East Harlem Narrative

7. El Barrio and the Upper East Side:

It had been a crazy morning as I ran all over my house trying to find my jacket and boots. My mom had been admitted into the hospital that morning for a massive headache and all I could think about was whether or not she would be okay. I took her to the emergency room that day before so going to class was the last thing on my mind. My father and sister had agreed to stay with her till I ended class so I was more at ease knowing she wouldn’t be alone. After running all over my house looking for my things I quickly gathered myself to make my train. I finally got to Penn Station with four minutes to spare. I quickly walked to where the rest of my class was as we waited for instructions to where we would
What made this area stand out compared the other parts of the city that I had visited before, was that painted murals could be found on many of the buildings. We walked on 103rd Street and came across one of my favorite murals the “Sprits of East Harlem” mural. Hank Prussing created this mural around the late 70s. The mural was created to show the individuals of the area taking part in their daily customs. The reason that this mural stood out to me the most was because growing up my grandmother had lived in a similar area in the Bronx. Many of my uncles would be playing cards or domino in front of their homes and some of the people would even be playing their music. The mural itself captures the community in how individuals from the neighborhood are all going through different situations each day, yet at are all coming together as a community. Prior to painting this mural Prussing had spent some time photographing individuals from the neighborhood to use as inspiration for the mural
However, in the end I am glad I chose not to miss my class. After buying my mother the bracelet and after a week of recovery she was feeling a lot better. I couldn’t believe that Mike was right when he said that those bracelets were in fact good luck. I even felt more connected with my mother after learning about how immigrants from South America have faced discrimination and poverty. My mother is an immigrant from Ecuador and moved to the U.S. when she was younger. During my tour through East Harlem all I wanted to do was tell her about how we were learning about our Latino Heritage. I began to think about all the moments I took for granted growing up. My mother had always spoken Spanish to me and always spoke about our culture and her homeland, and yet I didn’t realize how hard it was for her moving to a different country. My mother grew up in a poor area in the Bronx and had faced discrimination just like many people from East Harlem had. Looking back it was as if the class was planned for me to go home and tell my mother how proud I was to be a