Gerardo M. Gonzalez - A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education
Here you can read online Gerardo M. Gonzalez - A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. City: Bloomington, year: 2018, publisher: Indiana University Press, genre: Home and family. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education
- Author:
- Publisher:Indiana University Press
- Genre:
- Year:2018
- City:Bloomington
- Rating:3 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
In February 1962, three years into Fidel Castros rule of their Cuban homeland, the Gonzlez familyan auto mechanic, his wife, and two young childrenlanded in Miami with a few personal possessions and two bottles of Cuban rum. As his parents struggled to find work, eleven-year-old Gerardo struggled to fit in at school, where a teacher intimidated him and school authorities placed him on a vocational track. Inspired by a close friend, Gerardo decided to go to college. He not only graduated but, with hard work and determination, placed himself on a path through higher education that brought him to a deanship at the Indiana University School of Education.
In this deeply moving memoir, Gonzlez recounts his remarkable personal and professional journey. The memoir begins with Gerardos childhood in Cuba and recounts the familys emigration to the United States and struggles to find work and assimilate, and Gonzlezs upward track through higher education. It demonstrates the transformative power that access to education can have on one persons life. Gerardos journey came full circle when he returned to Cuba fifty years after he left, no longer the scared, disheartened refugee but rather proud, educated, and determined to speak out against those who wished to silence others. It includes treasured photographs and documents from Gonzlezs life in Cuba and the US. His is the story of one immigrant attaining the American Dream, told at a time when the fate of millions of refugees throughout the world, and Hispanics in the United States, especially his fellow Cubans, has never been more uncertain.
In this deeply moving memoir, Gonzlez recounts his remarkable personal and professional journey. The memoir begins with Gerardos childhood in Cuba and recounts the familys emigration to the United States and struggles to find work and assimilate, and Gonzlezs upward track through higher education. It demonstrates the transformative power that access to education can have on one persons life. Gerardos journey came full circle when he returned to Cuba fifty years after he left, no longer the scared, disheartened refugee but rather proud, educated, and determined to speak out against those who wished to silence others. It includes treasured photographs and documents from Gonzlezs life in Cuba and the US. His is the story of one immigrant attaining the American Dream, told at a time when the fate of millions of refugees throughout the world, and Hispanics in the United States, especially his fellow Cubans, has never been more uncertain.
Gerardo M. Gonzalez: author's other books
Who wrote A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Gerardo M. Gonzalez
Hourly History
José Manuel García
Jorge I. Domínguez
Magda Montiel Davis
George J. Fowler III
Senator Marco Rubio
A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
A CUBAN REFUGEES JOURNEY
TO THE AMERICAN DREAM
TO THE AMERICAN DREAM
WELL HOUSE BOOKS
A CUBAN REFUGEES
JOURNEY TO THE
AMERICAN DREAM
JOURNEY TO THE
AMERICAN DREAM
The Power of Education
Gerardo M. Gonzlez
Indiana University Press
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2018 by Gerardo M. Gonzlez
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-03700-8 (hdbk.)
ISBN 978-0-253-03555-4 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-253-03556-1 (e-bk.)
1 2 3 4 5 23 22 21 20 19 18
To my parents
Elio Angel Gonzlez and Armantina
Gonzlez Torres
Elio Angel Gonzlez and Armantina
Gonzlez Torres
For their love and sacrifices
Contents
Acknowledgments
I GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE and thank the many wonderful people who have contributed to the preparation of this memoir. First of all, I thank my parents Elio Angel Gonzlez and Armantina Gonzlez Torres for their love, guidance, and support throughout the years. They contributed many stories and anecdotes that helped shape this book, and provided insightful perspectives on our lives as Cuban refugees and on the values I hold as a Cuban-American educator. To my sister Maritza, who helped me fill in some blanks in my memory and provided a photographic history of our family, which she meticulously organized over the years. Maritza, you have always been there for me. I love you, and many thanks.
To my wife and partner, Marjorie, who always found a way to kindly let me know when my vanity was getting in the way of my writing, and who enriched this book through her patience, devotion, and thoughtful comments: I express my love and thanks. My love and thanks also go to my children Justin, Jarrett, Ian, and Julie, who encouraged and supported me throughout this process.
To the people mentioned in this book, including Hugo Morales, Rafael Garcia, Oscar (Tommy) Pedraja, Arturo Savion, Rolando Breto, Richard Swanson, Carol Van Hartesveldt, Harold Riker, Governor Otis Bowen, Charlie Reed, Joe Wittmer, David Smith, Rod McDavis, Ken Gros Louis, and the many, many others named and unnamed, who have touched my life in so many positive ways: I say thanks.
