I was debating whether to go to Luis Alberto Urrea's presentation on "The Devil's Highway" because I thought it was going to be an emotional presentation about illegal immigration. Instead, Urrea brought so much life to his presentation. He was very animated and humorous, while giving his speech behind the podium. I shouldn't call it a speech but instead a story. Urrea illustrates his life story.
Urrea explains the sacrifices his family made to make his life better. Urrea was the first to go off to college in his direct family and earn a university degree. He explained how his father drove back to Mexico in order to get a thousand dollars for his graduation gift. His father got into a severe car crash on the way home and died. Urrea's father was left without medical attention for eight hours. Chills ran down my back while in the auditorium, when I visualized this occurrence.
I think it is outrageous that Urrea had to pay a fine in order to get his father released. He was no longer living, just a dead body, in the back of a car within the confines of a cardboard box. Urrea used the thousand dollars to retrieve his father. Urrea explains how his father was left to pay for his own funeral. This is such a disturbing thought and I couldn't imagine the feelings Luis Alberto Urrea felt burying his father.
Urrea tried to look past all the destruction and realized that his father had sacrificed his life for his son. I think it is amazing how Urrea was able to pull through this experience and crank out books concerning the issues of illegal immigration.
It was quite hilarious when Urrea talked about his experiences from being a movie extra in a Chuck Norris film to submitting his pieces of writing to become an ivy league janitor. I think it is special that Urrea was able to go back to his hometown of Tijuana, and help the children in the orphanages. He became Pastor Von's translator and contributed to the lives of many unfortunate people. Luis Alberto Urrea wrote three books on the border patrol, before asked to write the book, "The Devil's Highway", about the Yuma 14. Urrea's willingness to explore and search for more information about the border patrol and illegal immigration is fascinating. Before reading his book and attending his presentation, I did not find illegal immigration a very interesting or appealing subject, I just always knew it was an issue. Urrea's adventure to get closer to the Border Patrol is a humorous yet scary story. From the visiting Yuma Station to being sent over to Wellton Station, each occurrence is intense.
I think it is amazing how much information Urrea absorbs visiting each location. He realizes the background of Kenny Smith, the supervisory agent over at the Wellton Station. I was able to understand the position of the Border Patrol from Urrea's presentation. Kenny Smith, Border Patrol agent, explains how disturbed he was after the Yuma 14 rescue. Smith carried a dead 19 year old girl in his arms for 6 miles. I could not imagine dealing with death everyday like Kenny Smith, out on the Devil's Highway.
Kenny explained to Urrea that he can write whatever he wants in his book of his, but to get the information right. Kenny said, "then you can attack us all you want". I believe Urrea is a phenomenal story teller. In person and through his book I have learned so much about the issue of illegal immigration. I have learned the sides and I believe Urrea did a successful job "getting it right" and "telling it how it is".
1 comment:
I totally agree. I went to the the meeting where he spoke also and I didn't know what to expect other than probably more talk about immigration. But instead he told his "About the Author" story that you would hope to find in every book. He seemed so different from the tone he presented in the book. I remember him saying that he really had to work to get around the biases he felt but you really can't tell if he was biased one way or the other in his book. His speech was more like a comedy act which was a relief, and he probably considered that because most of the poeple in the room had read his book, they shouldn't have to have another strong dose of reality without something to lighten it up.
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