Middle Schoolers Highlight Immigrant Experiences

“The fact that the United States has so much involvement in so many of these issues makes us responsible; it has to. We have to take responsibility for the people who are suffering through these situations.”   It all started when I visited Ms. Yurshansky’s solo exhibition—with a pamphlet in hand, and unsure of what to expect. For the past two years, I have only known Ms. Yurshansk...

In 1979, a revolution in Iran drastically changed the way of life for many of the people living there. The war between Iraq and Iran made conditions in Iran even worse. Strict adherence to the Muslim religion was enforced by the new regime, which became an Islamic republic, led by Khomeini. Children were conscripted into the army, and any male over the age of 12 could not leave.  Cyrus Hoomani w...

“America is the place that provides many people—including immigrants like myself—a place for safety, security, and passion.”    Maksym Kapitanchuk, my world-renowned ballroom dance teacher, sat in front of the screen, wearing a huge, black, high-necked jacket that masked his competition clothes. His warm and gentle smile poured through the screen and lit up my face like kind rays of...

Sean Ky Lord has the spirit of a fiery warrior wrapped up in the petite body of a teenager. Every single inch of her five-foot-one athletic frame is feisty! Born in Cambodia during a bitter civil war, she is alive today through a combination of luck, happenstance, and her unbending determination. Her very survival and immigration to America is a hero’s journey consisting of hair-raising plot twists, br...

Imagine you’re in an airy room with plants visible through the windows, shelves glittering with figures and pictures, and art hanging from almost every wall. Sitting down to tell her tale, Neena, with help from her son Biren, shared her experiences with me.  Having left behind her family and childhood home in India at the age of 42, it was her choice to come to the United States.  Althou...

“In Mexico, I was Mexican. I never really thought about it; in Honduras, I was Honduran and that was it. But, here in the U.S, I learned how to be Latino.” Justin Funez immigrated to the U.S. when he was 16 years old, but his journey began many years earlier. When Justin was just nine years old, he immigrated with his parents and older brother to Mexico from Honduras for better opportunities...

Ms. Millie Cao, a 2019 Oscar Nominee for the documentary film “Walk, Run, Cha-Cha” sat elegantly by the small table in Lai Lai Studio. When I asked my first question, “What does America mean to you?” Millie answered with a warm smile that lit up the whole room. “America is a place of rebirth, a place of opportunity,” she told me.  In 1975, the Communist government of North Vietnam decl...