Luis Sosa Manubes
2023
Computer Science. Studio Art - Ceramics.
When I was 16, a new chapter began for the Sosa Manubes family. My family embarked on a long journey in which we didn’t know where the end of the path was; if the path even existed, but we continued to search for a better life.
My family immigrated to the United States to escape crime and violence. Despite the fear of discrimination my parents knew they would suffer, their love for their children was stronger than that fear.
Their love has been the fuel that has inspired my drive towards ensuring that no other families go through the same and painful path my family has walked through, as we still continue to search for a better life.
Their love has made me a better person; but that love sometimes translates into anger. Anger that my family had to leave our hometown in order to obtain safety. Anger that my parents have been the victim of acts of racism and xenophobia. And angry that I know that my parents would do it all over again if that meant my brother and I could have a chance at a better life – because my parents should never have had to make that choice.
The emotions of my own experience fuel my wish to create awareness of issues of discrimination. My work often is reenactments of negative experiences my family and I had to experience.
In a way, it feels selfish that I enjoy talking about myself – but by exposing myself to the world, I hope to create a new image of what immigrants look like: I show the joyful parts of my life as well as the painful ones. I hope that humanizing my persona aids people to rethink the way immigrants are seen: we are a mother and a son, a brother and a sister – we are a father who sings rancheras during christmas and a grandma who likes to sew clothes for her grandkids. I don’t ask to be seen as a person – I demand it. I. The love of the sacrifice of my parents fuels my passion for the struggles of people who have no voice. I will do my best to be that voice for my people as I still continue to search for a better life.