This object is my grandmother’s hair curler. While this is definitely an ordinary object that holds limited significance by itself, to me, it represents my grandmother’s way of maintaining her sense of pride. In her apartment, my grandmother had a huge Ziploc bag full of curlers that were always in use. They were all pink and green, and it was common to see her wearing them whenever I would visit. She spent a lot of time worrying about her appearance, often asking for “un peine,” a comb in Spanish, and combing my hair whenever it seemed a little unkempt. She did not do this out of a sense of vanity, but rather with the goal of keeping her personal pride by remaining presentable in an unfamiliar country. It was about gaining respect in a country and speaking a language that was not native. 

My grandmother, along with my grandfather and some of my uncles, came from Santiago de Cuba, and moved to Hoboken, New Jersey in 1971, several years after Castro had come to power. Coming here legally was an especially difficult challenge, as my grandfather had to work long shifts farming sugar cane, leaving my grandmother to care for three children on her own. In New Jersey, it was also difficult as my grandmother had to work jobs that garnered little respect, like being a lunch lady at a local high school. This led to her emphasis on self-discipline, a quality that she instilled in my uncles, my mother, and me. The hair curler, in a way, represents this nicely, as it shows her goal of staying presentable and well-put together even in the face of adversity and immigration.
 

– Andrew Fonticoba

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant