The Serafino-Agars

This is the Serafino-Agar family. They are from The Philippines. They live in Daly City, CA. According to the American Community Survey there are approx. 4,100,000 U.S. residents that report Filipino descent. In Daly City, Filipinos make up 32% of the total population.

Photography by Dennis Tejero

Styling by Alexander-Julian

Jason Serafino-Agar, 51

What is an American?
I think an American is someone who's decided to stay or be here in the United States. I also think that term itself, American, it's much broader, but people in the United States have decided that we're the only ones in America, even though there's North America and South America. We've decided to take the term and think it's just about us.

What are the values of the Philippines and Lebanon?
I was raised in the United States. At the same time, my family is from Lebanon where the values were very much around entrepreneurship, business, making opportunities happen, and also the Philippines where the values were to work hard, to be accountable, and to provide for one's family.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
The American dream, in its many shapes, is really an idea of opportunity and the idea that it's possible for one person to have greater control or agency in shaping their life, and in exercising choice in their life. For me, it means something different than it did to my parents or grandparents, but we'll get into that in other questions.

What did the American Dream mean to your parents?
I think it meant different things. For my mom, I think the American dream meant creating something for herself that was wildly different than what her parents had wanted for her, but was unique for her and felt right. I think for my dad, the American dream meant coming and having what looked like where the benefits of this country and this lifestyle and working hard and then providing those opportunities to his children, whether that was skiing, doing things that his father never had a chance to do, or it was helping us go to college, or it was having a house and having the Beamer, the BMW, and doing what a lot of the other people did. It was being here, living life, working hard, and for my dad, it was going with the flow and assimilating into what was normal and surviving. Surviving, but doing well enough to notice that.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
I think that's a really good question because sometimes there can be way more opportunity than other places, other countries of origin. It often seems like there's an open playing field and, at the same time, it's not a meritocracy. There's not a clear line of ‘do the work and then reap the rewards’ because of white supremacy and patriarchy that are such deep, deep parts of culture in the United States. My initial idea, thought, as who's able to thrive in the United States, initially, I think, white, middle class, upper-class people, generally. At the same time, thriving can take many different forms. You can be thriving because you faced adversity and figured out a way to hold on to your humanity or grow it because your life has purpose. You found a purpose, and you've been willing to follow that and have the opportunity and support to do that.

I think, who's able to thrive in the United States is really the person that decides to take the time to know who they are, what's important to them in their life, what they want to get done in their life before they die, and then the person that's working to make those things happen, that leads to ultimate fulfillment. That doesn't matter if you're in the United States or elsewhere. Although I tend to think in the background, subconsciously, United States is the best country in the world, and on a conscious level, I know it's not. I know, so many other people in the world have so much more figured out. It's just arrogance. That's part of this identity or this culture that we have in the US.

Who dies in the United States of America?
I think everybody dies and, at the same time, there are people who die more often from more horrendous experiences, particularly black and brown in the United States. Then because of racism or white supremacy, and because of capitalism and patriarchy, those big, big terms, but I think there's another death as well and that's a death of soul and that's a death of purpose. I think what is needed in this day and age, if we are to survive this transition around human-initiated climate catastrophe, is for people to awaken or reincarnate there, go have a death of normalcy and really find what is significant to them and what piece they have to offer for dealing with the world that we actually live in. It's the same world that we live in now versus the future. It's just because the future is now, we don't really think about it, but anything that we can figure out for ourselves in the future is a gift to ourselves. If we can have clean air, clean water, clean soil, productive healthy soil, then we're going to really change it. The question of who dies in the United States, yes, a lot of inequality we all do, and it really brings to light what we need to do to live.

Are you free in the United States of America?
I think I'm more free than I am in other countries and less free than I am in different countries. I don't really have a perspective, aside from seeing all the deaths and killing that's happening in the Philippines right now, for people who speak up against that current president there or the current regime that's in power. I think that if I were to start saying a whole bunch of different things on social media that I could get locked up. I really do. There's limited freedom, but within certain realms, I have a lot of freedom. I think the part that's empowering is the ability to visualize where we are, where we're going, and to work with other people to create structures that can help us make that transition, in this case, from capitalism to something that's better. That includes an environmental sustainability consciousness that really is self-preservation. The term that's been used often as a just transition, so just transition away from capitalism and exploitive, extractive businesses. I think that's an area to exercise freedom because it's needed, and it's needed to thrive.

