Angie is visceral, she is not a person who keeps quiet, she speaks what she thinks. She says she sees Latino workers on their way to drop off her daughter at school, hard-working people, like her father was, and she doesn’t understand how this man (Trump) full of hate can harm them. A policy full of hate.
Former Montebello councilwoman Angie Jimenez received a message from her daughter a few days ago. She studies Film & Media in Boston, is brilliant, and an excellent writer. However, she was afraid to go shopping for basic needs and groceries when she heard that ICE was in Boston. She said,
“Mom, I stick out like a brown thumb.”
This is a reflection of the anti-immigrant climate in the country. Jimenez is the founder of a running club, they promote healthy living and eliminate stress. “Since this… I don’t even want to say president, took office, half of the people have stopped coming, he has sown fear not only in society, he has awakened hatred, xenophobia”; she says.
Jimenez has had a long strugle with civil rights, now, she is living in times that she has lived before. “It’s not time for cowards, we must hold our politicians accountable, go to the offices of our elected leaders and organize ourselves to vote,” she says.
Angie is a runner at heart. She knows about battles and goals. Her mother plans to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, and is afraid. “What if they don’t let me in?” she asks.
“It’s terrible what happens at school, my daughter tells me that many students are afraid to go to class and some of them are not returning to their classes,” she adds.
Angie crossed the border in her mother’s womb. “Imagine how many immigrants would be in trouble. Immigrants, not just from Mexico feed this country. This immigration policy is dividing a country,” she says.
Angie is visceral, she is not a person who keeps quiet, she speaks her mind. She says that when she sees Latinos working when she is on her way to drop off her daughter at school, hard-working people, like her father was, and she doesn’t understand how this man (Trump) full of hate can harm them. A policy full of hate.
“We have to fight, not give up, and hold everyone accountable for not changing this,” she adds.
And without a doubt, Angie has been searching for herself all her life, but always with her eyes open. After a brief stay in Guadalajara, where the family had to return to in her early years because her father had found a job, they returned to California where she continued her studies. She returned to the U.S. and attended school in the Montebello Unified School District. She graduated from Bell Gardens High School; it was difficult, there were no bilingual teachers, and she still remembers when she and her sisters, scared, would listen to the teacher ask for their names… “What’s your name?”… And they just looked at the teacher, not knowing what she was saying. She learned English quickly; she couldn’t be left behind. Her method for learning English? Music. “I learned songs in English, repeated them until I could memorize and express them well. It was music that helped me,” she says. It is the same story of many immigrants and she has lived it.
Her father always told her that she was “una chingona” and now her fight is focused on the fight for justice. “Donald, eres un pendejo.”
Angie M. Jiménez: The woman who sings, runs and fights against injustice
