In Praise Of Local 100

There are many social issues that affect the individuals in the novel Across a Hundred Mountains, such as, social injustice, poverty, homelessness, prostitution, hunger, depression, alcohol and physical abuse, violence and death. The novel begins with the discovery of the unmarked grave of Juana’s father by the U.S. border. This is the fate many

In the book, Hidden America by Jeanne Marie Laskas, I noticed many themes throughout. Perhaps the most important theme that occurred to me was the fact that many of these stories were happening right here in my home state. Throughout three different chapters I truly came to the realization that many situations to do with my life, are possible purely because of the workers in the stories; not only around the world but in places I frequent. The three chapters I chose were: “Underworld”, “G-L-O-R-Y”, and “Sputter”. All of these stories were based in Ohio and I think that has a lot to say about how oblivious we are as a community to the people that work to make our lives how they are today.

In Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, she allows us to enter the everyday lives of ten undocumented Mexican workers all living in the Chicago area. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz refers to Chuy, Alejandro, Leonardo, Luis, Manuel, Omar, Rene, Roberto, Lalo, and Albert the ten undocumented Mexicans as the “Lions”. This book shares the Lions many stories from, their daily struggle of living as an undocumented immigrant in America, to some of them telling their stories about crossing the border and the effects of living in a different country than their family, and many other struggles and experiences they have encountered. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book delves into

The background of both narrators of “Mericans” and “In response to Executive Order 9066” comes from a Japanese or a Mexican-decent who are realizing cultural differences from their American life. However, the mistreating of a girl by her best friend compared to a girl who finds significant change between her two worlds that is tested by every cultures costumes of being victims of racial discrimination. The short story “Mericans” and the poem “In response to Executive Order 9066” can be a universal conflict between diverse heritage and cultural backgrounds that are determined by how America sees society.

In an era of a rising unionization, The Triangle Fire, calligraphy written my Leon Stein, describes one of the worst industrial disasters in the nation’s history that ended up killing 146 of the 500 Triangle Shirtwaist Company employees, which happened to be female immigrant workers. These immigrants came to the United States with their families in search for a better life. Instead they found themselves working long hours only to receive low wages along with horrendous working circumstances with very little freedom.

He illustrates the suffering people experience at the hands of the desert, the loss that shatters the families of those who lose their lives during the journey, and the desire for the American Dream that motivates the border crossers to risk their lives. The emotional tales in the book give a face to a group of people who are nothing more than a statistic to many Americans. The vast majority of people seem to have no comprehension of the impact that different policies will have, regardless of their support for or rejection of our current immigration policy. Big picture information about illegal immigration is intangible and incomprehensible to most. The emotional arguments provide readers with information that the average person can work with, such as the story of Memo and Lucho crossing the border and eking out a life in the US afterwards (De León 167-201). The stories provided by the book can also connect the effects of immigration policy on the individual to the impact it can have on large groups of people who had no intention of crossing the border. For example, the testimony about Maricela’s life and death provided in Chapter 10 connects the suffering Maricela experienced to the pain her family and friends feel after they learn of her death (De León 243-264). These stories aid in the creation of better arguments about illegal immigration.

“Mija look at the buildings, they are so tall and see those lights they shine very strong at nighttime.” The happiness I had when I came to America was enormous, I never in my life felt as happy as that day. As a girl of seven, my imagination was radical. I could not wait for the morning to arrive to go to school and meet new people. When we arrived at the house where we were going to live, I wander around and for me it was an elegant mansion. Never in my life have I imagined living in such a beautiful house. That day was one of the best childhood days that I ever had. The day

‘Again she saw the beam of the lighthouse and the lights of Wemyss Bay, much brighter now that sky and sea and hills were dark; but this time there was no reassurance in their reminder of people at peace at the fireside in their homes.’

As manager at Toyota of Greenville I would like to start off by thanking all the employees for all their hard work this past year. It’s a huge honor to have such hard and dedicated workers. Every month we like to award a Certificate of the employee of the month to show our appreciation for an employee who has done an outstanding job this past month. It is also a token of appreciation for the part you’ve played in making the company what it is today. Here at Toyota of Greenville we like to recognize a very special individual. This person has demonstrated exceptional performance on a significant number of factors. Your sales here have been very impressive, and we recognize that you have consistently achieved, and often exceeded, your goals.

