My Immigrant Affairs
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The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is celebrating New York City’s diverse range of communities and immigrant culture this week. And so are we here at Arts Engine.
Our Media That Matters screening at Maysles Cinema tonight for Immigrant Heritage Week 2010 is going to be a particularly colorful and vibrant affair, with a selection of films from the last seven years of MTM as well the presence of representatives from some superb organizations that work closely with immigrants and advocate for immigrant rights.
Additionally, I was glad to have attended The Opportunity Agenda’s event last week along with others of the Arts Engine staff on Immigration: Arts, Culture & Media 2010.
It was a telling panel, with memorable remarks from Chung-Wha Hong on the difference between immigration reform “policy rhetoric versus policy reality” and David Henry Hwang on creating three-dimensional characters in drama rather than writing stereotypes—cause that’s just “bad writing.”
I had been itching to approach Mr. Hwang for a while to present myself as a fan of his work, as his most recent play Yellow Face was a personal favorite of mine and undoubtedly impacted my senior undergrad thesis/colloquium.
At the after-party, I was searching the sea of faces for his when someone approached Anne, our program intern, and I about participating in a special photo project. We were to draw a picture of our own immigrant history. So, being the sass-meister that I am, I drew the following picture of a Chinese takeout container:
Suddenly, I realized I had forgotten to remember that I, too, am an immigrant. That my own immigrant history is much closer to my present than I remembered.
Many photo participants were drawing boats of their immigrant ancestors migrating in the era of Ellis Island or even the Mayflower. It sadly reminded me of the Carteret Islanders of The Next Wave (MTM9) who are not escaping their homeland from religious persecution or in search of new opportunities but to survive because their island is drowning.
I suppose we are all immigrants of somewhere or something. Hopefully this week of celebration will also be a week of reflection and vitality, as we strive to fight for all of our immigrant rights and shorten the gap between what we say needs to be done and what we do get done.
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| Posted on April 21, 2010
Comments
I realized I had forgotten to remember that I, too, am an immigrant. That my own immigrant history is much closer to my present than I remembered.
Posted on 2010 05 05 by emailgcs
good perfect post thanks
Posted on 2010 06 21 by webalem
Definately! We are all immigrants. That’s what makes our country so beautiful. One of my favorite things is to hear stories of other cultures and traditions from my neighbors or co-workers. We are diverse and that’s what I love. Stefanie H., [url=“http://www.avvo.com/dui-dwi-lawyer/fl/tampa.html “]Tampa DUI Lawyer
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Posted on 2010 12 27 by Tampa DUI Lawyer