Mi Mamá Es Una Brava
She was fierce, unapologetic, unselfish and brava.
Editor’s note: This is a reprise piece from Gaby Alcantara Diaz remembering her late parents and brother. Over 21.2 million (all) immigrant women reside in the United States since 2013 with many traveling by foot, sea and/or air, facing near death experiences, isolation and decades of separation from family. Saving their children from hunger, political unrest, and even violence, for a better future, continues to underscore a Latina mother’s plight for a safer and better tomorrow in America. Many mamas bravas faced family separation through transnational motherhood, where ‘Latina immigrant women work and reside in the United States, while their children remain in their countries of origin.’ Others had no choice but to send their children alone on planes to the United States or travel with their toddlers to the land of opportunity.- Many migrated in ‘larger numbers due to the 1965 Immigration Act – ending a longstanding national origins quota – linked to the ‘third great wave of immigration’ heavily influenced by migration from Latin America migration.
- Caribbean female immigrants led with 55%; a region inclusive of non-Spanish speaking countries.
- A majority, 54%, migrated from South America ( the majority from Peru), followed by Mexico and Central America, 47% between 1980 – 2013.
- In recent years, a large share of Mexican women are migrating alone because – ‘as the principal wage earners for their families—are driven to migrate in search of a living wage, leaving their families and children behind.’
- Approximately 15 percent of Mexican women have a son or daughter living in Mexico – thereby experiencing ‘transnational motherhood.’
- Over 14,000 Cuban children were sent alone to the US in ‘the largest child rescue ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.’
- Their earnings from low status jobs transform the ‘lives of their families and local economies.’
- Immigrant Latina moms incorporate ‘cultural values and beliefs or cultural forms of parental engagement, such as sacrificios (sacrifices), consejos (advice), and apoyo (moral support).’