Photo by Chad Brady.
Irasema Coronado is ASU School of Transborder Studies director and professor. Her area of specialization is the politics of the U.S.-Mexico border region, focusing on women in politics, immigration, human rights, and environmental policy. Before sitting on a panel for the Zócalo program “Are the U.S. and Mexico Becoming One Country?”—presented with Universidad de Guadalajara at LéaLA book fair at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes—she chatted with us in the green room about crossing the border to go to the movies as a kid, the author Isabel Allende, and the most important year of her life.
You just came back from a trip. Where were you?
In Lisbon. I was there for a conference, a meeting of the International Political Science Association Executive Council. What I liked about Lisbon was that you can get anywhere you need to be in a short time. There’s not much traffic. The weather was beautiful, and they’re close to the ocean.
Who was your childhood hero?
My parents, because they were social activism champions, very committed to the well-being of the community, and their spirit of generosity and their volunteer work in the community really inspired all of my brothers, my sister, and I to do good for our community.
Tell us about where you grew up.
I grew up in Nogales, Arizona. Back in the day, it was a very integrated, binational, bilingual, bicultural community, and people would cross the border five, six times a day. It was a very different experience than what it is now. And so I really had the benefit of living a very enriched life because of that mobility; we had that ease of movement between the two countries. And so you would have breakfast in Nogales, Sonora, come back home to Nogales, Arizona. Go catch a movie [in Nogales, Sonora], because Nogales, Arizona, did not have a movie theater. All of the movies that I ever saw as a child were in a movie theater in Nogales, Sonora.
What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
It’s got to be Thanksgiving. What I like about it is that it kind of informs my upbringing as living with gratitude and compassion and how fortunate you are to have what you have. When my mother would explain to our Mexican Mexican friends and our Mexican Mexican family—it’s el dia de dar gracias. It’s the day to be thankful for what you have. I think that was part of why I think it’s so special. And with leftover turkey? You make enchiladas. And you have to have salsa with turkey. You just can’t have gravy, right?
What’s the last great book you read?
Isabel Allende just wrote The Wind Knows My Name. It is a beautiful, beautiful book. It starts in Austria with a young Jewish boy and his life is falling apart because of World War II. It deals with having to leave your home country. It deals with his migration subsequently to the United States, but then it brings in a family from El Salvador during the massacre of El Mozote in the 1980s. It’s about how this Jewish Austrian gentleman and this family from El Salvador intersect in the Bay Area. It deals with the profound human experience.
Who’s your favorite musician right now?
I really like Andrea Bocelli. There’s a spiritual kind of aura to this music. Celine Dion said that when God sings, he sounds like Andrea Bocelli. I don’t know if you’ve heard him sing in Spanish, but it’s just great.
What was one of the most important years of your life?
When I had my daughter, because you are giving life, and your whole consciousness changes. I remember putting her in the car going from the hospital to our home, and I’m like, Oh, my God, I have to fix the world.