Writing with Integrity: Maintaining Culture and Voice in my Father's Stories

I wrote creative non-fiction to enrich and expand the existing narratives of Mexican immigrant experiences by preserving oral histories and thus, influence a broader cultural understanding. As a first-generation Mexican-American writer, I believe there is a pressing need to explore the stories of my people, particularly those of my father. I also acknowledge the master narratives that work to influence and consequently oppress my own voice as a writer. The master narrative values white experiences and voices in narrative writing while devaluing work from non-white authors. Thus, it became critical for me to reclaim my true voice as a writer and consequently, disrupt this harmful master narrative. Through this project, I reclaimed my voice as a writer, the one that pays homage to my cultural roots by writing my father's stories authentically. I integrated my heritage language Spanish and English in the writing of these stories. As the daughter of immigrants, this is an important way of representing my identity through my writing. Additionally, the importance of this work is greatly exemplified by the unity that springs forth among Mexican immigrants and children of those immigrants when experiences like these are shared and released into the world. At present, the Mexican immigrant community faces social and political discrimination in the form of misrepresentation, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and racism. Therefore, there is a palpable need for more accurate representation to combat these issues. Written storytelling provides a valuable glimpse into my father's experience as a Mexican immigrant and is a valuable tool to challenge harmful master narratives.