A Chicano from the Barrio

Miguel Ramirez-Cornejo,
Riverside, CA.

As a kid I was told that because I grew up in the barrio that I would become a cholo. I would grow up to be in a gang, do drugs, and end up in jail. I heard this from other kids and even adults. But as I grew I used those thoughts of what people though I was going to be to become what I wanted to be. Stereotypes don’t determine who you are. We control where we end up.