Freedom I think is different. There's freedom to survive, and then there's freedom to really thrive, and thriving is harder. Thriving takes courage, and it takes being different, and really taking a whole level of responsibility as well. Because it can't just be one person thriving. It really has to be an interconnected group of people doing it. It's just so much more satisfying if that can happen. That is hard. That is hard to do in a very individualistic culture.

Are you patriotic towards the United States of America?
No, I don't think I am patriotic toward the United States. If the United States is doing something that really is of benefit to other people, versus self-interest for businesses, multinational corporations, and a very few rich people, then that would be different. I don't see that happening very often. I think the United States has a long way to go to implement and to test its experiment in democracy. Am I patriotic toward the United States? Not particularly.

Are you patriotic towards the Philippines and Lebanon?
I have empathy for the people there, to a certain extent. I have more because I've been to the Philippines multiple times. I've not been back to Lebanon, but I also don't like seeing what's happened because I do feel a connection with people there. Am I patriotic towards my country of origin? Again, it's not so much about the country. It's about people, the connection that I feel, and the humanity that I feel with them, so empathy.

Why did your parents emigrate from the Philippines and Lebanon?
On one side, it was my great-grandparents coming from Lebanon. On the other side, it was my grandfather, and father, and grandmother, and aunt coming from the Philippines. They came here because there was more opportunity to provide for their children and their families, and they wanted to experience and make something different. My family in Lebanon left. It was Syria then when they left around 1908. That was before World War I and the Ottoman Empire was collapsing, which led to economic chaos. I just think there were better jobs or opportunities in the United States. There was this huge entrepreneurial spirit for the Christian Lebanese Arabs. Yes, they could come here to the United States and when they came here, they were ambiguous but when my grandmother was, let's see, four years old. Then it was ruled that people of Lebanese, Middle Eastern descent, their skin was white enough to be that of an American so they got the white privilege of being here. In that way, they've got opportunity in whiteness.

For my dad, my Lolo, my Lola, they came for a better life for their children and their grandchildren. Definitely the opportunity to go to college. The Philippines had been bombed immensely in World War II. Manila was mostly leveled with all the bombing that the United States did while it was occupied by Japan. I think that with people dead and the opportunity to go, which came from my grandfather being in the Philippine Scouts, and then coming and being a part of the US Army, that was just a much clearer choice because they were leaving a country that had been absolutely devastated.

What is your favorite thing about the United States of America?
My favorite thing about the United States is the courage, and the idealism, and the organizing, and the sticking around and fighting to define what the United States will be. That's happened over the years and it's continued to happen and the progress that's being made. I think this is a huge experiment in people coming together and attempting to figure out how to live. There's a spirit of possibility and confidence, I think, as part of the culture here in the United States.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States of America?
My least favorite thing about the United States is the level of trauma that we have here and the lack of awareness about it. That's also an opportunity as well because what's happening in the United States I see and many others see as really a continuation of the trauma that Europeans experienced and acted out upon each other, and then acted out upon people of African descent through slavery and forced servitude, and then justifications for treating people, some people better than others, particularly black and brown people, or the last few wars people of Asian descent. All those narratives and all those stories and all those justifications are floating around, and they're out there, and there's this soup of trauma. It's not yet been really understood and recognized. This will get into the next question of, what would you like to see happen in the US? I'll save that for the next question.

What would you like to see happen in the United States of America?
In the United States, regardless of who you are, whatever your background is, there is a bond around trauma. It looks different, but everyone, whether you're a millionaire or billionaire, whether you're a white male, whether you're trans, queer, person of color, there's trauma that you've experienced that's there or something that your ancestors have experienced. I would really like to see an awareness of how to use somatic healing, body-based mindfulness, experiencing what's happening in your body, being able to breathe, being able to feel the feelings gradually, and have an understanding about how humans heal from trauma and painful experiences, and how emotions move through our bodies, and how we can deal with these things so that we can picture what we want to see happen in our lives.

