The American Stories That Cannot Be Untold

*I’ve read several stories, online and not, that try to establish a link between the Latino community and the concerns over the no-indictment of police involved in the deaths of African-American men. None have been able to do what Maria Carla Sanchez does in this piece. Carla brings the events and the concerns home, to history, to family and community. VL

By Maria Carla Sánchez, Huffington Post

The scar over my grandfather’s left eye tells a story, and it is this: In 1930, my maternal grandparents Prisciliano and Francisca Sánchez were married in Indiana Harbor, Indiana (pictured above). Though technically across the state line, Indiana Harbor is part of Chicago’s sprawling metropolitan empire, not too far from downtown’s picture postcard shoreline.

My grandparents lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly Mexican: They rented a small apartment and began buying pieces of furniture to outfit their new life. They had their wedding photo framed. A year later, Francisca gave birth to their first child, a girl they named María de la Luz. (Mary of the Light, if English leant itself to such lyrically faith-filled names.)

In 1932, Francisca became pregnant with their second child, who would be a son. Also in 1932, white cops stopped Prisciliano and almost beat him to death: Another punch, maybe another kick or two, and my grandmother would have been a widow on the eve of her 30th birthday.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo courtesy of Maria Carla Sánchez/Huffington Post]

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