The Immigrant

I stumbled upon Joel Bergner’s “El Inmigrante” (23^rd Street at Shotwell) by accident, and was immediately struck by how much it resembled my family’s story. Even the accidental shadow that falls tragically between the man and the woman, emphasizing optimism and reluctance, seemed to speak to the question of leaving what you know for what you wish.

The children seemed stuck in some sort of disbelief, as had my sister and I, watching other children play, perhaps concerned about what they might actually find in the big US of A.

These and similar thoughts had been the furthest thing from my mind as I approached 23^rd Street from Shotwell… and as the mural became larger to my field of view, my family’s journey to our “new world” became a vivid memory. 

Even though we came together as a family, many Cuban families were separated. Some forever.

And yet it’s clear that Bergner’s mural isn’t about the big empire and the little country that could… but about what all immigrants face and what they leave behind… The hidden fear, as seen in the woods, beneath the window, is the same fear all immigrants face at one time or another.

In time we’d discover that many of the things that were once natural to us now seemed a little alien and distant (perhaps as reflected in the man’s closed eyes) even if and when we recalled them fondly.

For me, that boogeyman hiding in the woods is a reminder that for 600 years empires have always had their eyes on Cuba… for others it could be the Immigration Department, or just the unknown…

Bergner’s mural reveals a sense of urgency that many immigrants will recognize. Discovering the mural unexpectedly, as I did, forced me to review my history and wonder about what might have been...  What if we had stayed in Cuba? What if the embargo had ended when it should have, right after the fall of the Soviet Union?

I’m not sure these reflections would have emerged in a traditional art palace after paying the fee and stepping through the metal detectors… and wondering through room after room of priceless art in pricey art frames…

About two blocks away I was then struck with an image of Cuba’s José Martí (“The Struggle Continues” by Susan R. Greene – 23^rd at Mission) that suddenly made me review the island’s long and heroic history… with black and white fighting together for self determination and independence.