And then what happened?

I got up and I walked out of the bus cause the cop told me to follow him.

Oh.

So, right as I stepped down out of the bus.

Yeah.

There were like 4 police cars.

What?

I was so upset.

Uh.

Because I couldn't believe the response to what had happened.

You know?

Yeah.

Wow.

I moved to the U.S. at the age of 18 which was an interesting age, because I was officially an adult in Mexico, but I was still like a child.

Without a doubt.

Yeah.

It was a like a big cultural shock.

Wow.

Okay, tell me the story from the top.

I was like getting off from work and Hm.

It was like a busy intersection where cars coming like from every direction.

Yeah.

Then I was crossing the street, it was my turn to go, right?

Like the little dude turned green or whatever.

[laughs] So, there is car completely blocking the pedestrian way.

Um.

And the driver is like looking down at a phone or something and I don't want to get run over.

Right.

So in my country is very common to like, use your hands to like, let people know that you're out there.

Yeah, tap the hood.

So I tap on the hood of the vehicle and the driver looked up and I just made a sign, went, "Hey, I'm crossing the street" and he stared back at me and that was it.

Hmm.

I continued walking.

I got into the city bus to go back home.

Um hm.

And after a couple of blocks the bus got pulled over by a police car.

Oh.

In walks this police officer in his uniform and right next to him is the dude that was driving the car.

What?

And he pointed at me, he said, "That's him".

Hm.

And I was like, shocked, right?

Yeah.

What the F..

I knew that, if I said "No, I'm not going", or whatever, it was going to escalate, right?

So.

Yeah.

The cop told me to follow him.

As I stepped down out the bus.

Hm.

There were like, 4 police cars.

Whoa.

I was so upset.

What?

This is insane.

So, in a manner of minutes, 4 cop cars like assembled to pull over a bus?

Where's the fire?

The dude that was driving the car flashed this card at me and he it like, "Sheriff".

Huh.

And he's like, "You don't touch me property", like "blah blah blah".

And then he started asking me if I was drunk and I was obviously not drunk.

God.

Um, but I just felt like he was trying to get me for something.

Yeah.

Something to justify the response.

Right?

So, anyways, the sheriff dude told the cop like, "Write him up for disorderly conduct".

Hmm.

I remember going home and just like being like furious, like so angry that this has happened.

Yeah.

Like I was guilty before they even talked to me.

Um.

Like, I was guilty when they pulled over the bus.

Like, I was guilty like, you know, from that moment.

It was because I, we're perceived as like threats, you know?

And we need to be taken care of accordingly with that force and with that speed.

I was very unaware of like the implications like of me being an immigrant and living here.

You know?

Um hm.

Like I didn't consider myself to be different than anyone else but I came to learn that.

There was already an identity that was assigned to me because of what I look like or what I sounded like.

Yeah.

You're being stereotyped as an immigrant without anybody knowing your story.

So, that was your experience when you first moved here.

I'm wondering if you have any stories of aggression that have happened more recently, like now that you've lived here for a while.

I went to pick up my son to school and as I was walking in, there was a white man out, that was older, that was, he just kept looking at me weird.

Hm.

As a person of color like you recognize those signs.

Yeah.

I didn't shy away, I walked with me head looking forward towards the place to where I would pick up my son.

Um hm.

And as I was walking further into the building, the person started walking kind of like towards me.

Huh.

And he approached a young child that was in the building and asked the child, "Is that your father?"

[laughs] And the kid was like, "No".

[laughs] At that point, I knew something was going down and I honestly felt like I didn't have to give any explanations.

I'm so Yeah.

Upset that this was gonna happen.

And so, my heart was racing, I was like sweating.

Ugh.

And he approached me and he asked me, "What are you doing here?

", something like that and I was like, "I'm not gonna answer anything to you", you know and he kept kind of like following me.

Um.

I got into this exchange with him where I was just like telling him to go away.

Yeah.

Like, I'm not going to tell you anything.

Yeah.

And the principal came in and diffused the situation a little bit.

But.. Oh.

I used to go and pick him up all the time, like that was my safe space.

Hm.

And someone strange questioned me in a place where I considered to be safe.

You know?

Yeah.

So, that was just one interaction that has actually led me to be more involved with the school than to try to ask difficult questions about the experience of immigrants in the school system.

Yeah.

Okay.

I want to ask you about how you responded in those different stories.

Because they're very different.

With the cops, you followed along and obviously, there's that power dynamic there that you kind of have to, or at least you feel like you kind of have to, but at the school, you pushed back with this older man.

I'm just learning with time to save my energy and my time for things and people that are worth all that time.

Uh hm.

Because before, you feel like you need to educate everyone, right?

Like everyone needs to know.

Yeah.

How they need to treat you.

Right.

But, I wouldn't have learned that.

Some people's journey is different than mine and it's not really up to me to change them.

Hm.

But it's up to me to just be myself and be meaningful with all the relationships that I do hold.

Yeah.

I'm not gonna change the world, but I can be a better person myself.

Yeah.

With the people that I love and the people around me, you know?

I really feel that immigrants are my people here, you know?

hmm.

100%, because without knowing a lot about the person in front of me knowing that they're an immigrant, I can see and I can understand the things that they have lived to lead 'em to that moment when we're interacting with each other.

Yeah.

And that makes such a big difference when you don't have a lot of roots somewhere.

That you can tap into people that are a strong connection, and can give you that sense of community.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Thank you.