Sandra Soto Beauvoir

Description

Sandra begins by talking about her background. She was born in 1961 in Washington D.C. and grew up in Hyattsville, MD, a suburb of D.C. She lived with her 2 younger sisters and parents, who were immigrants from Haiti. She talks about how her parents met and eventually moved to the D.C. area. Sandra describes her neighborhood and elementary school, St. Johns, which was a parochial school. She tells the story of only recently realizing her school was segregated. At the time, however, she didn’t realize this and enjoyed school. Her parents were very supportive and attended every school event she was involved in. She talks about how important education was to her parents and the differences in parenting style between her parents and her generation. Sandra ascribes her open-mindedness and ability to consider different perspectives to where she grew up. There weren’t that many people of color in her neighborhood, and no one knew anything about Haiti. When she started school she only spoke French and credits her time playing with kids in the neighborhood with teaching her English. Her high school, Regina High School, was more diverse. At the school she got involved in different activities and discovered things about herself, such as her inclination toward the arts and a sense of leadership. Sandra says she is not sure why her parents decided to send her to parochial schools, but that knowing what she knows now about Prince George’s County, where she grew up, she guesses the schools...

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