In the eighties Peru’s economy wasn’t as great as it is now. And so in order to…they were about to start a life together; have children, have a family, and so this idea of the “American Dream” is so true and so real of being an immigrant and come from somewhere else and make it on your own and have a house and all that good stuff. Whereas at the time, in the eighties – nineties, Peru’s government wasn’t the safest environment for folks. And so, because of that my parents decided to immigrate to the United States – to California and L.A. in particular.
There’s a pretty big community in the Gardena, Torrance, south bay area. A lot of them are my relatives. Yeah, I would say that my father came, my mother came, and then all my aunts and uncles came as well. And then just through…as I’ve continued to work in community and get involved in community, it’s so awesome how many folks that I’ve met that say, “oh actually my family’s from Peru too” or my family’s from Argentina or Brazil. And so that’s been interesting getting to know more and more people that have that background.
Date: August 30, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Sharon Yamato
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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