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Like the authors of this book, I also felt I had a story to tell as a young Chicano male living in the Midwest and growing up in the 1960’s. I spent most of my time in predominantly white, Christian, and English speaking Wisconsin cities, like Racine, Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Madison. These experiences and recollections helped shape my awareness of the world, and helped me to understand that despite the economic shortcomings of growing up with a family of 14 people, my life could not have been any richer. When I first started writing, I didn't fully understand the impact that my writing would have on myself, or the world around me. My first challenge to overcome was learning to use my personal struggles to understand myself, and sharing those nuggets of wisdom with the world. I knew I wanted to share my insights with others through writing to both enlighten and entertain them. My early poems, "Elvis Presley was a Chicano", "History Lesson" and "My Mother is a Social Worker who works in a Hospital" were my attempts to understand how to best interpret what I was experiencing at that moment and try to connect with others through my stories and poems. I didn't fully understand yet that while my writing journey was on a greater path to "know thyself," it could also have an impact on people who were not Chicano, those who didn’t have shared experiences or who never lived in Wisconsin. Similarly, Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from Madison and Milwaukee High Schools provides a powerful forum for reading and experiencing personal narratives that remind us of how small the world really is, if we focus on our commonalities, not our differences. You, the readers of the Green Card Youth Voices anthology, are given a chance to peek behind the curtain and hear authentic voices of young people struggling to find their way in an adopted country. Despite all the obstacles faced by immigrants, of language, culture, and at times poverty, they amazingly have found their path to success. These stories are what make America great. This is the true power of Green Card Voices. This book will not only inform, impact and touch the reader, but also encourage these 30 young new authors into empowerment. This book provides a platform to inspire others to share their stories, helps us all find common ground in our shared experiences, and allows others to see these young writers become transformed right in front of our eyes. By participating in this Green Card Youth Voices storytelling project, these students have the opportunity to see how much their writing can not only impact others, but also how this self reflection could be the catapult into the next phase of their young lives. As the Editor of three anthologies titled I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin, Volumes 1-3 that spoke about the diverse Latino experience in Wisconsin over three decades, I believe that Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from Madison and Milwaukee High Schools continues the effort to share immigrant stories and personal narratives from families struggling to find their way in a new land. Having lived and worked a considerable amount of time in both Milwaukee and Madison, two Wisconsin cities that are trying to balance gentrification, emerging communities and diverse populations, these personal stories share some of the hardships experienced when neighborhoods and cities are changing at a rapid pace. These new voices cause us to pause and reflect on our past and present, but most importantly provide a path of hope for the future. Their optimism for tomorrow is contagious. - Oscar Mireles, Madison Poet Laureate, 2016 - present, Editor, I Didn’t Know There Were Latinos in Wisconsin, Volumes 1-3, Executive Director, Omega School
