A funny and poignant memoir about how as a teenager, TV writer Rafael Agustin (Jane The Virgin) accidentally discovered he was undocumented and how that revelation turned everything he thought he knew about himself and his family upside down.
Growing up, Rafa’s parents didn't want him to feel different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." But when he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school, his parents were forced to reveal his immigration status. Suddenly, the kid who modeled his entire high school career after American TV shows had no idea what to do — there was no episode of Saved by the Bell where Zack gets deported! While his parents were relieved to no longer live a lie in front of their son, Rafa found himself completely unraveling in the face of his uncertain future.
Illegally Yours is a heartwarming, comical look at how this struggling Ecuadorian immigrant family bonded together to navigate Rafa's school life, his parents' work lives, and their shared secret life as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. From using the Ricky Martin/Jennifer Lopez “Latin Explosion” to his social advantage in the ‘90s to how his parents—doctors in their home country of Ecuador—were reduced to working menial jobs in the US, the family's secret became their struggle, and their struggle became their hustle. An alternatingly hilarious and touching exploration of belonging and identity, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?
ISBN-13: 9781538705957
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: 07-11-2023
Pages: 304
Product Dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.78(d)
Rafael Agustin was a writer on the award-winning The CW show Jane The Virgin. He is a Sundance Fellow for his TV family comedy Illegal, based on his life as a formerly undocumented American. Agustin co-created and co-starred in the national touring, award-winning autobiographical comedy N*gger Wetb*ck Ch*nk, which received acclaim from the LA Times, New York Times, and Denver Post, and won awards for its advancement of social justice in the arts. He serves as CEO of the Latino Film Institute (LFI), where he oversees the Youth Cinema Project, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), and LatinX in Animation. In 2018, LA Weekly named Agustin one of the fifty most essential people in Los Angeles. In 2021, Agustin was appointed to the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress. Agustin received his BA and MA from UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television and is an alumnus of the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase.
Table of Contents
Prologue 1
American Ninja 5
Field of Dreams 33
Doctors with Borders 45
Oliver Stone's Office 55
Don't Speak Spanish 63
Alien Life Form 75
April 29, 1992 87
Nuthin' but a G Thang 95
A Dog Named Monsieur 103
Under the Table 109
Becoming Zack Morris 123
The Big News 135
Rolling Papers 141
The American Revolution 147
The Illegal Presidency 153
Campus Ministry 159
Free Rafa 167
Machismo Facade 177
Stuck in Tijuana 189
Ma and Pa Kent 197
How to Disappoint Your Immigrant Parents without Trying 209
Affirmative Action Cookie Sale 223
The Old Man and the Parking Lot 235
The Deported 245
The Comedy with the Name Nobody Wants to Say 253
Guy in Kentucky 263
Tom Bradley International 269
George Washington's Right-Hand Man 273
Epilogue 279
Acknowledgments 285
