Where do I come from? Who are my ancestors? These are questions I’ve asked myself time and time again. There’s no simple way to get all these answers. I can’t find my past in any history book or in records from Ellis Island. My family is from El Salvador, but I know there’s a deeper truth there, as there is with many Latinos.
This week, at The Latinx Summit for Courageous Conversations, I spent three days getting challenged and enlightened about that truth. There’s so much more to my cultural background than what the term “Latino” suggests. I’ve come to fully recognize that, through blood and/or shared experiences, my ancestry is connected to indigenous, black, and European roots.
One of the most powerful activities of the experience, for me at least, was facilitated by Dr. Cesar A. Cruz, an activist and educator from California. After Dr. Cruz provided us with an accelerated course of Latino history in the United States, where he wrote back our stories into the history books, he asked us to write a letter from our ancestors. He told us to channel our past and put words to what we were feeling.
Here is what I channeled from my collective ancestry. There was so much power in processing what my ancestors would want to share with me in this moment in my life. For this post, I elected to keep this in its original form – what I wrote in the time Dr. Cruz gave us to write it.
Querido Oscarito,
We didn’t have much, but we had each other. We worked hard to pass along values, stories, and love across each generation. You’ve inherited it all and are ready to accomplish anything you set your mind to. I know that you’re conflicted on the inside. You know you have so much value to the world, but are afraid that you’re wrong. You want to make your family proud but are worried that you’re failing. You’ve accomplished so much, but don’t know about your place in the world. The conflict needs to end now.
Don’t carry the weight of our past with you on your shoulders. Let it carry you so you can soar. Let our legacy be your wealth. You have value. You have worth. You have us. We will always be with you – in your heart, mind, and soul. Channel us whenever you need to. You are my wildest dream. Now, I need it to be your reality.
Siempre contigo,
Sus ancestros
