“Cuando yo era pequeno, yo no tenia lo que ahora tienen ustedes” -- words from my father that have heavily resonated throughout my life and still does today. My father was born in La Paz, Bolivia to my grandmother. She was of afro Bolivia descent, from a small community that descended from slaves in the mountains of Los Yungas, Bolivia. Though she was strong and intimidating, she fancied the likes of my grandfather, a white man of affluence as his family emigrated from Spain in the early 1900’s. A man who even at 87 years old, could still recount stories of opulence and remind you of how the shade of his skin made all the “cholitas” fawn over him. From this whirlwind romance, my father was born; a beautiful caramel child whose birth into this world was the beginning of an identity crisis marred with hunger, poverty, and the sheer will to survive. My father was also born into an era of extreme political turmoil, a time when revolutionary Che Guevara was planting the seeds of socialism in Bolivia. My father was born a fusion of black and white in an era where socialism was gripping his country, coupled with a childhood riddled with hunger, fear, and abandonment, this created the backdrop to the narrative of my life. Socialism is built on the premise of fairness, but what was it about this fervent desire to make life fair, it robs your offspring of the most basic elements of peace. That is why I study psychology – in a bid to find the necessary language and evidence to bring to my father so he can understand that his children shouldn’t have had to suffer in their childhood because he didn’t have one. How did my Bolivian identity influence my field of study you say? – Well, it dictated it. After visiting Bolivia several times, I observed military officers and generals with their watchful eyes ready to enforce the ‘law’ in the case of any indiscretion. I saw my father materialized in these men as they donned prim suits with badges and buttons, ready to wield the baton of ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’. In the words of Gustave Le Bon, author of The Psychology of Socialism “Socialism consists of a synthesis of beliefs, aspirations, and ideas of reform which appeals profoundly to the mind. Governments fear it, legislators manipulate it, nations behold in it the dawn of happier destinies.” In my childhood, my father was God, government, and legislator, all while I just sat agonizingly awaiting the day, I would finally be happy, and finally after having paid my ‘dues’ in life, feel deserving of this happiness. I chose this career to heal myself, to self-advocate. I want to be an activist and help my father and the Bolivian community deconstruct the long-standing phycological damage created by this failed socialist revolution. I would like to help my community deconstruct racism and colorism and help bridge the socioeconomic gaps that perpetuate the very ideals that keep this toxic mentality alive. I want to lead with empathy and create an environment of fairness that is not rooted in making others feel guilty about their success but celebrate it while creating opportunities for children from statistically disadvantaged communities. I want my father to know, that it is possible to heal and thus spare your children from being the sacrificial lambs to a generational socialist curse. Seek fairness, peace, knowledge, and mental health. For, great social movements and revolutions need only one match to light the fires of dissent.