The Land of Open Graves was a dynamic piece that followed stories of the Mexican-American Border land through a series of anthology-like stories. What made chapters 1 -5 so impactful were the ways in which the stories were conveyed. The author began with a tale of people scouring the desert for undocumented, human remains. Then there was a fictitious journal that mimicked the reality of four migrant workers. Other entries included an explanation of death in the desert, the following of humor in migrant workers and life in the deported role. Although all of these different stories seem divergent, they have central theme that the author draws on throughout the first 100 pages – the unparalleled hostility and negligence perpetrated by the government. The author is adamant about the idea of “Prevention Through Deterrence” and the harsh reality about the border and the way the United States treat those who cross the border. I would like to explain my reaction to each of the chapters below.

Immigration is a heavy topic to address, but the authors of these articles have a way of putting a human face to these stories that help make the article more personal and understandable. In the article “In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line,” the author talks about the story of an immigrant woman who lost her leg while on her way to America. The author begins to explain that the immigrant woman was trying to find work in America so she could support her four year old daughter back home. Archibold, author of “In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line,” says, “[the woman] made it to Mexico and onto the train. But after it departed there were cries of “Migra!” — the immigration police — and a scramble that sent her tumbling under the train,” (Archibold 36.) The woman lost her leg, but all she could think about was staying alive for her four year old daughter. This story that archibold plants in the reader’s mind lets the reader understand the reason for why immigrants are so resilient into coming to America. The author for “The Heartache of an Immigrant Family” did the same thing as archibold. Sonia Nazario, author of “The Heartache of an Immigrant Family,” began to tell the story of Lourdes and her children. Sonia explains that, “Lourdes Pineda was the single mother of a 5-year-old

In the 1940’s an agreement between the United States and Mexico allowed farm labor workers to spend time in the United States working, when the agreed upon time expired the workers would return home to Mexico. These workers were most likely poor people who had no family, friends, or people they knew who had influence or power. They were simply regular people who were trying to make a living working as migrant workers. In the novel, All They Will Call You. Author Tim Z Hernandez explores the untold stories of a group of these migrant workers who were killed in a plane crash on the way back to Mexico. In All They Will Call You, Tim Z. Hernandez has the goal of not only informing his readers about the tragic Los Gatos plane wreck but also humanize each person involved in the tragic accident; he makes his argument through the use of pathos and is most persuasive when he dedicates time and print to each person involved.

In the text, “Mexican Migrant Workers in the 20th Century,” the whole text explains different events. For example, the text states, “Mexico experienced a revolution in 1910.The revolution put some in danger and they fled for safety.” This leads to Mexicans flooding into the USA, which causes some problems, such as, “Americans grew upset, believing that immigrants were ‘taking’ their jobs.” It is not until 1965 when, “Cesar Chavez first created a union for farm workers.” Then, in the text, “Deportation at Breakfast,” the text metaphorically shows opportunity. The events begin when, “the authorities came in,. They grabbed Javier quickly and without a word.” This leads to the narrator going behind the counter, since no one notices Javier is gone, the customers mistakenly think the narrator is Javier, so instead of telling the other customers the truth, he keeps

It looked like the sun had given up on trying to break through the iron curtain of clouds that it decided to lounge behind them. As we nervously walked towards the battle of our lives, the castle silhouetted behind us like someone faintly saying goodbye. The narrow barren streets were scattered with muculent mud and broken decomposed parts of the castle lay beside it reminding us that danger was slowly approaching. The street was a skeleton, stripped of its flesh. All that remains was the broken parts of the concrete structure. Quiet and derelict. The street was a river of the rusted burnt charcoal like concrete parts of the castle. Perhaps years back this street was immersed in pools of yellow light from the assaulted street lamps. Walking past the street lamps made the scent of burnt smoke go inside me like a barren soul. The street lamps were concealing us and we were inferior to the street lamps. The street lamps were covering us with darkness reminding us of the danger ahead of

In the story “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Earnest Hemingway begins with the main character and his co-worker in a café. The two are analyzing, and discussing a deaf, drunk Oldman, who is their last customer of the day. As the deaf old man insists on having more whiskey, the main character informs the young waiter as to why and how the old man tried to commit suicide. They began to converse about the Oldman’s depressed life. The younger waiter is in a rush to go home to his wife, while the older waiter is patient and he stands up for the Oldman, being able to relate to him. Hemingway’s sentence structure and writing style represents the comparison and contrast between setting, people, and objects, along with emphasizing how it is to have and be nothing.