Dear South Central LAMP Community,
While the ICE raids continue to indiscriminately target immigrant communities, particularly the Latino community, I will continue to speak about this topic, to ensure it stays in the forefront. It’s important to use every available resource to ensure everyone understands the effects these raids are having and will continue to have on the targeted communities for years to come.
In the years ahead, the damage caused to these communities by these raids will become much more evident. The trauma inflicted on adults and children will manifest in various ways, whether biologically, emotionally, or psychologically and it’s important to recognize that actions like these don’t just impact those affected at the time, but also generations to come.
Science, specifically the study of epigenetics, has proven that our genes are changed with traumatic events. In fact, studies show that genes can be changed within one generation due to trauma! The changed genes are now inherited by the next generation; in other words, trauma can be passed down to future generations through genetics. If you’re still interested in this topic, I suggest you investigate studies done on populations affected by trauma. Studies have been done on the children of holocaust survivors, on children of POW’s, and on the Alaskan Native community just to name a few. Along with inheriting trauma that can negatively impact the communities affected by these raids, they also can inherit potentially positive epigenetic changes that are associated with resilience and adaptive responses.
So, for the unforeseeable future, I’m going to use this newsletter as an opportunity to share the stories of those we know, and those we serve, as well as to inform readers on what’s going on in our community. Some stories I will tell on behalf of the storyteller, and some I will let them share through either a translation or in their own words, in English, when possible. We’ll also be adding a short blurb titled Facts About, and it will be on a variety of topics related to the work we do at South Central LAMP, including U.S. Immigration.
Why am I taking this approach? My hope is that together, we continue to fight for justice and respect for all people, not just for this community, but all marginalized communities. That together as a people united, we become the change we wish to see in the world.
With gratitude,
Diana Z. Pinto
Executive Director