Her name is Consuelo, but call her Chelly, like they do at home in Queretaro. Things in Mexico have become unbearably tough, especially since '94 when the foreign debt caused one in a series of financial crisis in Mexico that nearly destroyed her family. She asks me what I'm doing in Greenville. I say I am here to teach children about the relationship between Mexican and African culture through music. I admire the light heartedness of this resilient middle-aged woman who has come so far from home to work and keep her family solvent.
Work is no dishonor.
Sitting on your ass while the world falls apart is dishonor. This is the strength that keeps us going. I wonder if she really gets where she is. I wonder if I really get where I am. So I talk about the meaning of the confederate flag and how South Carolina is the only state that won't honor Martin Luther King's birthday.