MIGRATION STORY EXCERPT
Yen crouching down and put his head in this knees since this was the only way he felt he would have his own space and hold warmth. He couldn't tell who or what was in front of him because it was all dark and humid. Days and nights pass by and he begins to be hungry and thirsty. There was no source of food or water, and he didn't bring anything but a watch, which his dad gave to him for his twelfth birthday. Out of nowhere the boat shakes viciously and stops, there are loud voices above. It was pirates or sea thieves.
...
Six months later, Yen would find himself in a plane. He had never been in a plane before and this was the first to see such contraption put together. He didn't understand how it worked but he just followed Chi Van and her husband. Apparently, his brother-in-law's family had sponsored them to America and they were heading to Miami, Floria. Once again, Yen was lost in thought and wondered what a country known for freedom would be like, what kind of life will he have and what could his parents, Me (Mom) and Ba (Dad) would be doing right now.
October 3rd, 1978, Yen looks around with his Chi Van. This place will be their new home, in Miami. Right away, Chi van saw a "letter" that arrived in their mailbox, it was from Me. Back then, letters from overseas would take forever to arrive so there was the Western Union, where it relied on Morse Code. For Yen’s family, the price to have two words was equivalent to buying a house. A Western Union letter was expensive, however, the delivery would be faster than a regular letter. Chi Van and Yen wondered why Me would use Western Union when they could have just waited for a letter. Despite their wonders, they open the W.U. letter.
The letter read the following:
“Ba chết” (Dad died)
...
Yen walks in for his first day of class and the teacher gives him and everyone else a piece of paper. Yen staring at the paper and not knowing what it is, he leaves it blank. Everyone else seems to work the problems on the paper for the whole class period. At the end of class, everyone turned in the paper and left. Yen does the same but instead of having a written paper, his paper was blank. Yen would walk in the hallways and hear other people say something and laugh. He questioned if this was towards him or not. He wondered if this was how American schools welcome their new students. With a tap of a shoulder, a Vietnamese-American classmate told him that the people were calling Yen, “Chinese boy” and “boatie”. Those people found out where Yen lived and he would find himself opening his front door to a pile of trash every single morning. This would be Yen’s daily routine to school and he would have to clean up every single pile. He wanted to say something but he didn’t know how because when he tried, he would hear laughter and he didn’t want to try anymore. Yen thought this is the price he had to pay to come to this country for the exchange of freedom and survival.
...
The next thing Yen knew, they were packing. Chi Van and her two kids would take a plane, while Yen, Chi Van’s husband, and her oldest son would drive to California. They were going to see Anh Phuoc and they were going to build a new life in California. Chi Van’s husband was driving and Yen can feel the bumpy road. He thought this road would take a long time but there is usually never a smooth road. The bumpy roads always led somewhere and this one he was taking led to California.
ESSAY II EXCERPT
Whether it is directly, relatively, or migrating in a near or far distance, everyone in the world has some connection to migration. Migration is where an individual or a group of individuals move from one place to another. In most migration cases, many individuals have to sacrifice by leaving their belongings or family behind. Some would have to desperately sacrifice their own life. Reasons can vary depending on the situations, however, there is a common factor to migration and it is the hope for opportunities. Opportunities for a better job, living situation, adventure, government, education, or the feeling of being welcomed. All immigrants have the hope of gaining something better than their previous place could not provide for them. Just like my father who immigrated from Vietnam to the United States, he escaped from the communist government. His journey was not easy but it was for better opportunities, lifestyle, and education that could be given to him in the United States. His migration story gave me a sense of purpose and appreciation. Due to his decision and sacrifices, I am a United States citizen and I am able to make connections towards immigrants who are in the same situation as my dad when he arrived. Migration is a controversial topic in the current political climax. However, if we silenced our migrant stories, we face the inability to self-identify, release ignorance and hostility towards people, which can lead to misinterpreting what migration is truly about.
...
The reality of migration should be taught to people, in order to be open-minded, respectful, appreciative, supportive and aware of immigrants and what they have to go through in a foreign place. Being educated about migration stories can help explore the idea of migration and soon, understand the reasons why individuals choose to migrant to places. There should be organizations or programs available to help immigrants get their foundation, in order to survive in the country (Masood). For example, it can be teaching them language, help connect with job training or job recruiters, help them get an education, teach them basic things of what to do and not to do, compared to their old home. Many individuals come into countries with nothing and sometimes they can face a cycle of poverty. This can be prevented if they could be taught properly about communication and connected with sources to help them get out of that cycle. The federal or state government should support these programs as well. Due to the fact that immigrants help fill in the jobs and with more working people, it can include more people paying their taxes and consuming more goods (“Immigrants vital to U.S. Economy”). There has always been an argument that immigrants “ steal” jobs, making it harder to find jobs for others. However, it has been proven by Reihan Salam that when immigrants and/or immigrants’ children are given skills, they are seen as valuable in a dynamic market economy because the majority are recognized to be successful. Even with low-skill immigrants, they are still increasing the economy and push up the poverty line because they are demanding for low-skill labor, which can help other individuals who are in the poverty line. It boasts other communities to get jobs and some survival. Either way, the U.S. government should pay attention to providing programs that help build skills and connection. Additionally, they should understand immigrants’ situation, instead of blaming them for their problems because immigrants are the people who made up the U.S. in the first place.
HIP HOP ELEMENT
COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION
Based on research from all three essays with the theme of migration, the next steps for honoring these migrants stories is to hold value and honor to them. We have to continue our migrant stories, even the ones we hear from other people. The migrant stories of what we experience, what our parents experience, what strangers may have experience; all of these stories are meaningful and have their own experience. We should never forget our or someone’s fear and sacrifice to the migrant. We have to truly give them value and honor by passing the stories through our generation. We can bring it up in a conversation with family and friends. We can tell them as bedtime stories to our children. Whenever it is and wherever it is, there is no excuse for anyone not to bring up these migrant stories. All of them deeply embedded history that led to our current situation and beliefs. By telling their stories will tell them that the sacrifices and fear were not for nothing. It was for something. However, it is up to us to continue these stories and the messages that each one holds. After that, we will be able to give honor and value to these migrant stories.
Comments
Post a Comment