I'm not Mexican.

Nor am I Latino.

Other than my Spanish surname, it is very unlikely that I could be mistaken for Latino.

I am Asian, Filipino, in fact. One could make the case that I'm Hispanic and I wouldn't argue against that.

Basically, I'm making a disclaimer that I have as much of an idea about the Mexican-American and Latino-American experience as the average American.

Well, maybe a couple notches better. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, after all.

What I do know--through second or third degree sources, is that I have college educated relatives from the Philippines. Many of them have to live away from their homes and children, in foreign lands, in order to make money to support their family. And when I say "family", I mean extended family. And when I say "make money", I mean that these educated people have to work as maids, caretakers, and usually something that they're WAY over qualified for.

Now, I'm sure the average reader would see this comic book as a political rant. To me, immigration and social/racial class is just a fact of life. A system that has always existed and will always exist in one form or another. I wrote this as a story about the little guy, an everyman, doing his best and getting little in return. The story of a lot of people's lives. The average reader would have to stretch thier understanding if the main character was Filipino. There's already enough stereotypes, archetypes and symbols that have already been ingrained in the American consciousness."Illegal immigrant" or "migrant worker" equates to "Mexican."

And besides, "Space Mexican" sounds so much cooler than "Space Filipino". And most likely, a "Space Filipino" would be a nurse or a maid or that guy from Journey.

But if I have any sort of political opinion on immigration, it is this: They came to America for the exact same reasons your ancestors and relatives came to America. Just because they're illegal, doesn't make them less human. If you're going to tell them to leave, do it as respectfuly as possible.

Unfortunately, bureaucracies, classism and stereotypes prevent us from acting our best. And I'll be the first one to admit that I've been a small contributor to this system.

Man, I sound too serious with that afterw[o]rd junk. I think my original intent was not to come off as patronizing or racist. I sound like someone trying to get you to sign a petition. I actually found somethings comedic about this story when I was working on it. I mean, I called it "Melancholy of a Space Mexican". I kind of regret the title, but I respect the decision of the guy I was about a year ago.

Later on, after I got some distance from the project, I found it mainly sad, but still that hint of absurdity that makes it stand out a bit.

Anyway, as I write this, I am very exhausted. I have been redesigning this bloody website into something that looks worthy of being nominated for a major comic book award. I rarely design sites and I was up til five last night trying to align those damn images in the menu. [cool huh]

When I wrote this thing, it was on downtime at a job that I have mixed feelings for. When I quit that job (without a plan) I was under-employed for over a year and this was one of the projects that kept my sanity. Now this comic is getting a lot of attention. [Patting myself on the back.]

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Check out my blog entries about "Speak No Evil." If you want to get on my subscription list for irregular updates, just email me.

I hope you'll be reading more of my stuff real soon.

--the establishment
elanrodgertrinidad@gmail.com
April, 2009