Edison senior Daniel Zúñiga González has had one foot in Mexico and one in the United States all his 18 years. Two countries, two cultures.
Born in Minneapolis, he and his family moved back to Mexico when he was nine years old. Despite his heritage, he struggled to fit in.
He tells his story in a book, “Belonging in America and Mexico,” published by Green Card Voices in South Minneapolis. It was launched Friday, May 27, at Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Avenue.
Daniel, who uses his father’s surname, Zúñiga, lives in Northeast. He said he told the story as part of a school project.
“Green Card Voices told me, ‘We really like your story and would like to write about it.’” With Daniel telling the story and another person writing it down, the process took about eight months from idea to published book.
“Belonging” is written in English and Spanish; the two versions are bound together, but upside down from each other. Laid out in the style of a graphic novel, the book is illustrated by sunshine gao, who was born in China and grew up in Indiana and Kentucky.
Misconceptions and misunderstandings are found on both sides of the border, Daniel said. In the book, he writes, “[In America] everybody thinks Mexicans look just like mariachis.” Later, he says, “When someone comes to the village from the U.S., they don’t take him seriously…they always think that person is going to be some kind of traitor.”
Daniel said it’s hard to make a living in Mexico. “If you have a job, you might make 150 pesos a day, about $7,” he said. The family lived in the Puebla area, about 135 km southeast of Mexico City. To make ends meet, he and his father sold DVDs, which they strung on a clothesline. His father also drove a taxi. His parents separated.
He went to work at the age of 11 to help his family. He has an entrepreneurial streak: He started selling popsicles.
“I started with a basket, then I got a cart, then a tricycle to push it,” he said.
He returned to Minnesota in 2015 to resume his education, which he found lacking in Mexico. He writes, “We all have to learn just the basic things. And if anyone just wants to go and play around, the teacher lets them. Teachers here help you to set future goals, and to get there. Even if you don’t know your goals, they support you.”
Since moving back to America, Daniel has worked in a Mexican restaurant, a Middle Eastern grocery store and recently got a job at Target. “I send money to my mother so she can live peacefully,” he said. He hopes to bring her and his little sister to Minnesota.
He’s not sure if he’s interested in attending college. He might want to be a firefighter, or start his own food truck. His immediate post-graduation plans are to make a movie. He’s already written a script.
“Belonging in America and Mexico” is the first in a series of books Green Card Voices will publish, “Our Stories Carried Us Here.” They plan to release a book by a young Yemeni in September and one about a Hmong immigrant in February 2023. A fourth will be by a Rohingya youth. The books, written for children ages 8-12, focus on the change from the immigrant’s previous life in their birth country to America and show how they can still be themselves and follow their culture while living in America.
“Belonging in America and Mexico” is available as a download and in hardcover. To order, go to https://www.greencardvoices.org/belonging-in-america-and-mexico/
Below: Edison senior Daniel Zúñiga and his newly-published book. (Photo by Cynthia Sowden)