Of course, the loving memories of my paternal grandparents Manuel Gonzlez Mndez and Encarnacin de la Cruz Soto, as well as my aunt Luisa Peralta, were never far from my thoughts while writing this memoir.
Many thanks also go to Lee Ann Sandweiss, who wrote a story about my first trip to Cuba for Bloom Magazine, and encouraged me to write a book. Her guidance and editorial assistance through the proposal preparation process were invaluable. Likewise, Im grateful to Gary Dunham, director of Indiana University Press, who also provided helpful suggestions during the early stages of writing. Special thanks also to Robert Clark, Jenny Ashton, Alan Gold and Sandra Balonyi for their terrific input and excellent editorial suggestions. Additional editorial services were provided by Jan R. Holloway, whose contributions significantly improved the manuscript and helped me put it all together. For cover design and art direction, I acknowledge the fine work of the IU Press team and Lee Griffin.
This book is a labor of love. It could not have been realized without the encouragement, support, and loving assistance of everyone named above, and many others who believed in me. My heartfelt thanks to you all.
I gratefully acknowledge the following sources for permission to reprint from previously published work:
GONZLEZ, GERARDO M. and CHARLES L. CARNEY. 2014. Challenging the Spectacle: A Case Study on Education Policy Advocacy. International Journal of Leadership and Change 2 (1): 1927. Copyright WKU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Dr. Joseph P. Cangemi, editor.
SANDWEISS, LEE ANN. 2012. A Sentimental Journey. Bloom Magazine 7 (5): 114119. 20062015 Bloomington Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the author and Malcolm Abrams, publisher.
A CUBAN REFUGEES JOURNEY
TO THE AMERICAN DREAM
TO THE AMERICAN DREAM
Prologue
H OW MANY OF us begin life not knowing who we are or where we live? How many children pass their childhood in a state of utter confusion, not able to speak the language of their neighborhood or understand the alien culture into which theyve been thrust? How many children sit in a school classroom, taunted every day and viewed as dumb by their fellow students and teachers because they cant understand a word thats being said?
Life is confusing enough for a childany childbut with the solid footing of a stable home and a family that is well integrated into society, most kids can negotiate their way through the joys of childhood and the traumas of being a teenager and build on these foundational years to become responsible adults. Given a solid home life, school, college, and the workforce can be natural progressions for many of us. We grow, we advance, and we achieve.
So what happens when a familys stable ground is suddenly ripped from under a childs feet and he feels like hes walking through quicksand? When he sees his father and mother not as successful adults but living in constant fear? What goes through his mind when he is forced to remain mute, day after day, year after year, because he is afraid if he speaks, his teachers will discipline him? When he becomes stuck, because his teachers interpret his silence as bad behavior?
These were the issues I faced as a boy of eleven. I was once a bright and happy child. But when my family relocated to a strange and forbidding society, I couldnt speak or understand those around me. I was forced to conform to the standards of a society I simply couldnt comprehend.
My name is Gerardo Gonzlez. I am a Cuban refugee who arrived in the United States shortly after Fidel Castro came to power. We fled a regime we wanted no part of, whose economics and ideology we distrusted. But in the United States my father, mother, sister, and I suffered dislocation, isolation, and fear. Todays immigrants and refugees, in the main, face even more daunting challenges. Regardless of their reasons for fleeing and the traumas they suffer, all who find themselves stateless face common experiences.
This is my story, but its also the story of all immigrants who have had to leave their homes out of fear and desperation. We share a constant fear of authority in everything we do. We feel isolated when we see people our own age, born in our host nation, walking freely along the pavement. We feel were here under sufferance.
If the world is to survive todays refugee and migrant crisis, we have to remember what happened at the beginning of the last century, along the pathways etched into the fertile soil of a young America. We have to remember the time when people and governments saw refugees, migrants, and immigrants not as an unwelcome invasion or a drain on society but as a resource that, when nurtured, would become societys most valuable assetits citizens.
Light
Font size:
↓
↑
Reset
Interval:
↓
↑
Bookmark:
Make
Similar books «A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education»
Look at similar books to A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Hourly History
José Manuel García
Jorge I. Domínguez
Magda Montiel Davis
George J. Fowler III
Senator Marco Rubio
Reviews about «A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education»
Discussion, reviews of the book A Cuban Refugees Journey to the American Dream: The Power of Education and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.