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Object Description
| Title | Interview with Mary Ann Garcia |
| Interviewee | Garcia, Mary Ann |
| Interviewer |
Hilton, Margaret Howes, Emma |
| Date | February 2014 |
| Duration | Approximately 49 minutes |
| Description | Our interview with MaryAnn Garcia detailed her journey from Chicago to the Quad Cities. She discusses growing up in different neighborhoods with a variety of ethnic groups, as well as how this experience affected the way she thinks about cultural unity. She also explains how her ability to speak two languages allowed her to help immigrants that are new to the United States. This developed into her passion for social justice and a career dedicated to defending immigrants' rights. She concludes by commenting on the changing dynamic of the Hispanic community in the Quad Cities and her concerns for its future |
| Historical Note | Ana María García, or Mary Ann, is a Chicago-born Mexican-American who arrived in the Quad Cities 41 years ago. With a Mexican-born father and second generation mother, García is deeply rooted in Mexican heritage and history. In her time in the Quad Cities, García has immersed herself in a variety of workplaces, from a telephone company to agricultural machinery. García also acts as an interpreter and translator for her family and friends. This skill proved rather useful when she entered the healthcare field in 1991 and became a licensed practical nurse in both Illinois and Iowa. As a nurse, she often interpreted for Spanish speaking clients. She continued applying this skill when she became a licensed realtor for Illinois and Iowa in 1999. García continues to use her language skills to protect and defend Spanish-speaking citizens, ensuring that they are aware of their rights. In 2000, García joined Casa Guanajuato as a volunteer and board member, and later became an employee in the position of healthcare and family advocacy. In April 2012, García joined the Palomares Social Justice Center as a community liaison. Community liaisons are responsible for carrying out Palomares’ social justice mission, which includes housing needs, property rights, labor rights, families and foster care, public health, and education. |
| Interview Index | [1:20 -3:30] - Arrival in the Quad Cities and work experience in the Hispanic community [3:30 - 4:00] - Working at International Harvester [4:00 -7:00] - Beginning to volunteer/using Spanish to help the community as a translator [7:00 - 7:30] - Becoming a nurse in 1995, continuing translating [7:30 - 8:00] - Joining Palomares, Casa Guanajuato [8:00 - 13:00] - Becoming a realtor in 1999, using bilingual skills to defend buyers [13:00 - 14:00] - Giving home buyers classes in Spanish [14:00 -16:50] - Assisting Spanish speaking citizens in home-buying [16:50-18:40] - Experience with victims of domestic violence [18:40 -18:50] - Palomares and Casa Guanajuato's work with community members [18:50 -20:40] - Defending workers' rights [20:40 -23:00] - Goals of organizations like Casa Guanajuato -"Brother help your brother" [23:00 -24:00 ] - Palomares vs Casa [24:00 -24:30] - Svetlana Schreiber, volunteers [24:30 -28:00] - Brief tour of the building- rooms available for various community events [28:00- 31:00] - Qualities of a "leader" [31:00-34:40]- Frustrating aspects of social work- apathy, indifference [34:40 -35:15] - Attitudes of 3rd/4th generation citizens [35:15 -38:00] -MaryAnn's opinion of herself as a leader [38:00 -39:30] - Questions for us- how is this history? [39:30 -42:10] -Changes/progression in the Hispanic Community [42:10 -42:30 ]-Dream's act [42:30-43:30 ] -Racism/ignorance [43:30 -45:00] - Differences from Chicago to the QC [45:00-49:00] – Closing |
| Interview Notes | The Palomares Social Justice Center is an office that occupies a small house in Moline, Illinois. This is where our interview with MaryAnn Garcia took place. At one point, she stood up and led us through the bottom floor of the house that was split into two halves: one side as the main office with a simply a computer, table, and printer. The other side, she explained, as a large common room often rented out by members of the community for large family gatherings or social events. The interview went very well. Conversation flowed smoothly and she offered a great amount of information, often without even being prompted. She shared with us many interesting stories regarding immigrant rights and her role in defending them for those who may not even know they exist. She was very open and spared no details. |
| Transcript Exists | Yes |
| Audio Exists | Yes |
| Subject | Hispanic Americans -- Quad Cities (Ill. and Iowa) |
| Identifier | CD-0291/51 |
| Collection in Repository | Oral history interviews |
| Collection Number | MSS 291 |
| Project | Latino Leadership in the Quad Cities |
| Repository | Augustana College Special Collections, 639 38th Street, Rock Island, Illinois 61201 |
