Lulú Martínez

My brother, mother, & I followed my father from Mexico City to Chicago in 1993 with aspirations for a better future. I was 2 years old. after twenty-two years, my parents struggle to make ends meet. My father’s hands are scarred & stained from years of long hours of manual labor as a car mechanic. My mother cleans homes despite the minimal pay & long shifts. They sacrifice so that my brother & I can survive, eat and access education. We were raised believing that education & personal agency are vehicles to overcome and transform a life lived in the shadows. This deeply rooted seed has pushed me to build community with other undocumented folks. And it is for this reason that I can say:

My name is Lulú & I am queer, undocumented & unafraid!

The Butterfly postcard campaign was developed by the UIC Latino Cultural Center in collaboration with student organizations Fearless Undocumented Alliance and Heritage Garden Student Group that highlights the parallels between the migration of people and Monarch butterflies across national borders.