My grandmother, she was born in Loveland and raised in Timnath - they moved to Timnath after living in New Mexico - and then Greeley and northern Colorado, Weld County. I would say, you’re from Mexico somewhere, right, Grandma? And she was like, No, we’re from here. Their family goes back like six generations. She left school when she was little to take care of the rest of the family. So the gardening, and my grandmother would always reupholster furniture instead of buying things new. They sold veggies, they upholstered furniture. And my grandmother’s family is from northern New Mexico and northern Colorado. A lot of us were ashamed to call ourselves Mexicans because there was always something in front of it, to the point where my grandmother didn’t teach my mother Spanish on purpose so they could assimilate. border has moved, and the state border has moved, so it’s like, how do we count generations in this part of the country? How long has your family been living in this part of the U.S.? When we start talking about Colorado and New Mexico and the notch area.the U.S. To be Chicano and Mexican, you have this duality, right?Įvan Semón Just to clarify for others, you are a U.S. So I got held back, because my mom plucked me out of the class.Īnd as a Chicano kid growing up, I wasn’t Mexican enough, and then I was obviously not white. We don’t speak Spanish in here, do we, Mr. And I was a little first-grader, and I said, Miss, I think his name is Conejo. She was reading about Rabbit in the Southwest, Cone-joe, she called it. My teacher had ridiculed me in front of my class. Let me see: Ruby Hill, Russell, Newlon, Knapp. I went to four different elementary schools. I was a representation of what a lot of us have gone through. But now my mom’s passed, and her story.the thing is, my story is not unique at all. I didn’t want to tell that story when I first ran, because I didn’t want people to think badly about my mom or my dad. My parents went to go live in a Motel 6, and there was just no room for me. There was one point where I was sleeping in a tent in my grandmother’s backyard.
I needed to buy my own clothes and pay for my own haircuts, and I learned how to do that at an early age. In a nutshell, worked since I was fourteen years old, bussing tables, washing dishes, cleaning concourses at Mile High Stadium. I bounced back and forth from my grandmother’s house to my house. I’m not trying to create a sob story, but it was really hard, and I left very early. My parents, it was a little chaotic at home.
I was having a conversation with somebody about commodities, and they didn’t know what commodity foods were, but anybody who’s had the peanut butter or the canned pork or the farina or the powdered milk, they would know. My dad, his company would get replaced at one of these buildings downtown, and we would have to move. I moved, I think I’ve counted 27 times in my life. There was a lot that we were dealing with at home. Teachers don’t make anything they didn’t make anything back then, either. She taught in the community we grew up in, by choice. I mean, a little bit in Chicago, worked in Houston, but I didn’t jump on a plane until I was well into college. I’ve always lived on the Westside of Denver, my whole life. Talk about growing up on the Westside back in the day. Being a Mexican kid on the Westside - could have been a lot of different ends to that story. I could have gone so many different ways in my life. And I feel I’m the right man for the right job at the right time. This is the hardest time to be clerk and recorder. As an organizer, you teach them: one, not to fear it two, you understand their story. They see the injustice, but they don’t know how to address it. Or it’s at a job site, or in a community. But to get behind folks who see challenges - either it’s to their freedom or their happiness or their well-being. That’s the difference between an organizer and an activist, right? A lot of us can say we are activists - there is something that will draw us out, because we believe in something bigger than ourselves. And I get to continue to help people see the opportunity in front of them, the challenges in front of them, and to help them confront them. Paul López: I love it because I get to be with people. Evan Semón Helen Thorpe: I’ve heard you say you love your job.