| Finding Aid Link | http://augustana.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/210 |
| Preferred Citation | Interview with Mary Ann Garcia, 2014, in MSS 291 Oral history interviews, Special Collections, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. |
| Rights | Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from Augustana College Special Collections and the copyright holder. Contact specialcollections@augustana.edu or 309-794-7643 for more information. |
| Type | Sound |
| Object Description | Compact Disc |
| Language | eng |
| Digital Format | audio/mpeg |
| Publisher | Augustana College Special Collections |
| Collection | Oral History Interviews (Augustana College) |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Transcript | Interview with Mary Ann Garcia EH: Do you wanna star just by telling us different jobs you’ve had since you arrived in the Quad Cities MG: Well, I arrived in 1972. EH: Oh, so a lot then. Or specifically in the Latin American community? MG: In the Hispanic community. Well um...so I worked at Western Electric. I mean, excuse me, I came from Western Electric which was the big “mob bell” back in the day which was a monopoly at that time. It’s an ugly word now, but it was legal in those days like Reynolds and Standard Oil and all those other companies that now are gone. But remember, Bell’s system and Western Electric were all one entity. And then you had the MCIs and the Sprints. You know, all these little companies that came about back in the 90s. And they’re all gone. So now you have AT&T, and uh...Verizon and what not and so...I guess things change. Ok? So I guess after Western Electric, in Chicago, AT&T, and Northwestern Bell...um, you’re aware of “affirmative action” right? So back in the 70s, it was really gungho. So they grabbed a whole bunch of us...people of color, that’s what they called us. Ok? And they were askin’ so many questions and uh...were we happy? Were we satisfied? Northwestern Bell’s doing the best they can to promote what...it was just the song and dance. So uh...I’m originally from Chicago. When they started singin’ this song I said, well what gives? You know? I’m from Chicago, west side, you know. Half the population is Latino or Mexican. I was, you know. Because I came into an Anglo world, cause you know, let me tell you. Uh, whoever thought I would come to live in “Couch, Iowa”. Meaning, Davenport. ‘Cause thats a fancy word for a...a fancy couch. Or daybed or whatever. So that’s when I became aware of that. So um, along the way I used to help some people, you know, speak Spanish for them. Go here and there for them. And then, um...I went to work for International Harvester. Wasn’t involved. Um...I didn’t do favors anymore ‘cause I was busily takin’ care of my family. And then I, um, was laid off in um...’82, so everything changed. Um, I started volunteering and helping people, you know. just started my own, you know, people would call me. So I’ve always in some form of some way, helping , you know. And I never thought of it as um… as “helping” the community. I was just hey, I could speak Spanish. Poquito, pero, enough to assist them. Uh…I remember one man..um he worked for the railroad. Burlington lines. He found a deer on the road. So he picks it up, takes it home to Buffalo. And um, he hangs it up between the back door and starts gutting it and cutting it. And my sister had, it was my sister’s friend...so she had two refrigerators so he took two hind legs and put it in one refrigerator. So here comes the cops. Oh my god. So we go to a “kangaroo court”. So you look up “kangaroo court”, you’ll know what that means. And, so we thought he was gonna get a 5...700 dollar fine and we’d all get some money together you know, so. ‘Cause you don’t do that! You don’t pick up a deer. So he goes and tells the judge “I work for Burlington”.”Well where’d you pick it up?” “Oh the course alpha”. “So you crossed state lines in Illinois and you brought it to Iowa?!” And he said “Judge, I am from this part of Mexico. When you find a dead animal on the highway that’s just been killed, it is a sin to let it go to waste. That’s food to feed a family. And I brought this animal home to feed my family”. Judge says, “25 dollars court cost. You can go”. So. And I interpreted for him. So I guess it does help to speak Spanish. And he was very honest, and it as the truth. ‘Cause uh, you know I do have family in Mexico and, you know, poverty is horrible. And one way of feeding a family is a skill that you find on the highway. For us, it’s nothing. You take it, you go harvest it, you go, uh...take to the glue factory. I don’t know what you do or what they do with the animals nowadays. But so...and then um...I moved in ‘91 to the Quad Cities...the Illinois side. And then um...still assisting, small ways, you know. But nothing, behind nothing. And