Exodus

   There René stood. He was holding a sign written in Spanish asking for money. René wasn't just some homeless man that you might see on the streets and pass by without a second glance. In fact, René wasn't homeless at all. René was an immigrant. And like most immigrants René made the dangerous trek across the border to find a better life for him and his family.  René had experienced a loss of freedom. Not the type of freedom which we associate with the hand of an overbearing government or intrusion into our private rights, but rather the loss of freedom that comes with not knowing whether the land on which you now stand can even be said to allow you to keep your footing—the near complete lack of freedom that comes with no longer recognizing yourself in foreign soil. That loss of freedom is something very different to what we would normally consider loss of freedom. It is a loss of freedom in which everything that you knew and understand about life is gone. 

    Then, all of a sudden a man appeared as if from nowhere and began to accost him. The man began to question René, asking him what he was doing here. After explaining his situation to the man, and asking if he could spare some change so that he could feed his family, the man became visibly upset, his face red, with beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. The man yelled at René, telling him that instead of begging he needs to stop being lazy and get a job. 

    Before René could get any more words out, his would-be benefactor was already gone. He didn't really understand what had just happened. He couldn't believe that a man that looked like him and spoke like him, would treat him that way—a man that reminded him of his brother, but with a viciousness that he had never seen before. Wouldn't he be able to understand his struggles better than anyone? He suddenly realized that had found himself lost in this new land. He didn’t even recognize who he was anymore.He questioned if he could even call himself a man, or if he was just the shadow of the man he once was. He no longer belonged. He could not for the life of him understand why one of his own would treat him this way.  He could, however, understand one thing: wherever and whoever he now was, he clearly wasn't from around here.

Author: Gabe Coronado

Editor: Armando Rodriguez