On July 4 fellow News21 reporter Evan Wyloge and I (Deanna Dent) headed out to interview some new U.S. citizens and listen to their stories.
The overall theme of our News 21 project is Latino culture and issues so many of these folks being sworn in as citizens provided interesting perspective.
Evan is focusing on issues surrounding a proposed “path to citizenship” and I am looking at the ways cultural icons — particularly the Virgin of Guadalupe — can transcend ethnic and national boundaries.
Here are some audio and photographs from the day:
It’s those little things that really tell you about people. This girl was all red, white, and blue as she giggled with family and friends as she was getting ready to leave Saturday morning. She is from Guadalajara but has spent the majority of her life in the United States.
One family from Sudan celebrated two fathers receiving their citizenship on July 4th, 2009. Marco Bako, below, was one of those two dads and the little boy was playing while waiting for his father, a friend of Bako’s also from Sudan, outside.
Tolemi was interesting, she was becoming American after spending 26 years in the country.
And lastly there was Maria Torres, wearing her Virgen de Guadalupe bracelet.