then I got involved with Palomares. Well before that I was...I became a nurse in 1995. So, being bilingual, the Trinity was you know, saving money! I’ll be honest with you. Why go get translators unlimited for $30 an hour when they can use me? So they did. And I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind at all, um...being the interpreter for the cardiac nurse or the pediatric nurse, or the hospice nurse, whatever it was. I guess it was my calling. So after...and then I got involved with Casa. Old Casa. Not this one that’s going on right now. The old Casa, as a volunteer. You know I got involved with their fundraising and their going-ons. And then um, in ‘99 I became a realtor. I got my license in Illinois and Iowa. So there’s more of where my bilingual forte helped a lot. Because a first-time homebuyer, a lot of times your assistance is not just knowing how to present a listing contract or how to do agency which is...that’s a given. The other part of it is...is understanding their process of how to buy a home. I’d say that 90% of the buyers that I meet, I go to their home first. It’s usually the other way around. They say bring ‘em to the office. In my case it was different. I would go to their home. And um...I would be really comfortable and always say “Thank you for inviting me in your home” and I’d say, you know…”50% of your wishes are here because you, you know...you’ve made the choice and I’m glad”. Now the other 50% is the part where um...of your ability. And then I would say, you know, in this country, either you got a lot of money under the mattress, or you got well-established credit. And then there’s where the truth would come out. Because I’d say, three out of ten were undocumented. So they’re not aware. I mean I had one lady say “Well, I can buy that house under my son’s name and he’s three years old”. No. You can’t buy real estate. But some of the times in a sense it’s what it is. So you have to explain. And um, these individuals, I would tell them you know, the only way you can do this is on contract and then get yourself an attorney because let me tell you, there are people out there that will take your money. They will take your home. This one man was selling to undocumented people, on contract, 10%. Hmm, and that’s fair. And then come June when taxes were due he’d say “Alright, I want all the taxes here. This is the taxes for this property”. Now it’s under the company who was buying it, ok? But you gotta give me all the taxes! So the man would give ‘em the taxes. He would give him the taxes for three years straight. Guess who would buy the taxes on December 28th? The silent partner. Guess what would happen in three years? Come on. MH: They would kick him out. MG: Right. Because the law is the...the state is behind him because he was delinquent in paying three years. And then this silent partner, which they didn’t know, saw the property go back to them again. So I saw that happening as a real estate agent and uh...I took one person to an attorney and he says “Look MaryAnn. He’s gonna balloon in two months”. And that means his time is due. If we call him on this and it wasn’t even registered in the county, it’s just a damn paper like this written up and it wasn’t even put in the courthouse because they didn’t use an attorney. So the lawyer said, I can help you but what if in two months they call him on the balloon? Is it wrong? You’re damn right it’s wrong. But uh, I saw three instances with this particular...this company’s not in business anymore, let me tell you. I remember I was so upset about it I was telling the other agents in my office. He says “MaryAnn, you have to be careful because…” What’s the word? Is it he can sue you for...slander? EH: Yeah… MH: Defame. Defaming. MG: Right. He says, “You gotta be careful. You’ve got proof”. But then these people wouldn’t come up and talk. The one’s that he, you know he got ballooned again. But he wouldn’t say nothing. A couple years later he got with a financial over here in the…And get this. It was a junky house. It was crap! He was an independent contractor on his own but working under another umbrella of somebody else. He put in new windows. He put in new siding. He gutted the house. He put in new appliances. He put new flooring. Everything was new. So, was he gonna rock the boat? After he did all that work? Maybe $30,000 worth of work? Yeah. So anyway...I do that. The real estate part is not so much that I’m there to help people buy houses. I’m not the lady, oh I’m the lady who buys houses! Ella compra casas! Ella compra casas. No. I always tell them, I only take you through the process of buying. Usually I don’t have too many listings by Hispanics. Usually they stay on their houses forever. (laughing) They do! They will not let it go. But um...buyers I have a lot of. That’s one way of me helping. I used to do homebuyers’ seminar. Classes in Spanish. I