We can dare to dream something that feels really scary or feel the fear and do it anyway. We can brave having that conversation about next steps for climate change because we care about people in our lives, or we care about ourselves and we extend that care to other people. There's the saying, "We go from me to we, and from them to us." I think that can happen in the United States. If people start to peek under the hood, if we start teaching, and practicing, and sharing our own journeys of healing, and what those can look like. It can be good for each of us, it can be good, particularly for the planet, it can be good for our health, which our diet has a huge impact. Transportation diet, the huge impact on global climate change and catastrophe, and the United States is such a leader in the world. I would like to see awareness and education, and really a fluency in dealing with healing, with working with emotions and trauma in the United States, because I think the implications are global.

Linda Serafino, 75

What is an American?
They have a lot of job to work and a lot of activities to do. Compared in the Philippines. The opportunity to have a lot of jobs here than in the Philippines. That's why I left the Philippines.

What are the values of the Philippines?
They respect the old woman, like grandpa and grandma and they work hard in the Philippines because we have nothing there.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
There's a lot of opportunity here in United States. Like the family, they can go to college, like you know, to work hard too, opportunity to work more here in United States.

I did it. If I am in the Philippines, I don't know what would have happened to me there, so here I make it. I can drive, I have a new house and I can do everything, what I want.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
My husband, Grandpa Freddie is successful here. Working hard here, that's why he can buy a new house, new car, everything, what we need.

Are you free in the United States of America?
Yes. I'm free here because I can go any place I want, not like in The Philippines. They're very strict there. Here you can go any place you want. Whatever what you do here. Whatever you want to go to work or not.

Are you patriotic towards the United States of America?
Yes. Yeah, I believe whatever what they want to do, the president to ask me to. I like the new president now.

Are you patriotic towards the Philippines?
Of course, yes. I'm born there in the Philippines, so I'm still, you know, Filipino.

Why did you emigrate from the Philippines?
Well, I'm fifth preference from the Philippines come over to the United States because, Auntie Mimie, my sister who bring me here, that's why they call it, the fifth preference, the first, preference is the husband or wife like that, so I'm the fifth preference coming over here in United States, sister by sister.

Helen Serafino-Agar, 49

What is an American?
An American is someone who is born in the United States of America or someone from another country who becomes a citizen of the United States of America.

What are the values of your country of origin?
I was born in the United States, and from our pledge of allegiance, is justice, liberty, and justice for all, and other things were, for opportunity, individualism, progress, freedom, equality, democracy.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
The American Dream for me is to be successful in my own way, to make my family proud. I was the first graduate, college graduate, from my family, so that my successes are my parents successes and my ancestors, so if I succeed in America, that means they succeed also. I mean, that’s the reason they came here, for the American dream.

What did the American Dream mean to your parents?
My parents immigrated from the Philippines. My dad was from Cavite, and my mom was from Pangasinan. And they immigrated here, my dad immigrated here mid 60s and my mom late 60s. And for them, and I think for their family in the Philippines—if you were an American or you go to America, you could live not like you lived in the Philippines where there is a lot of poverty and you can’t move on or be successful because their families were poor. And they felt like moving to the US was the way to get out of that. If you work hard you will be able to buy a house. You could buy a car, a new car. You could have a good job. And I think both my parents felt they did that, coming here to the US. My dad working as a merchant seaman working really hard to get what he wanted, and my mom she was a beautician with her older sister and they owned their own beauty shop and their success was keeping that business alive and also their success was through my older sister and myself going through school. I think their success was, because they weren’t college graduates, that we both graduated from college. I know from my great grandfather, that he wanted his granddaughter, which is my Auntie Mimie, to go to America and then bring everybody else who she could to come here to the United states. She married one of the townsmen who went there to find a younger wife and he picked her. So she sacrificed her life in the Philippines to come to the US to marry this old man who she called ‘this old man’. He was 33 years older than her, but when she got here, that was her way, that’s how she got her sisters here, my mom first, and then that’s how she got her mom and other sister here to the US. So it was through her sacrifice, my aunty’s sacrifice, that she became American and was successful. Where the people in the Philippines feel like this is the way, to be successful is to be an American.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
I think mostly people who have generations of success or money are able to thrive more than others. Mostly white Europeans who didn't have to struggle through as much as other people of color, especially brown and Black folks. There are still ways that people of color still can't get to the status of those rich white people because things are handed down to them and they have more opportunities.

As a Filipino American born and raised here in San Francisco, I think we were successful in our ways because of the community that we have. My mom, again, she was a beautician and she worked for white people who wanted their hair done. But it was also with the community that we, I guess with their help, they got to navigate through what it is to be an immigrant from the Philippines here in San Francisco. But it was difficult. And yeah, ways that as an immigrant daughter, I hope I did my ways, or in order to make my parents successful in our ways as immigrants.

Who dies in the United States of America?
Anybody who's on the land of the United States. People who came here to colonize and take over, they took over and killed the people. Millions of people who are already here in the United States. I think that maybe the question goes, well, what, um, more deaths now are because of white supremacy. Those who die are mostly brown and Black people. But it's this sense of superiority of mostly white Americans that brown and Black people died.

Are you free in the United States of America?
Yes, I do feel free in the United States in different ways. I'm not certain if the United States protects all. There are groups of people, Black and brown people, who have to struggle more to be free when it's said that we're free.

In my community here in San Francisco, I feel free to speak what I want. But because of the protection of the people around me, I may not get hurt with the anti-Asian violence that's going on now. It is scary. I get scared for my mom, for her safety. She's 75 years old. But yeah, not all. I mean, there are these freedoms that we have, but it's not guaranteed for all.

Are you patriotic towards the United States?
I wouldn't die for this country because the country hasn't been fair to all of us. I wouldn't wear red, white, and blue. I do my ways of being patriotic by voting. But I wouldn't say that I would be the person you would see carrying a flag and say I'm proud of being American. We're not all protected. All peoples here who live in the United States aren’t protected in the same way.

Why did your parents emigrate from their country of origin?
My dad, Alfredo Serafino, came here when he was 18. His mother was trying really hard to get him to come to the United States because of the opportunities that he could have here rather than in the Philippines. And then with my mom again, for the opportunities that she would have here in the United States compared to what she would have had if she stayed in the Philippines.

What is your favorite thing about the United States of America?
I love the diversity of people of different cultures here. Instead of the word ‘the melting pot’ that they used in some of my social studies class growing up, it’s more like a salad, everyone contributes their part for that salad, instead of melting and not noticing the differences in people or similarities of people.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States of America?
My least favorite thing about the United States is claiming that we are all free and equal and in actuality, we're not, because of the hate of people who are not being accepted. Acceptance of all the people who are here of different origins, different ethnicities, and not being open to that. This land is not even ours, we are settlers here, and this is Native American land, which was stolen. We're on stolen land. It's sad that we're supposed to be all free, and we're not.

What would you like to see happen in the United States of America?
There's so many steps that the United States needs to take in order to give justice back to what happened to many people of this land, starting with the Native Americans, starting also with African Americans who were forced to come here through slavery and the injustice of different Americans here of different ethnicities or heritage. Like, for example, for the Japanese Americans who were put in internment camps, or just injustice of all people.

And for our future generation, there needs to be fairness in our government. My hope is that there is more justice if that's what the United States stands for.

Kadean Serafino-Agar, 10

What is an American?
For me an American is someone who is born or lives in the South America or North America continents or who is born or lives in the United States of America.

What are the values of the United States of America?
Well since you’re in America, I think they’re more focused on making products –like California makes a lot of vegetables and fruits.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
Huh, that’s a hard one. I don’t think I know.‘

What did the American Dream mean to your parents?
Huh, I don’t know. I’ll ask them later.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
Well I think it's more of the white people because of racism but also the Black and Brown people because they have more community and culture.

Why did your grandparents emigrate from the Philippines and Lebanon?
Well it's basic. For a better life for them and their children.

What is your favorite thing about the United States of America?
Well, for me it's all the possibilities and programs that we have here in the USA.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States of America?
High rent.

What would you like to see happen in the United States of America?
Well I would like to see lower prices for rent and healthier foods.

