Illegally yours a memoir
"What happens when the all-American high school student discovers he's undocumented? Rafa's parents didn't want him to grow up feeling different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." Rafa had no idea of his immigration status until he tried to...
| Main Author: | Agustin, Rafael (Author) |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Grand Central Publishing,
2022.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
"What happens when the all-American high school student discovers he's undocumented? Rafa's parents didn't want him to grow up feeling different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." Rafa had no idea of his immigration status until he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school. Suddenly, his perfectly curated and slightly racist (race-ish, if you will) American life came undone. While his parents were relieved to no longer live a lie in front of their son, Rafa found himself completely unraveling in the face of his uncertain future. Illegally Yours is a heartwarming, comical look at how this struggling Ecuadorian immigrant family bonded together to navigate Rafa's school life, his parents' work lives, and their shared secret life as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. From stories of how he used the Ricky Martin/Jennifer Lopez "Latin Explosion" to his social advantage in the 90s to how his parents, who were doctors in their home country of Ecuador, were reduced to working menial jobs in the US. The family's secret became their struggle, and their struggle became their hustle. An exploration of race within the Latinx community, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?"-- |
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| Physical Description: |
viii, 289 pages ; 24 cm |
| ISBN: |
9781538705940 153870594X |
| Author Notes: |
Agustin currently serves as CEO of the Latino Film Institute, where he oversees the Youth Cinema Project, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), and LatinX in Animation. In 2018, LA Weekly named Agustin one of the fifty most essential people in Los Angeles. Also in 2018, the United Nations invited Agustin to speak at their 70th Anniversary Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2022, the LA Times declared Agustin a "Power Player" in their inaugural LA Vanguardia class. Agustin is a Board Member of Mother Jones, the oldest nonprofit investigative newsroom in the United States, and of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress. Agustin received his AA from Mt. San Antonio College, which awarded him Alumnus of the Year in 2015, and his BA and MA from UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television. |