Homelands
Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration
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- $ 54.900,00
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- $ 54.900,00
Descripción editorial
From prizewinning journalist and immigration expert Alfredo Corchado comes the sweeping story of the great Mexican migration from the late 1980s to today.
Homelands is the story of Mexican immigration to the United States over the last three decades. Written by Alfredo Corchado, one of the most prominent Mexican American journalists, it's told from the perspective of four friends who first meet in a Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia in 1987. One was a radical activist, another a restaurant/tequila entrepreneur, the third a lawyer/politician, and the fourth, Alfredo, a hungry young reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Over the course of thirty years, the four friends continued to meet, coming together to share stories of the turning points in their lives-the death of parents, the births of children, professional milestones, stories from their families north and south of the border.
Using the lens of this intimate narrative of friendship, the book chronicles one of modern America's most profound transformations-during which Mexican Americans swelled to become our largest single minority, changing the color, economy, and culture of America itself. In 1970, the Mexican population was just 700,000 people, but despite the recent decline in Mexican immigration to the United States, the Mexican American population has now passed three million-a result of high birth rates here in the United States. In the wake of the nativist sentiment unleased in the recent election, Homelands will be a must-read for policy makers, activists, Mexican Americas, and all those wishing to truly understand the background of our ongoing immigration debate.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dallas Morning News correspondent Corchado draws in this multilayered chronicle of Mexican migration over the past three decades from the perspective of four Mexican-Americans living in Philadelphia in the 1980s. The book opens with a scene from the winter of 1987, inside a newly opened Mexican restaurant, where Corchado, then a young reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and his human rights activist friend Primo strike up a conversation about what it means to be Mexican-American with the restaurant owner, David Suro-Pi era, and Ken Trujillo, another patron, who was raised in New Mexico. That conversation has lasted more than 30 years, Corchado writes. The perspectives of these men in the decades since provide the framework for Corchado's book as each man seeks a connection to his heritage through his life in America. David goes on to develop his own brand of tequila; Ken runs for mayor of Philadelphia and leads a successful career as a litigator; and Primo fights for causes on both sides of the border. Corchado tells his own story of working as a journalist covering the border region, and he also ruminates on the juxtaposition of acceptance and rejection that his fellow Mexican immigrants are shown by individuals, industries, and the government. In addition to providing historical context for the current debate on immigration, this book is a timely and personal meditation on the concept of "migrant" in the United States.