At times of rapid social and demographic change, such as the story of immigrant America today, the need for understanding is absolutely crucial. The best way to understand is not with statistics, not with theories, not with politicians trying to stir up emotions. It’s through the simple human stories. Especially those told by children, by the most innocent because the honesty of them comes through. Stories have Velcro. Stories will stick to the mind. And in doing so you will remember them and you will better understand the stories of those who came from Vietnam, from Cambodia, from Yemen, from Guatemala, from Mexico. And you will better understand how the combination of all those stories is what makes…the United States today. Rubén Rumbaut, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine
Stories from the New Ellis Island is the immigrant experience through the eyes of children. They recount the voyage to America from the four corners of the globe, overcoming extraordinary obstacles of war, poverty, and prejudice to make a better life for themselves and their families. Each story is a tiny jewel, reflecting the gifts each immigrant group brings to America through their poetry, their music and the histories.
As you listen to these new immigrant stories, think of your own family history, because we have all come to America as travelers from some other place and time.
Details
In 2004, ALICE Arts created an oral history theatre program called the Ancestor Project. Over a six-year period, ALICE collected more than 400 oral histories. Although these stories come from a tiny little corner of Oakland, California they cover the globe—from Yemen to Guatemala, from Liberia to East Texas, and from Cambodia to the Gold Coast of Africa. And this diversity of cultures can be found in communities across the country.
Stories from the New Ellis Island also give voice to the experiences of 6 million African-Americans traveling from the South to the North and West during the Great Migration of the 20th century parallels that of other immigrants—except that they were immigrants within their own country. That seminal American story has also too often been overlooked by the greater society.
Final Note
When we tap into the imaginative lives of children—including the children of immigrants—and help them find their poetry, their art, their story, then these children and their parents who work as roofers, nurses’ assistants and gardeners are no longer invisible. We see them for who they are—carriers of history and culture. Our job is to help them tell the story, because it is our story, the American story.
Hide full description
At times of rapid social and demographic change, such as the story of immigrant America today, the need for understanding is absolutely crucial. The best way to understand is not with statistics, not with theories, not with politicians trying to stir up emotions. It’s through the simple human stories. Especially those told by children, by the most innocent because the honesty of them comes through. Stories have Velcro. Stories will stick to the mind. And in doing so you will remember them and you will better understand the stories of those who came from Vietnam, from Cambodia, from Yemen, from Guatemala, from Mexico. And you will better understand how the combination of all those stories is what makes…the United States today. Rubén Rumbaut, Professor of Sociology, University of... Show full description
