Vietnamese who live in-country refer to those in the diaspora as Viet kieu – sojourners, those that wander.

I was the first in my family to return to Vietnam since we fled in 1975: an ill-defined quest to claim what I could.

THIS MONTH 

 

 

I'm not sure what my mother expected when she first moved to America, but I can certainly tell you what she did not anticipate; raising four boys as a single mother living on welfare was not part of the plan. It became her reality.

Facing danger is a way of life when you are nineteen, undocumented, and hitchhiking to school. When it all began to feel too dark, Atash found hope bounding in unexpectedly.

Writer and poet Sarah Leamy explores the contours of deportation: the memories, fears, and identity caught in the web of what it means to be deported.

I was a lost kid back in my hometown, an immigrant in my own family.



Stories from previous weeks:

A daughter’s journey through foreign grief.

I smile when I read the words revolution and feminism in a single sentence because in many revolutions in Latin America we were segregated because of our gender.

Her paintings are tapestries woven of all these stories; deeply personal, collective, intimate and vast. The paintings of Ana Maria Velasco are creating universes.

An interview with the artist.



 

WHAT WE'RE READING  

 

 

WRITING FROM AROUND THE WEB

  • Inside the Lives of Immigrant Teens Working Dangerous Night Shifts in Suburban Factories -ProPublica

  • Undocumented and Pregnant: Why Women Are Afraid to Get Prenatal Care -NYTimes

  • Biden to nominate first Latino and immigrant to run Homeland Security -Independent

  • Guest Column: An immigrant and Thanksgiving -Press Herald

  • Nail Salons, Lifeline for Immigrants, Have Lost Half Their Business -NYTimes

  • The U.S. Immigrant Rights Movement Plans for a New Vision Under Biden -Rolling Stone

  • A New Immigration Vision For America -Forbes

  • Simon Han Explores The Immigrant Experience In His Debut Novel -NPR

  • Undocumented immigrants may actually make American communities safer – not more dangerous – new study finds -The Conversation

  • Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen recalls his immigrant experience -Yahoo News

  • New DACA Ruling Has Undocumented Immigrants Hopeful Biden Will Expand Program -Gothamist

  • In Michigan, Undocumented Immigrants Form Learning Pod So They Won't Lose Their Jobs -NPR

  • An Immigrant Thanksgiving -The Cornell Sun

  • The vaccine breakthroughs at Moderna and Pfizer are the latest examples of how immigrants have been driving billions in American innovation for decades -Business Insider

  • Immigrants help make America great -Science

  • Immigrants Don’t Just Change Voting Patterns -The Atlantic

  • 'False sense of perspective': Immigrant TV stories mainly focus on Latinos, deportation -NBC News

  • Undocumented immigrants behind on their rent are self-evicting across Texas -Texas Tribune

  • What Does it Mean to Be a Black Immigrant in the United States? -The Immigrant Learning Center

  • 5 Ways Immigrants Are Leading The Way -Yes Magazine

  • Getting the Job Done: How Immigrants Expand the U.S. Economy -Wharton

  • 9 Books for Kids About the Immigrant Experience in America -Brightly

  • Artist Renzo Ortega paints the immigrant experience -WPB Magazine

  • The Immigrant Artist Biennial Offers a Lesson in Perseverance -CultBytes

  • The Welcome Project Lets Local Immigrants Showcase Their Culture & Sell Art -Cincinnati Refined

  • Immigrants Are Essential: a vital art project shining a light on the frontline -The Guardian