Oral Histories

Interview of Anabel Anon

Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Member of California Domestic Worker’s Alliance and Grupo Almas, a women’s collective in Santa Rosa, California.
Series:
Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness
Topic:
Environmental Illness
Social Movements
Biographical Note:
Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Member of California Domestic Worker’s Alliance and Grupo Almas, a women’s collective in Santa Rosa, California.
Interviewer:
LeGresley, Megan and Encinas, Abraham
Interviewee:
Anon, Anabel
Persons Present:
Session One: Anon and LeGresleySession Two: Anon and Encinas
Place Conducted:
Each interview was conducted using the Zoom video conferencing platform
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
Session 1: This interview was conducted by Megan LeGresley, an undergraduate student researcher, for the Center for the Study of Women, major in Economics and Political Science. She was a member of the 2018-2019 Chemical Entanglements Undergraduate Student Group. and Session 2: This interview was conducted by Abraham Encinas, a graduate student researcher, for the Center for the Study of Women, and PhD student in English, UCLA. Abraham’s dissertation focuses on novels of dictatorship in 20th century Latinx and Asian American literature.
Processing of Interview:
Each interviewer prepared for the interview by reading a pre-interview questionnaire completed by the narrator.
Length:
1.25 hrs
Language:
Spanish
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Audio:
Series Statement:
Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness is a collection of interviews with over seventy individuals living in the U.S. and Canada whose family history, occupation, art practice, or activism have brought them into direct contact with illness experience and disability related to chronic, low-dose exposure to toxicant chemicals. The procurement of this collection (from March 2019 through September 2020) was sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women under the directorship of Rachel C. Lee, with interviews conducted by six undergraduates, five graduate students, two career staff, and two faculty members at CSW.
Note:
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Introduction--Has worked more than three years with the Coalition and became more involved in February--Feels people do not value their rights as women and men--Identifies as a middle-class Hispanic woman from Mexico--Father has always worked in agriculture in Mexico--Grows up in a humble adobe house--Remembers fresh smells and food her mother cooked--Good experience in school with her friends; earned good grades--Immigrates to the United States when she is fifteen years old--First works in childcare--Describes how chemicals affect them especially after many years of cleaning houses--Feels weak and has difficulty breathing--Both workers and employers prefer green products--Takes Claritin and Tylenol for her symptoms--Describes cleaning burned-out houses--Husband has lymphatic cancer--Little work during the pandemic--Hopes employers and workers feel safe because the economic impacts are problematic particularly for those who are undocumented and who therefore cannot receive federal or state aid--Also reacts to perfume--Conclusion
Introducción--Nace en Michoacán y emigra a los Estados Unidos cuando tiene quince años--Trabaja por compañías que usan químicos fuertes sin protecciones--Vive en Santa Rosa donde su esposo trabaja en la agricultura de uvas--Quiere compartir su historia de limpiando hospitales quemados por los incendios de 2017 en el condado de Sonoma, de nuevo sin protección adecuada--Muchas personas no tenían trabajos por los incendios, así que contestan avisos en Facebook para limpiar--Las personas sin papeles son las más afectadas--No tienen desempleo y también no tienen seguro médico cuando desarrollan enfermedades--Sus síntomas incluyen irritación de ojos y de garganta--No puede usar productos como Clarasol o perfumes, así que usa jabón y vinagre con limón--No paga por una medicina cara para sus alergias, solamente toma Claritin--No trabaja por demasiadas horas en los campos por los químicos que están en las uvas--Toma mucho en cuenta para su salud; por ejemplo, mantiene una casa fresca--Lucha con ALMAS, la Colectiva de Mujeres, el Centro Laboral de Graton, y la Coalición de Trabajadores para leyes como la SB-1257--Es motivada por la igualdad de los grupos; no importa el sexo, el color, el idioma, la edad, etcétera--Asiste una reunión de muchas trabajadoras en Las Vegas--Cree que la falta de medicamento tiene un efecto más grande en su salud que su género--Sabe que necesitamos una reforma migratoria nacional y también que su organización les apoye en una manera con incentivos económicos--Logísticas y conclusión