Growing up in the Philippines, Kevin Aliado imagined America as the “promised land”, a place of joy, prosperity and endless opportunity.
In 2004, at the age of 12, he and his mother moved to Las Vegas, where she had landed a job as a nurse. On the long flight to his new country, “I felt like I was going to heaven,” Aliado said.
But his immigration story was complicated, marked by racism, bullying and a sense of isolation.
Although he became successful, graduated from Stanford University and worked in technology, Aliado felt unmoored. Recently, he realised he wanted a different kind of career, one that would allow him to use his own experiences to help other immigrants.
On Wednesday, 25 October, Aliado and four other first- and second-generation immigrants will share their stories on stage at Sacramento State’s Hinde Auditorium. The 6-8 p.m. event is free and open to the public.
“Immigrant Stories” is presented by the nonprofit group Capital Storytelling, founded in 2018 by Sac State associate professor of child and adolescent development Lisa Cantrell, and the university’s Dreamer Resource Center, which serves undocumented students.
Research has shown that listening to personal stories can lead to more positive perceptions of refugees, transgender people, the homeless and others who have been marginalised by society. Wednesday’s event will help the storytellers process their own immigrant stories and give the audience a chance to better understand their backgrounds and experiences, Cantrell said.
“When you hear someone tell their story, you see parts of yourself in that person and you empathise with them,” she said. “It’s that connection that has the power to change your perspective on the world.”
The event is the culmination of a series of storytelling workshops held on campus and in the community. The effort has received funding from a Sac State Anchor Grant, the California Arts Council and the city’s Office of Arts and Culture. It is sponsored by CapRadio.
Aliado will talk about his transition from life in the Philippines to Las Vegas, then the Bay Area and finally Sacramento. Others will share stories of immigration from Mexico, Vietnam, China and India.
“We all have common experiences, no matter where we grew up,” Aliado said.
After he and his mother arrived in the United States, Aliado was the target of bullying at school and experienced overt racism, he said. But he persevered, earning a degree in bioengineering from Stanford and later working in a variety of technology jobs.
In recent years, Aliado felt an urge to “serve my community in a much more direct way,” he said.
“Making a lot of money and planning for retirement just didn’t feel like my purpose.”
Now he plans to return to school to become a mental health therapist, with a focus on helping immigrants.
He discovered Capital Storytelling after moving to Sacramento last year and hearing about workshops for immigrants.
“I wanted the space to talk about my childhood traumas and my journey and get the tools to do it,” he said of the workshops, which are held at the Latino Center of Art & Culture. “It turned out to be a big part of my healing process.”
Aliado will share some of his key experiences as a new immigrant at Wednesday’s event, including his first impressions of America, his first day of school and his struggles to adapt to a new culture.
“Immigrating to a new country can be the loneliest feeling ever,” he said.
“I just want people to know that whatever they are going through, they are not alone. There is help out there, and everything is going to be OK.”
