'Simply Maria' by Josefina Lopez: Struggling with Cultural Identity

The Power of Stories is an archive of projects submitted every year to Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Statewide Convening. It showcases work created throughout California highlighting the power of individual and collective efforts to promote health and demonstrates how stories have the power to re-imagine and transform our communities. Produced in partnership with the California Endowment.

Project submitted by: Casa 0101

Project summary: This play, written by Josefina Lopez who emigrated from Mexico at age 5, tells of the difficulty immigrant communities face living in two cultures, trying to adapt to a new one, while retaining aspects of the old one.

BHC site: Boyle Heights

"Simply Maria" is a play about Maria who recounts her emigration from Mexico at age 5 to the City of Angels, that she thought was up in heaven. She experiences culture shock arriving in downtown Los Angeles where her father is waiting for her. As she goes through high school she is pulled in two different directions, one that empowers her to get an education and go to college, another to find a good husband and be a housewife.

Ms. Lopez was 17 when she wrote the play. It uplifts historically marginalized communities (poor, undocumented etc.) and supports youth, as they become voices of change and hope in their community.