest working/kindest people ever