“My Family’s Slave”

My+Familys+Slave

Pricilla Perez

Recently, I stumbled upon a story called “My Family’s Slave.” The article was published by The Atlantic and written by the late Alex Tizon. Tizon was a Filipino-American known for being an author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Tizon is the author of Big Little Man, “a memoir and cultural history, explores themes related to race, masculinity, and personal identity.”

My Family’s Slave was touching and absolutely mind boggling, how could a family keep such a secret for so long? Tizon writes about “Lola,” the family slave his mother had inherited from his grandfather. Tizon often referred to Lola as a grandmother who’s life was devoted to “cooking, cleaning and caring for three generations [and] asked for nothing in return.” The truth of Lola was that she was a slave to the family. “My Family’s Slave” speaks of the Tizon’s family, Lola, cultural differences, and the struggles he himself faced with his family secret. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/