Road Trips

When I was visiting some friends in New Jersey, I saw a woman practicing how to ride her Vespa on my friend’s street. Suddenly, she ran over a cat on the street. I remember the instance distinctly because the owner of the cat came home and just broke down crying. What striked me as odd was that as time passed, these two women started practicing riding their Vespas together. I envied them. They had no worries. They rode on their own terms. They were free. One of them even had her own jacket with FLAM on the back. When I saw them practicing up and down the street, I envied the way they traveled freely as women of color.

Growing up, my mother never allowed me to travel alone. She always feared that someone would do something horrible to me when they saw a young Latina traveling alone. She feared I would get pulled over, and be deported back to Mexico. She feared for the worst. 

Seeing these two Latinas travel gave me hope though. I knew that the roads were changing for the better; I hoped that one day people of color would be able to travel freely without having to worry about being pulled over for no reason, without the fear of being deported, without the fear of being killed.