Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at the Opening of the Smithsonian’s Molina Family Latino Gallery
Washington, D.C.
Thank you, Secretary Bunch—Lonnie—and thank you for inviting me to join this celebration.
I also want to thank everyone who has made this gallery possible, especially the Molina family—Mario, Martha, John, and Josephine.
As a writing teacher, I have always believed that the stories we tell shape our world. And for too long, the story told about our country has been a simple one. Who founded it, who built it, who was responsible for its success—a smooth, straight line from 1776 to now.
But our history is not simple. It cannot be told in a bulleted list of events or grey print on a page. Our history is a tapestry as colorful and complicated as the people who make our communities unique. It is an orchestra of experiences and languages and journeys across deserts and oceans and sky. Our history is alive—a beating heart whose rhythm moves us forward each day.
Last week, I had the opportunity to give a commencement to Los Angeles City College and meet some of their students. And though the crowd was a majority Latino, they didn’t share one story. There were immigrants and first-generation Americans and Angelenos whose families went back centuries. There were engineers and artists, veterans and students who are going on to prestigious programs at four-year colleges.
They didn’t share one path or dream—but as I saw the joy in their faces, I could see that they did have something in common: Each of them will bring exceptional gifts and talents to their corner of our country—will make their community stronger by being a part of it.
Latino families want what all families want: Good educations. Good jobs. The opportunities they need to build a better life for their children. But that doesn’t mean that your perspectives and experiences aren’t unique. They are—and when you can share them with the world, we are all richer for it. We see the depth and beauty of what it truly means to be an American.
As we tell our own history, we owe it to ourselves to lift the cloth of our simple story and find the treasures hidden underneath.
That’s exactly what the Molina Family Latino Gallery is doing.
From Mexican-American families who have lived here since before our borders were set to the migrant workers who keep food on our tables today—and every Latino Cabinet Secretary and Senator, artist and activist, innovator and entertainer, teacher and trailblazer in between—this community has shaped our country since before it was a country.
You have written our laws and dismantled injustice, you have penned our poetry and painted our dreams, you have taught the children who will lead us into the future, and flown to the heavens to touch our stars.
Your story is one that we all need, no matter our background.
Because it teaches us the indomitable power of hope and persistence.
It inspires us to work harder for the world that our children deserve.
It reminds us that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite.
Latino history is American history.
The former Poet Laureate of the United States, Juan Felipe Herrera, once wrote, “We are nothing and we come from nothing, but that nothing is everything, if you feed it with love, that is why we will triumph.”
Like so many of the victories that the Latino community has won throughout the years, this gallery is a work of love.
So, thank you once again to the Molina Family and to those who have made this gallery possible. Thank you to everyone working to bring the National Museum of the American Latino to life. And thank you for the persistence, hope, and love that each of you brings to this work every day.
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