Category Archives: Immigrants

“Immigrant Song” – Poem by Korean-American Poet Sun Yung Shin

02 Sunday Jul 2017

Posted by in Immigrants, Poetry, United States

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Happy Fourth of July America

My Poetry Corner July 2017 features the poem “Immigrant Song” by Sun Yung Shin, a Korean-American poet, writer, and educator. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she was one year old when an American couple adopted her. Raised in Chicago, she later moved to Minneapolis where she earned a BA in English from Macalester College and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of St. Thomas. She teaches at Macalester College and lives with her husband and their two children. 

When asked about her relationship with the English language in an interview with Lightsey Darst for Minnesota Artists (January 2016), Sun Yung Shin said that strangers often question her ability to speak English without a “foreign” accent. Her fluency and sense of belonging as an Asian American offend them.

Shin’s opening verses in “Immigrant Song” from her poetry collection, Skirt Full of Black (winner of the 2007 Asian American Literary Award for Poetry), express the restraints she faces to achieve her full potential as a human being. Continue reading →

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“Destination” – Poem by Guyanese-Canadian Poet Janet Naidu

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Guyana, Immigrants, Poetry

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East Indian Indentured Laborers

In commemoration of the centennial of the abolition of Indian Indentureship on March 12, 1917, my Poetry Corner May 2017 features the poem “Destination” by Janet Naidu, a Guyanese-born poet, writer, social activist, and life-skills coach. She migrated to Canada in 1975, at the age of twenty-two, where she obtained a BA in Political Science and Caribbean Studies from the University of Toronto and, later in life, an LLB from the University of London (UK).

With the abolition of slavery in 1834 and the end of the apprenticeship scheme in 1838, the mass exodus of ex-slaves from plantations across the British Empire created a dire need for a regular and reliable supply of labor. On May 5, 1838, the first group of about 400 Indian indentured laborers, on a five-year contract, arrived in British Guiana on the sailing ships, Whitby and Hesperus. By 1917, their numbers totaled over 238,000 Indians, comprising 42 percent of the colony’s population. Only 65,538 returned to India on terminating their contract. Janet Naidu’s grandparents from Tamil Nadu were among those who arrived on the SS Ganges on November 8, 1915.

Sailships Whitby and Hesperus arriving at Port Georgetown - British Guiana - May 5, 1838

Born in the village of Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara, Naidu was the seventh of eight children. Like his parents, her father was a cane cutter. Her mother sold home-grown, green vegetables in the market.

In “Destination” from her poetry collection, Rainwater (2005), Naidu conjures the immigrants’ fearsome voyage across the ocean for an unknown destination. Continue reading →

Making America Great Again?

30 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by in Immigrants, United States

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USA Map showing Poverty Rate for Total Population by County 2013

Map of USA showing Poverty Rate for Total Population by County 2013
Source: The Washington Post

Here in the United States, there is a presidential candidate, a businessman-turned-politician, who is leading the polls for his political party. I prefer not to name him; he feeds on media coverage, good or bad. I’ll call him PC. The slogan of his campaign is “Make America Great Again.”

PC promises to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants living in the USA. In his estimation, most of the illegal immigrants from Mexico are criminals. For readers who don’t already know, his solution is to build a wall along our border with Mexico and have the Mexican government pay for it, because they are making lots of money doing business with the U.S. Will building a wall to shut us in from Mexico and the rest of Central America make us great again? Continue reading →

Nell Vera Lowe Williams: A “Fierce” Caribbean Woman

16 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by in Family Life, Immigrants, People, Relationships

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Nell Vera Lowe Williams - Jamaica - 1940s

Nell Vera Lowe Williams (1918-2006)
Jamaica – 1940s
Photo Credit: Finding Samuel Lowe

On August 1, 2015, I met author and entrepreneur Paula Williams Madison at the Leimert Park Book Fair in Los Angeles. What a surprise to learn that our grandfathers were both Hakka Chinese immigrants to the Caribbean!

Born in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrants, Madison is the youngest of three siblings. Her memoir, Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem, recounts her quest to find her maternal Chinese grandfather. At the heart of her riveting journey is her mother, Nell Vera Lowe Williams.

