I LIVE AT THE INTERSECTION OF
HOPE, STRUGGLE, AND OPPORTUNITY
By: Ronald Chaluisán Batlle

I live at the intersection of hope, struggle, and opportunity!

The hope of parents that left their home,
Their family, their culture
To travel to a city not known -
To venture to a place
Where what is possible,
Might just be.

The struggle of parents
To speak a language, unintelligible.
To craft unknown ingredients into meals, inedible.
To make their way on roads,
Unpronounceable.

The opportunity
To create opportunity
For children not yet born.

I live at the intersection of hope, struggle, and opportunity!

I am a Latino, professional male.

Born to a youngish couple
Who at 24 years of age
Moved to the island of Brooklyn
From the island of Puerto Rico

I work to weave these facets of my history,
With these separate
But related identities,
Into a coherent image -
A picture that makes sense to me
And to the outside world.

I carry in my heart                                                                                                                                        My father's definition of being a man and a husband,

A definition learned from his experiences in Puerto Rico
As a child who was given over by his father to an uncle
Who would be better able to provide for him -

That intense commitment to provide for his wife and children
All they need
To be successful,
At times overlooking the need to be present.

I carry in my heart my mother's inclination to care for everyone,
To be the rock on which the family stands,

Stemming from an experience in her adolescence
When her home life was shaken
Because her father made the decision
To move into a different relationship,
Leaving her mother, my grandmother, to provide family stability,

At times at the expense of not caring for herself.

I carry in my heart
The drive instilled in me
By the educational institutions
I had the privilege of attending.
The need to succeed.

The need to show the world
It isn't a mistake.
"No for real,
I AM
Meant to be here."

The drive to work
Until the problem
That has been presented to me
Is solved,
At times at the expense of not dedicating time
To those close to me.
And all the while
Knowing that I

Who
Has learned to provide
Has learned to care
Has learned to persist
And focus

Would never be
In the eyes of some
The imagined son
Hoped for
When hope was sought
Struggled for
When fights were fought
Because
That some
That group
Those
Who I pass
On my journey
In my time
In this country
Chosen for me by birth
And by that

youngish couple
Who at 24 years of age
Moved to the island of Brooklyn
From the island of Puerto Rico

My hope,
My struggle,
My opportunity,
Lay in
The arms of one
Just like me….
Latino
Professional
And MALE.
I live at the intersection of hope, struggle, and opportunity!

Ronald Chaluisán Batlle is The LOFT's newest board member, to learn more about him, click here.