Marcela Da Luz-Le is a writer and advocate, passionate about immigration, racial injustice, and Brazilian culture. Learn more at marceladaluzle.com.
Every day I ask myself, why me? What makes me special? Why would anyone care about my story? How exactly am I like Jose Vargas, Julissa Arce, and the many other immigration writers I admire and aim to emulate? Before having books published, Jose Vargas found success as a journalist, and Julissa Arce reached success … More Undocumented Value
Do you remember as a child, playing pretend? Do you remember who you pretended to be, and why? I remembered the other day when I was deep cleaning our apartment, the days I pretended to be a Disney princess. After leaving school, I would go with my mom back to the house she was cleaning … More My Cinderella Story
The only thing more painful than growing up as an undocumented immigrant, was finding myself — my true self — as a mixed girl with nurturing of only one of those elements. It’s not lost on me that as a child, being in public places with a white woman by my side allowed me to … More My Self/Black Girl Magic
When I first arrived in the United States in the summer of 1998, my mother and I lived in my uncle’s house in Berkeley, California. He had sponsored our tourist visa. After picking us up from LAX, he took us to Disneyland and Universal Studios, before we made the six hour drive to his home. … More My Childhood in Rio
I thought that I had nothing to lose when I left Brazil, but I did have dear intangible things which America stole from me. I had hope and dignity. If you ever went to Brazil, you would see nothing but smiles in people’s faces, and feel joy emanating from the caring way they interact with … More What America Stole From Me
You have probably heard the expression “decolonize your mind”, and in various contexts. The way I think about this concept changes from day to day. It can be applied to so many issues because it encompasses so many facets of our society. It affects different aspects of our lives. Internalized racism colonizes our mind. European … More Decolonize Your Mind
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I hope that you have had the chance to discover who you are beyond your immigration story or politicized label. And if you haven’t, I encourage you to look deep inside yourself and try to imagine what kind of person you might have become organically, had … More The Power in Reclaiming Your Culture
When thinking about immigration, it’s easy to focus on the plight of undocumented and dacamented people, as if they were the only ones affected by America’s immigration policy and climate of hate towards immigrants. I am guilty of viewing the citizen children of immigrants as lucky and carefree Americans. That started to change the day … More Paz Ellis on the plight of Citizen Children of Immigrants
One of the most memorable moments that I experienced during the trip to my homeland, Brazil earlier this year, was unexpectedly stumbling upon a ceremony known as Festival of Lemanja. It was at a locals’ beach adjacent to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) that I saw a large group of mostly Afro-Brazilians gathered under a … More Candomblé (Part I)
It’s a crazy, surreal, indescribable feeling when you realize that life is not random — that it has purpose. When you realize that there are signs everywhere of choices you should make, directions to take, validations of your gut instincts, it can feel overwhelming. It can be confusing, but I’ve found that the more you … More Following Divine Signs
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