Hair and Make-Up by Green Dale Figueroa. On-Set Support, Chelsea Lee. Video by Patrick Aguilar.
Serafino-Agar family clothing by Carl Jan Cruz and Rhude.

The Batistas

This is the Batista family. They are from Marianao, Cuba. They live in Hialeah, FL outside of Miami. According to the American Community Survey there are 2,381,570 U.S. residents that report Cuban descent — in Miami-Dade county there are approx. 1,500,000. Abuelos Reimundo and Olga Batista, and their family from time to time, have lived in this apartment complex in Hialeah since they immigrated in 1980.

Photography by Alexander Saladrigas

Styling by Alexander-Julian

Gabriela Trujillo, 28

What is an American?
To me an American is a person who values freedom to be yourself, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression above all else. To me an American is someone who fights for what is right and for individuals human rights, no matter what. Americans get to make their own choices and are not dictated by their government the way Cubans are by their government.

What are Cuban values?
Cubans value family and community above all else because it is all they have. They must come together to find solutions for their neighborhoods since the Cuban oppressive and does not repair any streets or buildings, the Cuban people have joined together to make whatever changes they can on their own. Whether it be to come together to fix a neighbors leaking roof or to slaughter a pig together so the neighborhood can eat, it is all done by the people.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
The American dream to me means to be whatever I choose to be. To be able to earn and save my own money and have the freedom to do with it what I please. The American dream to me, is the fact that my family came to US as political refugees with nothing to our name, all living in a one bedroom apartment, not knowing a word of English. Within a few years my mom had her own beauty salon with her own clients, making her own schedule and being FREE to do what she wanted with her life and time. That's the American dream. An unheard of luxury in many other places in the world.

What did the American Dream mean to your parents?
For my parents, it meant finally having peace of mind. They went from a tyrannical and totalitarian country that controlled everything. From the rationed food lines, to what farmers were allowed to grow and sell, what farm animals were allowed to be eaten. They had to fight tooth and nail for every little thing they had. For example, my parents tell me stories about how they often didn't know what they would be able to feed me, and my dad would have to walk over 30 miles a day to find me root vegetables, fish, goats milk, anything they could find to sustain their baby daughter. The American dream meant never having to wonder how we would eat again.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
I truly believe that while the US has a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to equality, it is still the best country in the world. I think anyone with determination and discipline anyone can thrive in the US because I have seen it first hand. I've seen refugees and immigrants with no knowledge of the English language build businesses, become working professionals, and in general just carve out their own lane in this country regardless of religion, race, or political affiliation.

Are you free in the United States of America?
Yes, I am free to say whatever I want. I'm free to openly criticize my government (which I often do), I'm free print and post my opinions, I'm free to practice whatever religion I want and marry whoever I want, I'm free to own and sell property, I'm free to have children or not. I fully own the rights to my life and that is a privilege not granted to current residents of my homeland.

Are you patriotic towards the United States of America?
I do love the US and consider myself a patriot because of the freedoms this country allows its citizens. This country is not perfect by any means but I'm glad I'm here and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Are you patriotic towards Cuba?
I love my Cuban people and our beautiful land, however I do not feel a sense of patriotism because the country has been completely hijacked by the Communist party. You are ONLY allowed to be communist and nothing else. Those who support this and align themselves with the communist party are the ones who always have food on the table and are held in high regard in society. My family, who were always secretly anti-communism, we kept to ourselves and didn't participate in the neighborhood party meetings (snitching committees) and for this we were seen as "gusanos" (worms, scum) this was what they called anyone who didn't agree with them. So no, I do not feel patriotism.

Why did you emigrate from Cuba?
We were refugees trying to escape political prosecution. My family was anti-communist, therefore anti-cuban regime. The Cuban government imprisoned my mothers uncle Juanito for years because he openly said he did not agree with them. They stormed into our home and took him to prison where he was brutally beaten and kept away from his family, simply because he did not agree with the oppressive regime. Not to mention the food rationing, people being pulled and reassigned from their homes (that they had paid for) my great grand father owned a small bodega in his own hometown of Santa Clara, Cuba and the cuban government came in one day and said "you no longer own this, we do now" they kicked him out of his store that he built himself with his own two hands and turned it into a government "nationalized" store where they would control the goods being sold to the community.

