{ "id": "p16022coll554:71", "object": "https://cdm16022.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/p16022coll554/id/71", "set_spec": "p16022coll554", "collection_name": "Immigrant Stories", "collection_name_s": "Immigrant Stories", "collection_description": "
Immigrant Stories is a research and archiving project run by the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) at the University of Minnesota. Immigrant Stories helps immigrants, refugees, and their family members create digital stories: brief videos with images, text, and audio about a personal experience.
\n\nThis project defines \"immigrant\" broadly. Our collection contains digital stories from people living outside their country of birth as well as stories created by their children and grandchildren. Immigrant Stories also welcomes stories from international students, international adoptees, and people who do not feel that their stories fit a particular, or just one, category. All stories are important, and we invite you to make a video and share yours with us.
", "title": "Sylvia Garcia", "title_s": "Sylvia Garcia", "title_t": "Sylvia Garcia", "title_search": "Sylvia Garcia", "title_sort": "sylviagarcia", "description": "Sylvia Garcia was born in California in 1980. Her father was a Mexican immigrant and her mother born in the United Stated. During childhood the family would travel back to Mexico every December.", "date_created": [ "2017-07-25" ], "date_created_ss": [ "2017-07-25" ], "date_created_sort": "2017", "creator": [ "Garcia, Sylvia" ], "creator_ss": [ "Garcia, Sylvia" ], "creator_sort": "garciasylvia", "types": [ "Moving Image" ], "format": [ "Oral histories | http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300202595" ], "format_name": [ "Oral histories" ], "dimensions": "0:04:25", "subject": [ "Origin United States", "Origin United States (California)", "Ethnicity Mexican American" ], "subject_ss": [ "Origin United States", "Origin United States (California)", "Ethnicity Mexican American" ], "language": [ "English" ], "parent_collection": "Immigrant Stories; https://cla.umn.edu/ihrc/immigrant-stories", "parent_collection_name": "Immigrant Stories", "contributing_organization": "University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center", "contributing_organization_name": "University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center", "contributing_organization_name_s": "University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center", "contact_information": "University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center. 311 Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 - 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455; https://cla.umn.edu/ihrc", "local_identifier": [ "cla-ihrc-is-0360" ], "dls_identifier": [ "cla-ihrc-is-0360" ], "rights_statement_uri": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/", "transcription": "My name is Sylvia, and this is my immigrant story.\nMy father is an immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico. Every December we\nwould return to my father's native land for my grandparents' corn crop\nharvest. As my father worked the land, I played with my cousins and\ntasted the wondrous foods of my father's youth. I roamed freely and\nfelt the earth of my father's people consume me. For one month each\nyear, I was Mexican!\nMy mother is an American; born and raised in a small town in\nCalifornia. My parents met, married, and had three children: Sylvia,\nthe beautiful eldest princess, Salvador (Junior) the jokester middle\nchild, and Ricardo (Ricky) the shy baby of the family. Although my\nfather is a Mexican immigrant, we were raised on American wholesome\nvalues. My father worked for the same agricultural company in\nCalifornia up until his retirement. He started his trade as a field\nlaborer and eventually worked his way up to field supervisor. My\nmother worked as our homemaker. I am proud to say they are still\nmarried today, despite the many hardships they have had to endure\nthroughout the years.\nAlthough I would like to say that my family has lived the American\nDream, I simply cannot. We have not been given our American rights to\nlife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In fact, it may be\nargued that we have been robbed of these rights outright. My parents\nwatched both of their strong sons struggle with racial profiling on a\ndaily basis, and despite all efforts to encourage empowerment, they\nwere essentially forced to helplessly watch their underage children\nfall prey to our country's distorted system. I wish I could say that\nwas the worst my parents had to endure, but again, I cannot.\nIn 2005 I met and eventually married an undocumented Mexican\nimmigrant. He was extremely controlling and psychologically abusive.\nWhile I knew that my family would support my efforts to flee, I was\nnot willing to abandon my parents, brothers, nieces, and nephews to\nthe inevitable backlash of his wrath. On December 24, 2012 I was\nfinally liberated from my terrifying 7 year ordeal, but it came with a\nprice. On Christmas Eve 2012, my parents, baby brother, and I were\nforced to watch our strongest eldest son, brother, friend, uncle drown\nin his own blood after he was shot by my then husband. Although it\nwas the end of a world I still deeply cherish, it was not our end! My\nbrother's passing strengthened my family's faith in God. \"No one has\ngreater love than a person who lays down his life for his\nfriends\" (John 15:13). My family understands that the devil comes to\n\"...steal, kill, and destroy\" (John 10:10), and we refuse to give\nvictory to the darkness. Instead, we praise our Lord on high for his\nlove, mercy, and sacrifice. Our Father Jehovah has not burdened us\nwith anything He has not asked of His own Son Jesus Christ!\nWe are Mexican-Americans, and we will not be put in a corner. For \"I\nam not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land\" (Seneca\nthe Younger). Although our American journey has been wrought with\nobstacles, my family continues to overcome. It is not that we are\ncapable of enduring more than others, it is simply that we know who to\nlean on in times of despair! \"For I know the plans I have for you,\"\ndeclares the LORD, \"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to\ngive you hope and a future\" (Jeremiah 29:11).\nMy name is Sylvia, and that is my immigrant story.", "kaltura_video": "1_yg0cw5f5", "page_count": 0, "record_type": "primary", "first_viewer_type": "kaltura_video", "viewer_type": "kaltura_video", "attachment": "277.pdf", "attachment_format": "pdf", "document_type": "item", "featured_collection_order": 999, "date_added": "2021-01-26T00:00:00Z", "date_added_sort": "2021-01-26T00:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2021-01-26T00:00:00Z", "_version_": 1710337983839731712, "type": "Moving Image", "collection": "p16022coll554", "is_compound": false, "parent_id": "71", "thumb_url": "https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/p/1369852/thumbnail/entry_id/1_yg0cw5f5", "thumb_cdn_url": "https://dkp5i0hinw9br.cloudfront.net/cd3ff6786154b30dec3ee40b51170948aa5f5eca.png", "children": [ ] }