Alfredo — See Me Because

I started my life in Buffalo, NY. Then, we moved to Massachusetts, Tennessee, Florida, and then, Milwaukee. I’ve lived in the hood my whole life. My siblings are Malik, Brenda, Elmer, José, Jesus, Moses, and one other brother that’s part of my dad’s side. I’m 15, and I’m in the middle. The younger ones get a lot of attention and the older ones ask for help. Sometimes, I feel ignored. Recently, I feel like my mom is listening to me more.

I used to want to be a professional mechanic. If not, an engineer. Because in my family, we work on cars. My parents don’t like new technology, so we always work on old cars that don’t have computers, like the Toyota Corolla 1997, stuff like that. My uncles and my dad taught me. The most advanced thing I work on is the transmission. One time, I messed up my dad’s engine. I think I put the pieces loose, and I guess it broke off. He had to buy a whole new engine. I think he knew what was going to happen. My uncle’s car was a BMW. I set the pistons and the breaks. I did those good. I was thinking of going to Mech-Tech in Florida, because that’s where my dad and my uncle studied. My dad tried to go in the military, but he doesn’t speak English. We’re Puerto Rican. Instead, he went to Mech-Tech.

Another side to me is I love fashion. I love styling and taking self-portraits of different looks I put together with colors, patterns, and prints. In this project, I designed a logo for a streetwear brand called “Brotherhood.” Me and my friends are like that - always there for each other like brothers. I imagine starting small with that logo and making it bigger and bigger.

Milwaukee, 2019