Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
"I’m born and raised in East LA. I grew up with nothing, not even a toy - I never had a toy in my life.
Before I went to college I was like, ‘OK. I know I have a full ride scholarship.’ The leadership scholarship - they pay for everything. The school I went to was Grinnell College. From the first day that I landed in Grinnell, Iowa, I was the first Hispanic everyone had talked to in their life.
I always never really fit in and I understood what it meant to be an individual of color, but never did I think I was gonna be ‘the enemy.’
I was targeted various times. I can’t even wear my clothes because as soon as I put it in the washer, someone comes and throws it into the snow and that’s it. The hate crimes started getting worse and I knew that if I left, I would just prove what they thought. I came from scum, according to them.
I came in with literally nothing, and I realized that if I left, I would leave with nothing, so I could take that risk, and that was what kept me driving, and that’s what I did: I finished. I told myself, ‘If I can survive hell, which is right here, right now, then I can do anything in life." -- Johanna L., #LivesofWomen
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Lives of Women
Follow for more stories:
Facebook: facebook.com/livesofwomen
Instagram: instagram.com/livesofwomen
Twitter: twitter.com/liveswomen
YouTube: youtube.com/livesofwomen
Copyright 2017 Indigenous Media
indigenousmedia.com
"I’m born and raised in East LA. I grew up with nothing, not even a toy - I never had a toy in my life.
Before I went to college I was like, ‘OK. I know I have a full ride scholarship.’ The leadership scholarship - they pay for everything. The school I went to was Grinnell College. From the first day that I landed in Grinnell, Iowa, I was the first Hispanic everyone had talked to in their life.
I always never really fit in and I understood what it meant to be an individual of color, but never did I think I was gonna be ‘the enemy.’
I was targeted various times. I can’t even wear my clothes because as soon as I put it in the washer, someone comes and throws it into the snow and that’s it. The hate crimes started getting worse and I knew that if I left, I would just prove what they thought. I came from scum, according to them.
I came in with literally nothing, and I realized that if I left, I would leave with nothing, so I could take that risk, and that was what kept me driving, and that’s what I did: I finished. I told myself, ‘If I can survive hell, which is right here, right now, then I can do anything in life." -- Johanna L., #LivesofWomen
Want more stories? SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/LOWsubs
......
Lives of Women
Follow for more stories:
Facebook: facebook.com/livesofwomen
Instagram: instagram.com/livesofwomen
Twitter: twitter.com/liveswomen
YouTube: youtube.com/livesofwomen
Copyright 2017 Indigenous Media
indigenousmedia.com