We left because we knew we'd never be free from this tyranny and there seemed to be no end in sight for the Castro regime. It has now been 62 years of communism for Cubans.

What is your favorite thing about the United States of America?
I love that we are free to think for ourselves here. That we can choose pretty much everything in our lives and are not controlled by our ELECTED governments. (The open and free elections are nice too!!)

What is your least favorite thing about the United States of America?
I can criticize the US for hours. Everything from the way the US has handled international conflict, how they have created and funded militias around the world to advance their agendas. I hate the way the US treats our indigenous population and how they never properly took accountability for the heinous treatment of Black Americans. I even disagree with the Cuban sanctions enforced by the US because it has not hurt the Cuban government at all, (matter of fact Fidel Castro died with an estimated net worth $900 million) these sanctions have only further hurt the Cuban people. I very much do not agree with our current health care system and how it is ran for PROFIT above all else. I can go on forever. This country needs a lot of work but even with all that said, I still believe we are worlds ahead of other countries.

What would you like to see happen in the United States of America?
I would love for this country to heal and for all of us to come together as free people. I wish we could unite over our similarities instead of being divided by our differences. I would love to see this country put up museums and monuments for our fallen indigenous people, and do the same for our ancestors for our Black population, who lost their lives and were so badly treated. I wish for people to seek knowledge and truth outside of establishment media like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, which I believe has already been far too corrupted by our political parties and their agendas. I wish for us to be free from the two party system all together and on our way to a more inclusive and united people.

Jeffry Batista Ojito, 33

What is an American?
An American to me is a person with privileges who has every opportunity to become whoever they want to be. An individual with rights.

What are Cuban values?
Family, culture and their people. Growing up in Cuba my neighbors were my closest family. The level of compassion for one another in situations where your next door neighbor needed a cup of sugar or salt, even a chicken thigh to cook a soup that would feed an entire family. Unlike the United States where at age 18 adolescents go their way and rent/buy their own apartments/houses, most families in Cuba due to the lack to housing and the poverty live together for their entire life. Our food, our music and our history is very rich and has even influenced others.

What does the American Dream mean to you?
To me the American dream is being able to one day reach your desired financial stability as a result of your hard work and being able to enjoy it.

What does the American Dream mean to your parents?
To my mother the American dream meant providing a better future for me. Making it possible for me to grow in a land of freedom and opportunities.

Who is able to thrive in the United States of America?
Anyone who is willing to take advantage of all the amazing opportunities they are offered with. People who study and work hard for what they desire.

Are you free in the United States of America?
Yes, very much so. I am free to live the life I want, to say what I think, to love whom i want to love. I am entitled to my own ideas and opinions. I am free to travel the world and be friends with anyone i want to be friends with. Free to vote for who I believe will be the president who will represent us the best.

Are you patriotic towards the United States of America?
Yes I am. How couldn't I be devoted and thankful to a nation that has given me the chance to have the future I’ve always dreamt of? To be the man I am today. I have achieved so much since I arrived and I’ve always felt welcomed.

Are you patriotic towards Cuba?
My country and their people are beautiful and I do feel patriotic towards that (CUBA the country). Not towards the dictatorship that oppresses it.

Why did you emigrate from Cuba?
I emigrated because except for my mother, my whole family from my mother's side was already living in the United States and I grew up in Cuba until I was 18 years old without my entire family by my side. Even worse than being apart from my family, was the poverty, the hunger, the lack of freedom, the lack of opportunities to be a professional, the endless nights without electric power because of government mandated outages. The notion that nothing was ever going to change and if it did it was definitely going to be for the worse, led to the decision to leave the country behind.

What is your favorite thing about the United States of America?
My favorite thing about the United States is the inclusion, the acceptance, the freedom it has given me to be whoever I want to become. I love that as a natural creative who was born to entertain through singing, acting and dancing I've been able to build a career for myself doing what I love, to the point where I was able to star in a movie alongside John Leguizamo, who is an idol to me not only for how talented he is, but also for being such an advocate for Latinos and Afro Americans.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States of America?
My least favorite thing about the United States is that most of the time money is given more value than humanity itself. The fact that some people die because they just don't have the money to afford a surgery or medical treatment that could potentially save their lives is beyond me.

