On February 9, 2015, Alecia Faith Pennington posted a video on YouTube asking the general public for help in her effort to obtain citizenship. Alecia describes in her video how she was born and raised at home, she did not have a birth certificate, she had never been in a public hospital, she had never been to the dentist, and she had never received immunizations, Pennington claims. Essentially, there was little to no proof that Alecia even existed, at least in the government’s eyes. So Alecia used the platform of media, something her parents tried to shield her from, to form her own identity in society.
Posting the video on YouTube gave her mostly moral support, but it also led her to resources. The video not only engaged viewers but it also motivated people to help her. She received helpful suggestions and the contact information of a lawyer who was interested in helping her. In order to obtain a delayed birth certificate, she needed three pieces of evidence to present to a judge in order to prove her citizenship. The only evidence Alecia had was a sworn affidavit from her grandmother swearing to be a witness at Alecia’s birth, a baptism certificate that lacked her date of birth, and a statement from a doctor from nine years prior. Before she made the video, a judge refused to grant her request due to her lack of proof of citizenship. Her parents refused to sign an affidavit to attest to her birth, which they later denied. Due to the awareness created by Alecia’s video, the state of Texas implemented a bill that would allow people to file for a delayed birth certificate in the county they were living rather than the one in which they were born. The bill also said that parents who refuse to sign an affidavit to help their child obtain a birth certificate could be charged with a misdemeanor. Eventually, Alecia successfully obtained her birth certificate.
Recently, there has been a Radiolab published with Alecia’s story, interviewing her as well as her sister getting the full scoop on her story. She explained how she was raised on a farm with her and her eight siblings that weren’t allowed any internet access until they were 18, and once they were of age they were only allowed limited access. Alecia’s parents wouldn’t allow their children to be involved in the real world in any manner. They also physically were incapable due to their lack of identification. None of them existed to the rest of the world. So even when Alecia broke free from her parent’s suffocating grasp, she was still suffocated by the choices they made for her to be invisible to the government.
Alecia’s YouTube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPtpKNyaO0U
Radiolab Podcast:
