Extract from Migration Story:

The American Dream didn`t mean to her either “La vie en rose”, because since she has been in America, she had different challenges.

-“The communication and finding a job were the most difficult challenges that I had.” She said. English was the second language in Ivory Cost after French that is the official language. However, the English that she was taught at school wasn`t the same one as the one that is spoken in America. This was the most common problem for most people who come from African countries where English was the second language, not spoken but only written. She told me different anecdotes about her first daily communications. She only knew some basic words that she used to communicate with, but that was difficult for her to formulate a complete correct sentence to be completely understood. As a result, it was more difficult for her to understand when Americans were talking than to express herself or ask for what she needed;

-“One time I was at starbucks Coffee waiting for my turn to be served, there was a big line and when my turn had arrived, I ordered what I needed but the cashier had a hard time to understand what I was saying because of my English that was so bad, and the client behind me was laughing on my accent.” She said.

-“I also remember one time when I was taking the train for my first time, there was a young women waiting with me, I asked her to orient me for my destination. Because I didn`t understand all that she was telling me, but only part of it, I took the wrong train and went to Richmond while I supposed to go to Oakland. I know this sounds funny, but it was one of my big challenges.” She said. Looking for a job was also a big challenge for her, not only because of the language, but because of her race and origin. When she was walking in stores or especially in restaurants to look for jobs, she got refused because of her color. Also, she couldn`t find jobs because she didn`t know anyone and she didn`t have experiences.

-“People won’t offer jobs to someone stranger or they didn’t know or someone who didn’t have any experience in the field where he was looking for a job”, she said. The first year was like an adventure for her, she had many difficulties but she was grateful that her family was with her and was able to support her and her daughters.

       After big challenges, Rita got a job as a housekeeper with the help of one of her mom`s friends. She helped people cleaning their houses, and she realized how that job was hard. However, she had to do it in order to support her family. She went to adult school after that, and studied English and her communication got better. Her two daughters continued their education at school and were happy to meet other children from different nationalities. Her brother studied criminal justice because he wanted to prevent crimes in the US and he still remembered the civil war in Liberia and the way his dad was killed; he wanted to have a peaceful life.

      She finally realized her dream to become a nurse after 4 years of college; she graduated and found a job in the hospital. These days when she talks to me, she says that she couldn`t believe herself taking care of patients, a job of that she had dreamed for a long time.

-“Living in America is great; it gave me access to many opportunities that are limited in Ivory Coast and Liberia. As a result, I realized some of my dreams and feel more independent and free. I could buy a car and drive which I consider a privilege for women in Liberia. Migration taught me that it is not easy to be a woman in general in any different society or country, but if we want to realize our dreams, we need to go ahead, be independent, brave and stronger than ever.”She added.

        Last year and after several years of migration, Rita and her mother went back to Liberia passing by Ivory Coast to see her niece. She affirmed that there were big and positive changes in Liberia, either in political or social lives. The country became safer and women`s rights were more protected because there were many women organizations that were defending their rights and combating injustice, violence or aggression against them. She was satisfied to see the changes and proud to belong to her country. She felt certain nostalgia and was happy to visit the house where she grew up that reminded her of her early memories as a child.

Extract from essay 2:

            Why might an individual be mistakenly assumed to be threatening, violent, or criminal? The representations of black men in media have always been affected by historical factors like racism, ethnicity, and Jim Crow legacy. Therefore, we see negative images of African American males that are frequent in TV local news and reality shows that portray them as threatening and criminals, which impacts attitudes toward them. News stories that focus on African Americans are more likely to be about crime than are news stories that focus on whites, and the routine of portrayals suggest that they are particularly threatening and dangerous. Furthermore, these exaggerating portrayals in media show that black men are responsible for their own fates, they are also described with low achievements, criminality and broke families. Today`s media should rethink their descriptions of African Americans as criminals by showing the realities about them without consideration of the racial stereotyping. These representations not only influence the attitude and opinions of people towards them, reinforce police violence and judgments against them, they even have important impacts on their lives.

         In conclusion, reality programming and news should reconsider the place of black males in American society, because the representations that are offered about them until now serve the majority white audience and satisfy them. In addition of perpetuating the racial stereotypes and influencing people and police attitudes toward them, these represent a serious threat for their personalities and lives. Despite the progressions made after Jim Crow, I believe that a lot of work is needed in order to give this minority the place that they deserve of being considered as individuals outside of the racial believes. Since media constitute the first reference of knowledge for most people, their representations should be reflecting the realities, and journalists need to be more objectives in their descriptions in order to avoid the spread of negative and wrong stereotypes about black minorities. This is very primordial, because this affects the construction of the thoughts and believes of future generations that serve the perpetuation of the stereotypes, and affect social relationships.

 Community call to action:

        Immigrants come from all over the world looking for better opportunities for them and their families. They escape poverty, wars and unemployment dreaming of the big changes that their lives will have in the new land known as the country of freedom, equity, equal rights, peace, etc.

However, they meet different challenges in their immigration process and realize that the American Dream doesn`t exist. The idea of the American Dream is a myth and they need to work hard to reach their goals, have the life they want, the job they dreamed of, access education, and change their status. Even though, the American Dream stays far away, and not reachable because the US government put some laws that restrict immigrants from their rights and freedom.

       The US government today should reconsider their status and provide them with the same equal opportunities as Americans. They need to benefit from the equality of education and work, equal wages whatever they are documented or undocumented. They also need to be treated equally at their workplace with other residents, because they are hard workers and contribute to the grow of the US economy and maintain a dynamic society; even if they come poor and unproductive, they learn to adjust quickly with an average income equal to Americans.  The government should also reform immigration laws, which are against them, thus preventing them from accessing their rights and freedoms. These laws contribute to eliminate the negative stereotypes about them, such as the stereotypes of criminality, laziness, or increasing unemployment. Therefore, legal immigration must be reformed, so people can have access to necessary forms to become citizens, thus making it easier to visit and work.