| I am my mother's son. Not a day goes by that I'm not in awe of her capacity for sacrifice and love. She immigrated to America from the Dominican Republic as a single mother to give my brother and me a better life. She taught me the power of perseverance and a strong work ethic.
My mom also showed me the injustice of being forced to choose between paying rent or receiving healthcare. In the richest nation in the world, nobody should be forced to make that choice. After years of living paycheck to paycheck, during the Great Recession, we lost our home.
Nothing about my family's story was ordinary. My Black grandfathers taught me how to navigate the prejudices of the world with kindness and love, the same compassion that overcame cultural barriers and won over the families of my white grandmothers.
Everyone knew my grandparents as the most loving and helpful people anyone had ever met. They never missed an opportunity to feed hungry neighbors or provide a place to stay for a family struggling to make ends meet. They taught me the power and importance of community and taking care of your neighbor. These values are deeply ingrained in me and guide me in every decision I make.
From a young age, I understood the value of hard work. I took every opportunity I could to help my family and cut the cost of my college education. By the end of high school, I had completed my second year working at McDonald's, was a tutor at Kumon Learning Center, and took enough courses at my local community college to receive my Associate's degree a month after my high school graduation. I even sold my plasma twice a week, and a scar on my arm serves as a testament to the hundreds of times I exchanged my blood to pay my family's bills.
I spent my first semester in college sleeping on my friends' couches and floors to afford my education. I worked as a substitute teacher for three years to pay my tuition. I soon graduated with Bachelor's degrees in Microbiology and Economics from the University of Florida. After college, I became an Economist for the US Army Corps of Engineers, where I also served as a First Responder in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. This experience gave me a close look at climate change's devastating effects on vulnerable communities.
I went on to graduate with a Master's in Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from Yale Law School. After law school, I became an environmental attorney with Earthjustice, where I worked on cases against large corporations that are making profits by destroying our air, water, and land. I now run a business dedicated to addressing the environmental injustices in our food system. |