would go with any bank that would say “Come here”. Not just our banks that we used. We used to send that mortgage…can I mention a brand name? EH: Yeah. MG: Ok. And I would use Wells Fargo, I would use National Bank, I would have a hook, I would advertise I'd say Ok, we're gonna have um, breakfast or lunch or something and come to this. I can give them some information. To be honest with you, I wasn't there to pedal myself as a real estate agent. Yeah, kinda. (laughing). But, I was there to tell 'em, if you're going to for sale by owner, and you're undocumented, please please please have an attorney. Because you don't know what you're going to get yourself into. Now it'd be better if you could buy a home a typical way, you know, with a mortgage and all that. But sometimes you can't. And the ones that were able to, I would always...and they would ask me, Can you send me to a Spanish speaking loan officer. And we would do that. 'Cause you know, we're out there. They're out there. And sometimes people are more comfortable you know, working with someone in their own...in their own mother tongue. So that's the real estate part where my um...my assistance in the community is there. casa was a different calling altogether. Uh...2008 they had an advertisement about...they wanted a health advocate. Well, I was outta work. I'd been outta work for about a year. As a nurse, 30 hours a week, ok. I'll do it. So there I go. You know. But I became more than a health advocate. I got into different areas of learning how to orientate someone into the process. I even took a class, it was a class at Family Resources. It was domestic violence. And it was after work, three hours, four days a week and every other Saturday. And I took the hours and yeah I got a little certificate. But now I was able to volunteer, or if someone came in here and needed to do an order of protection I could take them up to the courthouse. I knew the documents to fill out. It would be in Spanish, they'd give it to me in Spanish and then I'd have to write it in English and then go in front of the judge. So, that was very um...an eye-opener because I...I didn't come from domestic violence. My relationships. But uh, my mother and father, boy they could throw a one-two punch. (laughing). But I don't know if that was normal or accepted back in the 50s but, its not pretty. (noise) That's me. MH- Oh ok, I didn't know if the recorder was making that noise. MG- That's me. (laughing) But I guess the main thing that the domestic violence uh...believe what they're telling you. They are telling you the truth. And there are many a times I'd have to...and the old Casa was in this building. Right here in this office. I would lock the door, and I would put "closed", and this woman would just...um...cry her eyes out. And explain what was going on, or how it was going on. And my...my role there was to listen to her. And to believe her. And to tell her that there are options for you. But you would have to, you are the one that's gonna take these options. In other words, it was not me telling her Oh I'm gonna take you to Winnie's place, or I'm gonna take you to do that or we're gonna do an order of protection. It had to come from her. And I think that's the big step with domestic violence. So that was a big eye opener all together. Uh, other things have happened here, you know. Different walks of life have walked in here and we assist in one way or the other. Or we have roofers who come here and say this guy didn't pay me and he owes me two weeks, and so on and so forth. I says "ok, give me his number". And then I say, "Mr. so and so, do you uh, do you have a bunch of men to do work at your crew? Yeah well do you have an individual who worked for you?" "I don't owe him nothin'". I says, "Oh no? You don't owe him anything?" I says "Ok. He says yeah you pay him cash, huh?" "Yeah, but I don't owe him anything". I says "Ok, well I tell you what. What company do you work under? Oh, I think I'm gonna call the IRS and tell 'em you didn't give him a 10-99 form to fill out. Because anytime you pay somebody without taxes..." "Well who are you, the government?" "No I'm Casa Guanajuato. Now are you gonna pay this man or am I gonna report you?" Or another instance where there was abuse I say we're gonna go the labor board. Sometimes that little bit of information you give this person who tries to abuse someone makes a big difference. I had one guy say "Oh I'm gonna call the immigration!" I says "Go ahead! My address is 133 4th avenue." (laughing) Go ahead. Have them come down here right now. You know there was a time when individuals would come in here. And parent, mother, or the wife would be very upset. They've got my son, or this and that. They're gonna deport him. So we have an attorney that we use a lot. She explains the situation...I explain the situation to her, and she gets a little more information. And it’s great to hear when immigration says “He don’t go. He belongs to Casa”. So, in other words, they were ready to deport him. Send him to Fort Dodge in Wisconsin for deportation process and then eventually out of this country. So...there’s a lot of good things when you can speak Spanish a little bit. Ok? Or a lot. Or be very persistent. So there’s where I’ve been with Casa. And then uh...Casa got bigger, and then it went over there on 16th street. And you’ve done some volunteering over there? EH: Mhm. MG: And I was there for, uh...let’s see. Woods. I only lasted, uh...a year and three months with Woods. That’s all. Then um...part of the company. But I’m here at Palomares. And its uh...it makes a big difference. You know, the Casas, Guanajuatos or Michoacan, or all these ones that started, all started with Fox. President...no he was governor of Guanajuato way back uh, back in the 90s. And he said something very important. He came to the United States and says “Brothers, help your brother”. So that’s why most of these Casas were founded. To help the person that’s here. Yeah, so yeah, we’re born. My father was from Guanajuato and I was born here and fortunate to be born here. ‘Cause I coulda been unfortunate and born over there. Or in China. Or any other part of the world, know what I’m saying? I was fortunate to be born here and um...everything that the US gives us is good and its up to us to go forward. And I see it as what Governor Fox, or now ex-president of Mexico, said, Brother help your brother. That’s a good uh, you know, rule that even the bible says. I can’t exactly know the right verse but you know where I’m coming from. So um, I don’t know what else I can tell you ladies. I’m starting the beginning, middle and then shooting at the end, uh, telling you basically that's what we do here. And there's a lot of other stuff involved. Yes we have goals of computer classes, ESL classes, thats great when you got something like 16th street and 6th avenue. We don't have that. We're just a social justice center. EH: So you guys are kinda just here for whoever needs to come in and seek help? MG: For right now. Right. We got...we're trying to, basically for the first year and a half, our rent was paid by her (picks up pamphlet on desk). This particular...Svetlana. She came to be a little bit bombastic but shes uh...she was the one that...because there was a need. People were going to this other entity on 16th street and 6th avenue and they weren't getting the assistance. They were coming here. They were looking for us. They were looking for Connie, they were looking for me, they were looking for Stella. So finally they said you know, maybe we have to have something. A window. 24:01 A storefront window and we did, we had volunteers at first but everybody works. Right now we’re just at a point … hopefully grants get written and we can sustain ourselves we did take over the next store …. let me show you next door EH, MH: Okay MG: Next door was the Floreciente center. So basically for the past ten years it was a social place. They’d rent it out for forty bucks and people had their baby showers, birthdays. So you know that sometimes the community needs a hub like this. So that they can, you know they don't have to have it in their home and everything is here at their disposal…running water over here they can go in that room and lock their kids up. No open the door and look! MH, EH: oh okay MG: No let me tell ya the kids love it. Palomares got a hold of this place last year in November cause since last august it was shut down, the man who ran it fell and broke his hip, a 90 year old man, and he could no longer function in here. Cleaned it and as you can see the little Palomares uh ...it was a student who drew those. EH: Really? MG: Yep, I can't think of her name right now but she’s Puerto Rican. And then here’s the kitchen, there’s a fridge there's a stove, there’s a microwave. It has an ambience, have you heard the word “con pan”? Breaking the bread? This basically, this is a big part of the Latino community. Its sharing food, sharing camaraderie. I don’t care if it’s for a “quinceanera” or a birthday party or a baptismal or whatever. This is a good place for the community to be at. And Palomares takes care of this part of the entity, take care of it, clean it up. Had them sign a contract get a deposit (really hard to hear 26:43) for um…Very rarely does that not get returned. We don’t keep their money. This printer. It’s being kept up by the rock island county health department. But now we don't have any ink. MH: oh I know inks expensive MG: So yeah my daughter works at office machines, I’m gonna take it out and I’m gonna tell her see if you can get a discount. (laughter) get us a couple of them So in here we have our once a week meeting, we have a meeting here and find out where we are financially and what we need to do to get ahead. but basically its grants, if you don't have grants you don’t make it and we just got a small one a twenty five hundred dollar one, from AT&T from the mayor of rock island who knows Stella real good and that was twenty five hundred...took them 5 months to get it! (laughs) Jesus we were in really bad shape! We were about to say how are we gonna pay the rent? Now do you have any questions for me? MH: We have a whole sheet but we already covered a lot of the stuff...um let’s see. EH: What do you think with the work that you’ve done and the people you’ve been working with. What qualities do you think make up good leaders, in the Latino community and in general? MG: Compassion. You have to have a passion for it and um to care about what happens the next day. You can tell em, today is the day things gotta get done this way or that way but its really up to them to make their choice. You have to have a passion for this uh not whenever you feel like it. Cause we have, uh, I’d say when you interview Stella and Connie, someone’s gonna have to interview Connie pretty soon EH: ok MG: We’re all in our 60’s, we’re tired and we brought other people in, and I’ve made a complaint to people, we’ve brought young people in but they don't have that passion. “Oh it’s too cold to go outside, I gotta run my mother to the store, oh I work third shift I have to sleep” I said you’re not a bear! Stop! (laughs) That’s what's lacking and uh I don't know how long you guys are gonna go on but we know you have to have and infiltration of new blood in here. We don’t have it. Yes we have a commitment to the community who care but mostly ‘habla ingles’ and that’s a big downfall, because you need someone who can be bilingual and the ones of the young people that we have , we try to lure them in you know and they come whenever they feel like it when they want to but there isn't that passion and if you don't have that passion to care I don't care if you can type 100 words a minute, which i can't, or operate a smart phone cause I’m dumb (laughs) I don’t know it. EH:ou’re a good texter. MG: (laughs) yeah right, you should see what I screw up. One time I sent something in Spanish and it came out in English and she said ‘what did you just send me?!’ (laughs) I told her I don't remember it was supposed to be in Spanish but what came out in English was something else! I’ll never forget that. Next question? MH: What is the most frustrating thing that you’ve encountered working with the community? MG: (inhales and exhales) Right now it’s what's going on with the closing of Erickson elementary school MH: The one down the street? MG: yeah, yeah, that’s the most frustrating thing because um, I don't know … you can check the demographics with Ms. Juanita Robertson you can find out, the percentage of children whose parents are undocumented. My daughter has a daughter who goes to kindergarten there and she’s second generation and my other daughter has one in fourth grade and she’s second generation. So there are a lot of first and second generation people in the community, but there’s also a lot of undocumented people in the community. These are people that have their head to the grindstone. They work and work and work and work two jobs, and it seems like they don't have the time or the effort to get involved. I am sure if every parent in this community had gone to those three separate meetings, as the president of the board said ‘they had their opportunity’, it wouldn't have gone this far. And I mean, I had the ladies in blue, I’m a real estate agent and our shirts are blue and i turned them inside out and i took 8 ladies and told them that as soon as kid comes out of that door give them a flier. Come to the meeting. Come to the meeting. Come to the meeting. I think that was the most frustrating part for all of us right now, who do not want to see the cohesiveness of this community fall apart. It was true, with the Latino immigrant community there are two things that bond a community together. One is church and the other is school. And that’s being dismantled. And I think that’s the biggest thing right now. I don’t know what you want to call it… apathy? EH: mhm MG: Is that what you call it? ‘It’s not my problem’ Okay, I don’t give a damn where my kid goes to school as long as he goes to some school. What’s the word? Apathy? EH, MH: Complacency? Indifference? MG: name it, you know, I talked to the parents, I mean I’ve gone door to door to talk to them, please come to this event and not just fliers but talked to them in person. Uh, but uh, that’s the most frustrating thing in anything we do and not just what’s going on with the school, the indifference or maybe cause they don't think they're voice counts, I don’t know EH: Do you think as like you said there’s a lot of second and third generation in this community, do you think that (indifference) increases? MG: well like I said I have one daughter who is very much involved and the other not so much, and I scold that one, I say ‘what's wrong with you’ and she says ‘it’s not gonna make a difference ma’ and then I got another one with a camera in their face, and I don’t know, it’s a fifty fifty draw EH: Would you consider yourself a leader in the community? MG: No, I’m a motivator, I’m a pusher. I’m in your face. Can you tell? No I’m not ….no. I have a tendency not to bite my tongue. That’s my problem. I don’t have that, um...patience I guess. I have the passion I don’t have the patience. I see something wrong and…really wrong well I’m not going to be diplomatic about it. No. EH: I think though that there needs to be more of that MG: well when there’s laws, like when you come from this country or whatever, i don't care if you come from the moon. If you do an honest day’s work you should get paid. Not be ripped off or being chased or there’s this third world country people that own hotels and motels and they literally chase the undocumented out without no coat or nothing in the freezing weather saying I’m calling immigration all cause he wants to get paid. And he will walk all the way up by South Park and all the way down to the Illinois migrant council to ask for assistance. Then from there they go to the church and then the church calls me ‘how can you help?’ and I say i got it. Got him to the men’s Christian Center and at least he’ll have someplace warm and well go take him a coat. Was I pissed? Yes. Did I want to go do something to that motels window? Yes! But um, I didn’t. All we did was assist this individual. And it took the Illinois Migrant Council, St. Mary’s Church, Palomares, and then finally the Men’s Christian Care Center over there in Rock Island. So it took 4 entities, four different organizations who cared to make sure that this man had shelter ok? So this is what it amounts to, caring. What do you think? MH, EH: Yeah MG: Another Question? MH: I think we covered everything EH: Is there anything else that you want to talk about? MG: Well I don’t know I have a question about your project, for history. Are you trying to find history on individuals who um…are in the community for a certain period of time? Cause I gave you ‘72 to the present. The different entities that have been in my life to assist other people, like the example from 95...wait it was 91, so I’ve always assisted in some way. Then it was onto the next chapter and I was looking for an organization and then actually being an advocate for an organization. And now being an unpaid volunteer (laughs) So now I’ve gone full circle again! I’m just wondering how this is part of history. EH: I think we’re going to be using all the different interviews in our class and we’re going to put them in an archive, so like using these stories as a history of how the Latin American community is progressing and how it has developed since people started coming here in general. MG: Mmmhm. EH: Just a piece of the whole MG: Mhmm, well that makes sense. EH: Have you seen a progression since you came here? Has it been better or worse? MG: I think it’s uh, I think it’s better. I think it’s better. They they we still have individuals like the minutemen (extreme anti-immigrant group). They were down here one time. Oh my God! MH: I’ve heard of them, they sound like a fun bunch (sarcasm) MG: They came here one time for the American Legion, and I’m telling you we at Casa, we had to walk out. That’s how bad it was. I mean me as a real estate agent, I heard them talking...oh they don’t pay taxes and (sighs) I got up and I says ‘Hey! When you buy a home, you pay taxes! and I says I know a bank here in the quad cities who loans to undocumenteds, as long as they can prove where they’re working their name and their birth certificate, have an 10 number or matricula, and three lines of credit, they can buy a home’ I helped thirty of them and they pay taxes I said. So please, don’t be talking that stuff, that they don't pay taxes. But anyway what I’m saying is that's progress, it has changed. Cause at one time you never heard of a big bank offering those kind of loans. They’re paying a high interest rate of 9% but earlier it was 10% and 5% down. And then now its 10% because they balloon it. But at least they have their home. But I tell them, know this because if you get picked up by immigration you lose your home. They say ‘well that’s a chance we’re going to take we want a home for our children’ so they’re willing to drive to work and maybe get picked up maybe get caught, maybe get sent to an ICE hold, cause they don't have a drivers license, but yeah the laws are changing but yeah things change, i think so. This new law, the dreamer act for the undocumented students that came here not of their own free will but because their parents brought them along yeah things have changed but you have some individuals who have blinders like horses. You know? They only see one thing. I had a Salvadoran friend, she said ‘wow they really hate Mexicans don’t they?’ She just came from California ok? She says ‘boy these Anglos swear up and down they call us Mexicans and they really don’t like you guys do they?’ and I says they just got the blinders on. ‘We’re Salvadorans! I was joking with her but for her to say that to me, cause she came from a different world, where Salvadorans and Mexicans and it was a mixture in Los Angeles you know? Or maybe it was Turfs, these gangbangers against those gangbangers. She said we never had these Anglos swear at us that much. I said yeah because in California you live in your own community. You didn’t mix with the Anglos. (laughs) She said yeah you’re right. So, you have some of that here. EH: So when you were in Chicago, like you came her it was really different from California? MG: No lemme tell you, I was raised at 1607 South Hamlin which was Jewish, Black and thats what was there and some Mexicans.But because demographics, blacks were moving in , we moved out about 8, 10 blocks west. And it was all Czechish and Bohemian and there were no Latinos there, everything was in the Pillson area. Pillson is like from Western or Ashland going towards Halstead. Between 26th and 16th street. So that was very, just pidgeoned. But things changed and you had the reverse migration. Latinos came in to 26th and California where I was born and raised , I mean where I was raised at but the whites moved out but that was was happening in the 60’s. I remember my parents in the 70’s. They lived on the West Side. I remember, I’m an alumni from Harrison, Go Harrison Hornets!. Harrison no longer exists it’s a magnet school but go hornets. But in my community I was out I was 20 years old. The Latin Kings said to my brother you are gonna join us...or else. So he told my parents and my parents moved from the west side of Chicago to Melrose Park. And then there was just the Italians (laughs) Um, but the thing is Melrose Park fifteen years later changed because you had that people wanting to get out of that cycle but my brother was never in any sort of gang when we got to Melrose Park in 71 and he had nothing to do with that kind of stuff, I think he actually went into the service couple years later. But eventually if you do any looking up , look what Elgins like and what Aurora’s like, the gangs in Naperville and all that. People who moved out from Chicago thinking they were getting away sometimes the kids didn't leave it, it continued on, so and that’s for here...and yeah you have your little bishops and your little gangster disciples but there’s nothing compared to Chicago, Chicago’s horrible it's horrible. Over here everybody flips on a dime. You know? Wanna shave some time off your sentence flip on somebody. And it happens. Chicago you flip on somebody they’ll kill your mother! Yeah! But here it happens all the time. How did I get to that subject, my goodness. (laughs) I went far off the subject didn’t I? MH, EH: no not really. It’ll all come back MG: (laughs) okay, so if you’re asking has it changed? Yeah. Does it need more change? Yeah. Because this shouldn’t have happened at Ericsson. I mean I’m looking at the school board, as a real estate agent and I was like I knew her! I knew it was that agent from Mel Foster. And these other individuals, I was looking at their background except for McAdam’s and college and of course Augustana College. I says how do these five individuals make a choice and they’re affecting so many lives? Not just the Floreciente neighborhood but we can already ...Washington, Garfield, all those other areas, and they’re not Latino. Their decision has changed things. For the better? I don’t know, we’ll see. You girls should sign that referendum, do you live in Moline? MH,EH: No MG: Oh shoot, well you better find somebody who can sign that petition. So I don’t know. I can’t think of anything else to add. I was curious how this was gonna go about and it makes sense. Uh, you know who you can really get ahold of? An old person, somebody in their nineties. You willing to do that? (laughs) MH: No, it’s just too close to the end of the term, I think our teacher wanted us to but we just ran out of time. MG: uh huh MH: And that’s one thing that’s frustrating about ten week classes, you wanna do so much but you cant. MG: you only have so much time, yeah, there’s some older individuals in here they have their mind is so keen and they remember events, like big events but like you said whens your ten weeks up? MH: week nine so in one week MG: ouch (laughs) EH, MH: (laughs ) yes MG: Well I wish you luck in whatever you’re doing. MH, EH: Well thank you so much for letting us interview you. We really appreciate it. MG: yep, well you got another one to interview now? EH: Nope, this is it MG: okay great! |
Description
| Title | CD-0291.51 |
| File Name | CD-0291.51.mp3 |
