Angy Rivera has lived in the United States since she was 4 years of age with a secret that kept her in the shadows for quite a long time. Not having papers. Angy is a Colombian-American immigrant who escaped to the U.S. with her mom because of the violence in Colombia, presently she has become an activity in favor of the rights of youth without documents. During our interview I asked her what made her feel the need to share her story knowing the danger she was taking and she answered: “I think it just felt like if I was going to be afraid either way sharing or not sharing, then I might as well take the risk and do it even if I was going to be afraid doing it.” She has a YouTube channel with many views, where she offers guidance to youth who are in similar conditions as her. Several years ago, Angy made it known publicly that she was “not afraid of being without papers”, and from that point forward she has additionally been composing a section named “Ask Angy” in which she tries to offer help and direction to numerous others like her. She also made her story available in a documentary “No Le Digas A Nadie” (Don’t Tell Anyone) where she talks about how her experience as a sexual assault survivor was also affected by her migratory status and how udocumented women are more at risk of being victims because of the fear of speak out.
She additionally works with the undocumented-youth-drove New York State Youth Leadership Council to battle for monetary guide, employer stability, and the privilege to citizenship for undocumented youth. By sharing her story and being a key element in NYSYLC, Angy desires to motivate undocumented youth, and to educate others about what it resembles to be an undocumented migrant. When I asked her what advice she would give to undocumented youth she left me with this great message:
“Get plugged into community spaces, it doesn’t mean that they have to organize, it doesn’t mean that they have to be public about their story if they don’t want to, but I think being connected to other people it’s important for one to be empowered for mental health or not feeling alone, for finding resources, for having a community that shows up for you. I think it makes this experience a little bit less lonely, having someone or a group that shares the frustrations and the struggles and all the things. And also because it’s important to stay informed, there’s so much going on legislatively, for example, and being connected to the community is important to avoid misinformation, fraud, you know, all the things, getting free resources, getting lawyers, all that stuff. So I think it’s, it’s important to get plugged in somehow.”
“Inspirational Stories: Angy Rivera, Activist for Undocumented Youth, Will Visit Campus.” Davidson College Art Galleries, www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org/news/inspirational-stories-angy-rivera-activist-for-undocumented-youth-will-visit-campus/.
