Nuestra América Blurs

Abstract

Abstract:In this poetic essay, Juan Delgado focuses on the multigenerational migrations of his Mexican family, focusing on their border crossings into the United States. Remembering his own attempt to obtain his U.S. citizenship, Delgado explores the complexities of his mother’s exile and the nomadic life of his legally mixed-status family; he also writes about the importance of his Catholic traditions and his mother’s storytelling as ways to resist assimilation and retain a connection to Mexico. The family’s struggles and Delgado’s growth as a poet are read through a larger political and cultural framework that calls attention to Latin American movements such as Nueva Canción and Liberation Theology. The title of the article alludes to José Martí’s seminal essay. Delgado wrestles to understand what it means to be a resident in a pluralistic and multicultural continent stitched up by its border crossings.