Excerpt: Vivala
by Cindy Díaz
Kat Von D is proud of her Latina roots. From sharing a story of her modest upbringing in Mexico to posting a video singing a Selena Quintanilla song, she always finds new ways to celebrate her culture.
On February 1, Von D got political. She used her family’s immigration backstory to execute a takedown of Donald Trump’s proposed “Mexico wall,” his Muslim ban, and the culture of fear and bigotry surrounding his presidency that was SO SAVAGE, you’ll give her a standing ovation.
Kat shared in a post on Instagram that her parents were born in Argentina and that she was born — along with her brother and sister — in Montemorelos, Mexico.
Her dad was working as a missionary doctor in that city “building hospitals and treating people in pueblos that had no access to medical aid.”
She added that this adorable childhood photo was taken just before her family moved to the US from Mexico.
“Funny to think I didn’t even know one word of English then,” she wrote.
“And it would be another 10 years before I would finally become a US citizen.”
Then she took things to the next level by getting to the root of the evil that a border wall represents.
The idea of building a wall between the US and Mexico damages us all on so many levels. But the ridiculous/obvious financial damage it would do to our country is insignificant when compared to the underlying message it sends that one race is below another.
“I AM MEXICAN. I AM ARGENTINIAN. And I AM AMERICAN.”
