Jairo Javier Morales's Graduation Cap
notes: label: Description
content: A customized college graduation cap worn by Jairo Javier Morales, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient at his graduation from Ripon College, Ripon Wisconsin. Jairo decorated his cap with pink flowers, paper monarch butterflies, a Mexican flag pin and an LGBTQ pride pin to express the wholeness of his identity. Bold white text across the cap reads "I am one of those people Mexico sent.”
label: Description
content: Jairo designed his graduation outfit to proudly declare that he was undocumented, queer and Mexican. As one of a handful of students of color at Ripon, Jairo became very well-known and respected as the Director of Events in the Office of Student Activities. But he always kept his immigration status private. He decided that he wanted everyone to know that that the person they admired was undocumented, so he hid large monarch butterfly wings under his robe and unfurled them as he crossed the stage to receive his diploma. He remembers thinking “I’m going to die” as he unfolded his wings. Instead, he received a standing ovation.
label: Description
content: Those attending graduation recognized the Monarch butterfly wings as symbols of the undocumented movement. In the 2010s, many youthful activists decorated signs, banners, and themselves with butterfly wings as they pressed the government for citizenship rights under the DREAM Act. The Monarch butterflies spoke to them because, in order to survive, they must fly thousands of miles from the United States to Mexico as part of their life cycle. Undocumented activists related to the fact that migration is both beautiful and necessary to sustain a livelihood.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: referenced
content: Mexico
label: Associated Place
content: Colombia: Caquetá, Puerto Rico
topic: label: general subject association
content: Protest and Civil Disobedience
label: general subject association
content: Students and Student Life
label: general subject association
content: Student protest
label: general subject association
content: Immigrants
label: general subject association
content: Immigration
label: general subject association
content: LGBTQ Rights
label: classified
content: Hispanics
label: classified
content: Latino
label: general subject association
content: Civil Liberties
label: general subject association
content: College
label: general subject association
content: Education, College
label: Subject
content: LGBTQ
label: Subject
content: Gay Rights
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Civil Rights Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Jairo Javier Morales
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2020.0048.01
label: accession number
content: 2020.0048
label: catalog number
content: 2020.0048.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cap, graduation
label: Object Name
content: graduation cap
label: Object Type
content: Mortarboard
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: black; white; red (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 1/2 in x 9 1/2 in; 24.13 cm x 24.13 cm