Interview, Yversha Roman

Yversha Roman was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1984. She lived there until she was five years old, when she moved to Rochester, New York, with her mother and sister. She began her elementary education at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School No. 9 and attended school there until the end of fifth grade, at which time her mother moved her into Catholic school. She graduated from the Aquinas Institute of Rochester and went on to attend Nazareth College, where she received a degree in social work. At the time of this interview she is a Monroe County legislator, the first Latina to be elected to this position.

In this interview, Yversha Roman discusses the differences she noticed between her community at home and the community she went to school in, code switching between these two environments, and her relationship with her family. She explains her relationship with religion, her heavy involvement with the church when she was younger, and how that led to her choice of careers. She also discusses the discrimination she has faced, her experiences with the Latino community in Rochester, and her goals for the future.