My connection with Nell Vera Lowe was immediate and intense. I saw the multitude of Caribbean women who fight against all odds for their place in the sun, raising their children to become achievers. I saw my mother. I saw myself. Continue reading →

Celebrating Caribbean American Heritage

14 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by in Immigrants, United States

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Map CARICOM Member States

Map of CARICOM Member States
Source: Your US-Brazil Trade Assist

Since 2006 by annual presidential proclamation, June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month in recognition of the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants to the history and culture of the United States. As President Obama said in his Proclamation on May 29, 2015:

Caribbean Americans have shaped the course of our country since the earliest chapters of our history, and they continue to drive our Nation to realize the promise of our founding.  During National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we honor the courage and perseverance of the Caribbean-American community, and we rededicate ourselves to building opportunity and protecting human rights for all our citizens. Continue reading →

When will we learn?

27 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Human Behavior, Immigrants, Save Our Children, United States

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American Protesters in Murrieta

Illegal Immigration or a Humanitarian Crisis?
American Protesters against influx of Central American Refugees
Murrieta – California – July 2014
Photo Credit: Politicus USA

 

Our choices, our behavior, our actions have consequences. Some good. Some bad. Some consequences take more than a lifetime for manifestation. That’s why it’s important to study history. History that distorts the truth is useless and harmful for learning.

In high school, I hated studying history. I saw no connection to my life. I finally get it. Everything that’s assailing us today has its roots in the distant and recent past. Not only have America’s foreign policies supported dictatorship governments that heap hardships upon their citizens, but we also have trade policies that affect local economies and peoples’ livelihood.

Consider the current overwhelming number of unaccompanied refugee children arriving at America’s southwest borders. The majority of them are fleeing gang and state violence in their homelands in Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These three developing countries are part of the six-nation CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement with the United States, fully implemented in 2006.

Inconsequential? Coincidental?

The world we live in is of our own making. We set the course decades ago. Securing our borders with more troops will not resolve the humanitarian crisis we helped to spawn. Continue reading →

The Dream Act: Freeing Undocumented Youth to Contribute to US Economic Growth – Part 2

29 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Immigrants, United States

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Source: eduinreview.com

The Dream Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) was first introduced in the US Senate in 2001. Under this Act, only immigrants who entered the United States at ages 15 and under, and have completed elementary and secondary education in the US will qualify for citizenship. But it is no give-away of Green Cards.

Under the rigorous provisions of the Dream Act, qualifying undocumented youth would be eligible for a 6 year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service (dreamact.info).

Moreover, the Dream Act does not require states to provide any benefits to undocumented students, nor does it make these students eligible for federal financial aid (naca.net.org).

In a December 2010 Report, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation calculated that approval of the Dream Act would reduce US deficits by about $1.4 billion over the period 2011-2020 and increase government revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years (cbo.gov).

Legalizing workers increases income tax revenues. Also, incomes generally increase for college-degree workers, thereby increasing tax revenues. Yet, when re-introduced in May 2011, the bill failed to pass.

So why is there gridlock on passing this legislation? Mostly fear as far as I can see:

  • Fear that more people will illegally invade the United States.
  • Fear that rampant fraud will infiltrate the application process for citizenship.
  • Fear that competition will increase for limited places in public universities and community colleges.
  • Fear that illegal parents of qualifying minors will gain “backdoor amnesty.”

Perhaps, there is also another fear, not publicized:

  • Fear that cheap, undocumented workers willing to break their backs and work long hours on our farms and in our factories will evaporate.

I do not know the answer to our immigration conundrum. In the hands of our politicians, it becomes a sword and a palm leaf. My fears about migrating to Brazil, and later to the United States, can fill this page. The majority of those fears did not materialize.

As a former international trade professional, I know that while our trade practices benefit American corporations, they impoverish small farmers and producers. Evidence abound that our NAFTA and CAFTA free trade agreements have increased poverty in Mexico and Central America.

People facing starvation and, in some cases, death under dictatorship governments supported by giant corporations will penetrate national borders.

