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EDITORIAL NOTE |
FROM IMMIGRANT TO IMMIGRANT
BY SDMN
Ana Teresa Fernández. Erasure, 2016.
Performance documentation. Oil on canvas.
Photos courtesy: Ana Teresa Fernández
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With this series Ana Teresa Fernández speaks to the problem
of forced disappearances that Mexico is currently living through. She also gives voice to all those who are somehow invisible in the fabric of society. Sol de Medianoche publishes them to honor all those immigrants who live in the shadows, and are so often invisible in American society. |
Next May 5th Sol de Medianoche celebrates two years of publication. We have printed 11 issues and published 150 articles on immigration, politics, economics, health, community resources, daily life, tradition, art, culture, and sports.
Since our first issue we have embraced the mission of informing, educating and uniting the Latino community. We have approached it from various angles, but always are willing to speak to our readers in a straightforward way, as when two persons hold a conversation and look at each other eye to eye.
Sol de Medianoche is published and edited by immigrants. We know that a large part of our readers are immigrants as well, or that their parents were immigrants. With this in mind, we have sought to fulfill our mission not with the paternalistic spirit of those who give advice without understanding the recipient’s reality, but with the sincere words and open heart of someone who has lived through a similar situation.
Given the current political climate, one of our priorities has been to inform the members of our community about their rights and legal obligations. Being an immigrant is difficult because you have to navigate laws that seem labyrinthine when one encounters them for the first time. When immigrants have to deal with the law, they are always newcomers. So, with the help of lawyers, we have tried to give our readers insight into immigration, taxes, and human rights concerns.
Because of our own experience as immigrants, we know that many of our readers need much more than just legal services. When arriving in a country about whose system they know little, immigrants could use a compass to help them navigate the institutions of and resources in the community. Where and how can someone make use of them? Through our pages we have visited organizations that have made a difference in Alaska and that can be significant for the adjustment of our readers to their new society.
As immigrants we know that when we arrive in a new country, we expend a lot of energy trying to understand its forms, language, and institutions. Especially during our first years in the United States, we direct all our efforts toward adapting to a new reality. This may make immigrants easy targets for traffickers, scammers, and other abusers who seek to take advantage of their ignorance of the system. So Sol de Medianoche has dedicated space to alert our readers to these dangers. We will continue publishing this information as much as we can, so our pages will serve as a trench protecting newcomers.
Among the biggest challenges faced by immigrants are physical and mental health. In our countries of origin, climate, food, medical care, and daily life were all different. Our bodies have to adapt to a new environment. Also, our genetic code is different from that of other members of the community; we are more prone to certain diseases and more resistant to others. In each of our issues we have included health stories, with the aim of breaking myths and bringing our people closer to professionals in the field.
We have devoted much of our energy to celebrating our cultural heritage. We have printed scores of articles on history, visual arts, traditions, cuisine, and music, accounting for the richness of our cultures. In Sol de Medianoche we know that when people feel proud of their roots, they thrive. However, we are aware that as much as we embrace the past, we should also feel proud of what happens today. So besides viewing our cultures with nostalgia, we celebrate what our community produces in Alaska, which is often hybrid, vital, and vibrant. We hope that this perspective has helped our newspaper to become a creative crossroads for Hispanics in the state.
Alaska’s Latino community is young compared to that of other states in the US. The grandchildren of the first immigrants are now attending elementary or secondary school. Despite being a community just sowing its first seeds, we must begin to write our history. Nobody will do it for us. At Sol de Medianoche we have dedicated articles to those people who have left their mark in our community. We consider their work as bringing to flower the seeds planted decades ago.
These have been our efforts for the last two years. Sol de Medianoche is made mostly by volunteers who are willing to give back to the community through their time. We can pay the bills thanks to our advertisers, and each issue requires so much labor and so much love that it seems almost impossible that we have published eleven already.
However, we at Sol de Medianoche are proud of how much we have achieved, and we are sure that we still have a lot to learn. For the years to come, we want to continue serving our readers from an immigrant’s perspective, because we are sure that the most committed projects for the members of a community usually come from those who have lived through their problems, and who have heard their heartbeat.
Since our first issue we have embraced the mission of informing, educating and uniting the Latino community. We have approached it from various angles, but always are willing to speak to our readers in a straightforward way, as when two persons hold a conversation and look at each other eye to eye.
Sol de Medianoche is published and edited by immigrants. We know that a large part of our readers are immigrants as well, or that their parents were immigrants. With this in mind, we have sought to fulfill our mission not with the paternalistic spirit of those who give advice without understanding the recipient’s reality, but with the sincere words and open heart of someone who has lived through a similar situation.
Given the current political climate, one of our priorities has been to inform the members of our community about their rights and legal obligations. Being an immigrant is difficult because you have to navigate laws that seem labyrinthine when one encounters them for the first time. When immigrants have to deal with the law, they are always newcomers. So, with the help of lawyers, we have tried to give our readers insight into immigration, taxes, and human rights concerns.
Because of our own experience as immigrants, we know that many of our readers need much more than just legal services. When arriving in a country about whose system they know little, immigrants could use a compass to help them navigate the institutions of and resources in the community. Where and how can someone make use of them? Through our pages we have visited organizations that have made a difference in Alaska and that can be significant for the adjustment of our readers to their new society.
As immigrants we know that when we arrive in a new country, we expend a lot of energy trying to understand its forms, language, and institutions. Especially during our first years in the United States, we direct all our efforts toward adapting to a new reality. This may make immigrants easy targets for traffickers, scammers, and other abusers who seek to take advantage of their ignorance of the system. So Sol de Medianoche has dedicated space to alert our readers to these dangers. We will continue publishing this information as much as we can, so our pages will serve as a trench protecting newcomers.
Among the biggest challenges faced by immigrants are physical and mental health. In our countries of origin, climate, food, medical care, and daily life were all different. Our bodies have to adapt to a new environment. Also, our genetic code is different from that of other members of the community; we are more prone to certain diseases and more resistant to others. In each of our issues we have included health stories, with the aim of breaking myths and bringing our people closer to professionals in the field.
We have devoted much of our energy to celebrating our cultural heritage. We have printed scores of articles on history, visual arts, traditions, cuisine, and music, accounting for the richness of our cultures. In Sol de Medianoche we know that when people feel proud of their roots, they thrive. However, we are aware that as much as we embrace the past, we should also feel proud of what happens today. So besides viewing our cultures with nostalgia, we celebrate what our community produces in Alaska, which is often hybrid, vital, and vibrant. We hope that this perspective has helped our newspaper to become a creative crossroads for Hispanics in the state.
Alaska’s Latino community is young compared to that of other states in the US. The grandchildren of the first immigrants are now attending elementary or secondary school. Despite being a community just sowing its first seeds, we must begin to write our history. Nobody will do it for us. At Sol de Medianoche we have dedicated articles to those people who have left their mark in our community. We consider their work as bringing to flower the seeds planted decades ago.
These have been our efforts for the last two years. Sol de Medianoche is made mostly by volunteers who are willing to give back to the community through their time. We can pay the bills thanks to our advertisers, and each issue requires so much labor and so much love that it seems almost impossible that we have published eleven already.
However, we at Sol de Medianoche are proud of how much we have achieved, and we are sure that we still have a lot to learn. For the years to come, we want to continue serving our readers from an immigrant’s perspective, because we are sure that the most committed projects for the members of a community usually come from those who have lived through their problems, and who have heard their heartbeat.
