When coming to NY I never thought of myself as an immigrant. Going to acting school was a great environment where I was just one more. One more actor learning. One more actor trying to make it. That’s why acting is great to me: there’s no barriers, no conflicts (except for the ones of the character) and I never felt like I was not welcomed. On the other hand, I felt at home.
However, when you need to start filing for papers and paying for documents and your right to stay in the country, that’s when I started to think of myself as an immigrant. I need to prove to a bunch of people that I’m here to do my thing and I’m not a threat to the US by any means: I’m not a terrorist, not coming to ruin the economy and not pay taxes, not here to steal anyone’s jobs.
I wish we could see each other beyond labels, beyond territory, beyond anything that decides us. I wish we could have a more generous, empathetic view. One where people are not discriminated for their accent, their skin tone, their culture, their sexual orientation, their political stand and their religion.
Coming from a different place should be celebrated. We should be able to celebrate our differences because that’s how we create a richer world.
I would never change who I am, no matter how much I wanna be accepted in this country and in this industry. Where I come from is an enormous part of who I am and dictates a lot of the decisions I make, how I communicate, how I see the world. It’s time we all start embracing our differences because being different does not mean being less.
Luisa Lozano, "Tilda"