I applaud California Governor Jerry Brown in taking the first positive step of dealing with the needs of our undocumented immigrant youth. The California Dream Act, signed in October 2011 and effective on 1 January 2013, will qualify them for state-funded financial aid for college. To take advantage of these benefits, they must prove they are in the process of legalizing their immigration status.

At last, there is hope for Antonio and thousands like him who live among us. I would like to think that some day, as a mathematics teacher, Antonio will inspire his students to achieve great things for America.

The Dream Act: Freeing Undocumented Youth to Contribute to US Economic Growth

22 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Immigrants, United States

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Source: ColorLines.com

When my husband and I left Guyana to start a new life in Brazil, our sons had no say in our decision. They were only two and four years old. Fleeing our oppressive government, my husband and I sought a more secure environment for them.

Millions of parents make a similar decision for their children’s well-being. Wars, famines, natural disasters, drug violence, ethnic or religious persecution, and other life-threatening situations force adults to migrate with or without their children to other countries.

The United States, still the planet’s top economy and world power, was built by immigrants. That this nation continues to attract more immigrants attests to its greatness and promise of liberty and law.

My family and I were blessed to be living in Brazil when President Sarney passed the Amnesty Decree-Law, allowing illegal and other immigrants with irregular status to apply for permanent residence. How different our lives would have been if we had continued to live in the shadows! Today, I would not be in a position to share my experience and knowledge of the Brazil market. To make a difference, however small, in another person’s life is of great importance. For this we are born: to contribute our talents and skills for the betterment of our community, our nation, and our planet. This gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

Two years ago at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, I met a Guatemalan man in his early twenties. I will call him Antonio. While Antonio and I sat next to each other waiting for an author presentation, we chatted about our writing interests and about our origins. While I am often mistaken for a Latino, my accent gives away my Caribbean origin. Antonio said I sounded like one of his friends from Belize. I hear that a lot.

Antonio is a poet and essayist with a fascination for mathematics. He was attending a writing course as well as classes in advance mathematics. Having successfully completed high school, he dreamed of going to college to become a mathematics high school teacher.

“What’s preventing you from pursuing your dream?” I asked.

“I don’t have documents,” Antonio said in a low voice.

“How did you go to high school without documents?”

As my sons had already completed high school in Brazil, I have little knowledge of the US education system in relation to immigrants. Antonio explained that while undocumented students can attend elementary and secondary schools, they need documents to attend college.

“We are fighting to get the Dream Act passed by Congress,” Antonio said. “It’s the only way we can further our education and get good jobs.”

Like my sons, Antonio had left his country of birth at a very young age. He had had no say in his parents’ decision to illegally enter the United States. According to the Dream Act Portal (dreamact.info), about 65,000 young people share Antonio’s fate. They see themselves as Americans and want to be recognized as such.

To be continued next week…

How we obtained permanent residence in Brazil

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in About Me, Brazil, Immigrants

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Brazilian ID Card for Foreigners with Permanent Status / Brazil’s Cédula de Identidade de Estrangeiro

Nineteen months after our arrival in Brazil, President José Sarney signed a Decree-Law permitting all illegal immigrants (estimated at about 500,000) to regularize their situation with the Departamento de Polícia Federal (DPF). Miracles do happen.

Uneasiness clung to me the afternoon I accompanied my husband and two sons to the Federal Police Department in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará. Would we be deported? My husband led the way through the checkpoint at the entrance and onwards to the sector indicated.

We were not the only foreigners seeking amnesty at the four-foot high counter. The Federal Police Officer who attended to us was soft-spoken and cordial. We presented our Guyanese passports with Brazilian Entry Stamps, showing location and date of entry. While we completed the Provisional Registration Forms, our restless four and six-year-old sons disappeared behind a door at one end of the waiting area. An officer appeared with them. His smile put me at ease.

Later, armed with my Protocol from the DPF – valid for 180 days, awaiting a Registro Provisório (Provisional Register) – I went in search of a job. As mentioned in an earlier post (Brazilian Friend of the Heart, 16 Oct 2011), I obtained a secretarial position at a private school offering courses in British English and culture.