What would you like to see happen in the United States of America?
What I'd love to see happen in the United States is a better Health Care System that will not let any human lives go to waste simply because they don't have money or means to afford care. Health care is a human right.

Olga Ojito Batista, 81

¿Qué significa ser americano?
Aunque vivo en los Estados Unidos, no he podido obtener la ciudadanía ni hablo inglés. Yo misma no me siento Americana.

¿Cuáles son los valores de Cuba?
Valoramos el respeto, la hospitalidad, el tiempo de calidad con nuestras familias extendidas. La familia es la máxima prioridad.

¿Qué significa el sueño americano para ti?
Para mí, el sueño americano consistía en sacar a mis hijas de la isla. Una vez que triunfó la Revolución, la calidad de vida en Cuba comenzó a deteriorarse rápidamente y las relaciones se volvieron muy tensas debido a las opiniones políticas. Sabía que allí no habría futuro para mis hijas.

¿Qué significaba el sueño americano para tus padres?
Mis padres nunca soñaron con venir a Estados Unidos. Aunque no éramos ricos en Cuba antes de la revolución, éramos felices e independientes. No teníamos mucho pero éramos libres. No fue hasta que llegó el comunismo a nuestra isla que mi esposo y yo tomamos la difícil decisión de dejar atrás todo lo que sabíamos para encontrar una realidad mejor para nuestras hijas.

¿Quién prospera en los Estados Unidos?
Por lo que he visto, los que no le tienen miedo al fracaso y riesgos son los que han triunfado en este país.

¿Eres libre en los Estados Unidos?
Sí, soy libre de pensar por mí mismo y tengo libertad de expresión.

¿Eres patriota hacia los Estados Unidos?
Estoy feliz de estar aquí y me siento agradecido de poder vivir aquí, pero no tengo una conexión tan profunda con este país.

¿Eres patriota hacia Cuba?
Extraño mucho la tierra. Extraño las playas y las calles, la gente y los sonidos, los olores. Pero ya no es la Cuba que recuerdo y no siento patriotismo por el gobierno que oprimió a mi familia. Mi sueño era volver algún día a una Cuba libre de la que pueda estar orgullosa y sentir patriotismo, pero ese día no ha llegado.

¿Por qué emigraste de Cuba?
Aunque mi familia apoyó a la revolucion al principio, rápidamente comenzamos a ver cuán opresivo se volvió el nuevo gobierno. Arrestaron a mi hermano y lo mantuvieron en prisión durante años porque protestaba contra la brutalidad. Se confiscaron negocios, se revocaron los hogares de las personas, y se envió a la gente a campamentos donde se les obligó a adoptar ideologías comunistas. Mi familia tuvo que empezar a ocultar nuestra religión católica porque se despreciaba practicar todas y cada una de las religiones. Era un constante adoctrinamiento comunista y no quería criar a mis hijas allí. Quería que fueran libres de decir lo que pensaban y desarrollar sus propios pensamientos. No había oportunidad de trabajo a menos que estuvieras con el "partido"

Llegué aquí cuando tenía 50 años y nunca seguí una carrera, mi esposo encontró trabajo en una fábrica mientras yo cuidaba a los niños del vecindario en Hialeah, FL. Aunque nunca nos hicimos ricos, pudimos cuidar a nuestros nietos mientras sus madres trabajaban y debido a nuestro sacrificio, todos mis nietos son felices y tienen carreras que aman.

¿Qué es lo más te gusta de Estados Unidos?
La libertad y las cantidad de oportunidades

¿Qué es lo que menos te gusta de Estados Unidos?
Lo que menos me gusta de Estados Unidos es la cantidad de gente que trabaja. En Cuba se priorizaba el tiempo y el ocio en familia más que trabajar y ganar dinero.

¿Qué te gustaría ver ocurrir en los Estados Unidos?
Mi deseo para Estados Unidos es que siempre sea una tierra libre para que TODAS las personas encuentren asilo y la oportunidad de una mejor calidad de vida.

Batista Family clothing by Johanna Ortiz and Shop A.AU.