The Maid's Daughter - Ch. 6 Making A Home

Ch. 6 entitled Making A Home, we see Olivia finally come into her own as an adult. Olivia lived with the Smith’s from age 3-18. She is at a point in her life where she can process and come to terms with her upbringing. Love it or hate it, this was her life and she learned to embrace both the good and the bad. Dr. Romero spent over 25 years interviewing Olivia, and this provided Olivia insight into her life.

We see Olivia blossoming into a political activist, a Democrat with liberal views. The last few chapters, Olivia recalls Mr. Smith giving her grief over her opposing political views. He criticized the fact that they spent thousands of dollars on her education and now she’s using it “against them”, at least in his view. Nevertheless, Olivia is self-aware of her advantages growing up, and instead uses this privilege to help her own community. The Smiths did give her a cultural capital not offered to all children of hard working immigrants. Olivia’s Chicano community wonders how she has so much pull, contacts and network. She understands that without the Smith’s, this would not be available, yet I can’t help but realize that she inherited her mother’s network and business savvy. Olivia has been a liaison helping her community since she was a child. Maybe this was something she never asked for, but she was able to develop that skill and do the same work or help on a grander level.

This book has furthered my love for qualitative research. I find it pretty epic that this project lasted over 25 years! The dedication on both the researcher and participant inspires me to continue this kind of work that I never knew existed, to help bring society’s viewpoints into recognition. I’m especially impressed by the books we read this semester, all important narratives from women of color, demonstrating their agency and Feminism. These are the voices that need to be heard and I hope that I can contribute and become a part of it. Thank you Professor Casso! Your classes have reopened a love for writing in me that I thought disappeared years ago, you’re an amazing educator!