Our Registro Provisório was valid for two years. During that period, I worked at an import-export consultancy firm. When the DPF initiated our application process for permanent resident status, they renewed our Provisional Register for another two years. After paying our processing fees, we set about obtaining the necessary medical tests and documents required for submission to the Brazilian Immigration Authorities (DPMAF – Delegacia de Polícia Marítima, Aerea e de Fronteiras).

Medical tests covered vision, auditory, lungs, heart, blood, urine, and stool. My handwritten Declaração de Bom Procedimento (Declaration of Good Conduct) outlined my place of residence, job title and functions, name and location of sons’ school, and my reasons for seeking permanent residence in Brazil. My employer also had to provide a declaration of my employment status with his firm. The Guyana Embassy in Brasília confirmed that we had no criminal record.

Obtaining the Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais (Certificate of Criminal Records), took us to an unsavory place. Some of the people waiting in line increased my wariness. Our interrogation, in separate rooms, caused me even more concern for our safety. Although I was not mistreated, I felt like a crime suspect. What a relief when we left with our CACs, certifying “non-existence of criminal record”!

At some point, at the Federal Police Department, a female official took our complete fingerprints from both hands. My sons had fun removing the ink from their fingertips with a bright pink, grainy paste. In another office, a photographer took head shots for DPF records and our ID cards.

When my sons and I received our Brazilian ID Cards for Foreigners in 1994, I was managing the import/export operations of a large melon producer and exporter.

Starting Out in Brazil: Kindness from a Stranger

08 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Brazil, Immigrants, Relationships

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Source: http://www.jangadeiroonline.com.br

Life is full of wonderful surprises.  There are times when, unexpectedly, strangers come forward to help us. Senhor Alencar in Fortaleza, Brazil, was such a person. A few months following our arrival in Fortaleza, Andrew – a friend of my husband who had helped us to settle down in our new home – took us with him downtown to Sr. Alencar’s home-improvement supplies store. The store was well located at the corner of two busy streets.

Andrew was one of Sr. Alencar’s regular clients. If I recall correctly, Andrew went there for paint. He introduced my husband and me to Sr. Alencar: a forty-something year-old man with a gentle face and kind eyes, calm manner, and soft-spoken.  He and Andrew conversed in Portuguese, with Andrew interpreting for us.

Andrew told Sr. Alencar that we had recently arrived in Fortaleza from Guyana and intended to offer private English classes.

“I would be happy to put up a sign in my shop,” Sr. Alencar told us. “How can persons interested contact you?”

“They don’t have a phone yet,” Andrew said. “We’ll have to work something out and let you know.”

“If you wish, you can use my phone number for contact,” Sr. Alencar told us.

His offer surprised me. He did not have to do that. But he did.

“God bless you for your kindness, Senhor.”

Andrew translated my response. “Deus te abençoe.”

We consulted with a Brazilian lawyer to assist us in obtaining permanent resident status. After languishing in a state of limbo for two years, Sr. Alencar gave my husband a copy of an article published in a São Paulo newspaper. President José Sarney (1985-1990) had announced amnesty for all foreigners residing in the country in an “irregular situation.” Our Brazilian lawyer assured us that it was not a trick of the government and that we should present our documentation to the Federal Police, as instructed in the official announcement.

Through his interest and thoughtfulness for me and my family, Sr. Alencar changed the course of our lives in Brazil. A small thought, a small act can go such a long way.

What moves people to treat strangers with kindness? Only God knows what lies deep within our hearts. We are capable of reaching out to others with no expectation of something in return. In Brazil, I learned to accept the goodwill of others with joy and appreciation.

A few years before my sons and I left Brazil, I had the opportunity to visit Sr. Alencar at his store. Following years of one economic crisis after another, his store was a third of its former size. This time, I did not need someone to act as interpreter. I was fluent in Portuguese.

“The economy is bad,” he told me. “But, thanks to God, we’re still in business. I can’t complain.”

I thanked him for what he had done for me and my family. “Deus te abençoe.”