Daisy Garcia Montoya
Daisy Garcia Montoya
Education Reporter
A neighborhood rich in diversity, the Historic Northeast has often remained a landing place for immigrant families —first Italians, then Vietnamese, Somali, Guatemalan and Mexican — all adding their culture and experiences to the foundation of this community.
For many Northeast residents, protecting their cultural identity in a home away from home is a daily experience and challenge as they further integrate into a diverse community and work to keep their heritage alive.
Recognizing this phenomenon, Mexican-born Author Andres Zorrero Lara wrote “Como ser Mexicano y no morir en el Intento” (How to be Mexican and not die in the process) — his first published book where he unpacks the richness of Mexican culture and traditions and expresses to readers the importance of pride in their roots. In a love letter to everything it means to be Mexican, Zorrero Lara shares Mexican culture through jokes, classic dishes, music and more.
Zorrreo Lara said one of his many inspirations for this novel was the many Mexicans who no longer live in Mexico and how they may struggle with staying connected to their own traditions. Additionally, his own love for Mexico and everything from the values, humor and way of life of a Mexican further influenced his writing to create something that expresses the pride and fascination with his roots.
“My thought process was to imagine that I live outside Mexico and my children are also born elsewhere, and how I would go about transferring to them a bit of our culture,” Zorrero Lara said. “I also wanted to remind people to never forget the grandness of our culture, our values and all the richness we can find amongst it.”
Although this book is unique to the Mexican experience, the importance of conserving one’s culture is a common experience among residents of the Northeast neighborhoods.
“Culture is intrinsic to the human, we can’t detach ourselves from it. For example, on Noche Buena (Christmas Eve), we do things simply for the fact that it’s a date we are accustomed to doing certain traditions, and that is culture,” Zorreo Lara said. “Sometimes we are unaware of why we do certain things, and I think this book explains why we do and how keeping those traditions alive enriches our experiences.”
Through the Sister Cities Association of Kansas City (KC Sister Cities Committee) and Associate Chair and Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Alberto Villamandos Zorrero Lara was able to bring his work to Kansas City.
Villamandos often helps and contributes with the KC Sister City committee outside of his work on UMKC’s faculty. One of Kansas City’s sister cities includes Guadalajara, Mexico — Zorrero Lara’s hometown.
As Zorrero Lara searched for feedback and completed his book, he sought out the KC Sister Cities Committee, which eventually led to him connecting with Villamandos.
Once his book was finished, this connection led Zorrero Lara to fly from Guadalajara to Kansas City, where he presented at UMKC to students as well as engaged with readers of the Northeast community through an event in late March with the Latinx Education Collaborative (LEC) and Revolution Educativa (RevED), where he continued to share insights on his book and the Mexican experience.
Villamandos said that these events and this bilingual book also provided families with an opportunity to think about literature and they can bring this education into their families.
“Families can make reading and literature a family matter, especially when we talk about reading in Spanish and helping conserve that. Literature can also serve as a way to help us emotionally through personal moments by giving us words and especially in this current climate, allow us to learn to be more empathic,” Villamandos said.
Even though the book is catered toward the Mexican experience, Villamandos shared that through books like these, literature and recognizing the different sister cities relationships that Kansas City has, it can show residents and others alike the importance of the different cultures within our communities.
“Kansas City is welcoming and nice, we have many cultures that exist but we still sometimes live separately and don’t see what all is there. These experiences can show us to be open to what is here, meet new people and travel, and appreciate other cultures,” Villamandos said.
Zorrero Lara said he hopes to return to Kansas City in the near future to continue to share more about his book and future projects.
When asked what he would like readers to take away from his book, Zorrero Lara said, happiness.
“It is wonderful for people to recognize that ‘their’ people are great and to feel that pride for your country and origins,” he said. “For those who aren’t Mexican, we want to Mexican-ize you and welcome you into our world to get a further understanding.”
For people wanting to learn more about Andres Zorrero Lara and his book, visit @pkcalendarios on social media.
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