My name is Alex
I was born in southern Mexico to a small family of single mother, her teen sister, and her toddler daughter. Soon after, my mother immigrated illegally through the Sonoran Desert into the United States. My aunt, sister and I would follow just a few years later. I turned three as we crossed into Arizona from Mexico.
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We arrived in Boston after two months of travel, north through Mexico, through the desert, and along the southern and eastern coasts during hurricane season, September 2003. I have lived a very unusual life, one that shares similar beats to many others, but strings these experiences together in an absurd manner. My abnormal life has given me a critical perspective.
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We, our global species, are in a precarious moment. The actions we take now will shape the reality for humans hundreds of years into the future. I am a product of the same history and decisions that have engineered existential threats to our societies. I believe I have a perspective worth sharing, one that can guide us in creating a just present.
Democracy
American Mythos
National myths play critical roles in creating a common culture. They unify disparate peoples under one flag. But stories are not license to rewrite the unsavory truths of a nation's birth
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Modern problems are rooted in historical dynamics
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Fixing the USA's dysfunction requires a critical analysis of the nation's founding.
I believe in the power of democracy. ​
It is only through genuine engagement with the society they build and participate in that people can solve problems that touch each of us on personal levels, and expand to universal questions, desires, and truths of the world we live in.
I also believe democracy has never been fully achieved in the United States
especially not at its founding, which hinged on the commodification and dehumanizing of black people, natives, women, and natural resources. In the nation's 250 year history, the federal protection for participation in the democratic experiment has been extended to women for only 100 years, and 60 for black people.
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Democracy → demokratia → δημοκρατια = δημος + κρατος
The word and rationale of democracy come from Ancient Greece. Athens is often credited as the birthplace of democracy. Democracy is a compound word made of the Greek δημος –the common people–, and κρατος –power–: Power of the People; Power by the People; Power for the People.