Tag: immigration

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION — AND IMMIGRATION!

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Movies are wonderful –  for watching, for thinking about, and for escaping – just for a little while – everything else around us.

VOCABULARY:

Persistence – n., sticking with and doing something you believe in

Depict – v., to show, to tell about

Struggle – n., difficulty, a hard time doing something

Platforms – n., different internet sites and sources for watching movies and video

Defeating – v., to overpower, to conquer

Repressive – adj., when freedoms are limited

Political unrest – n., troubled government, conflict among leaders

Forcibly displaced – adj., forced to move out of one’s home

Intimate – adj., private, personal

Uprising – n., a movement that seeks to overthrow an established government or situations

Siblings — n.pl., brothers and sisters

Soon-to-be – adj., in the near future

brutal — adj., cruel, very mean

Khmer Rouge – n., a radical Communist group that ruled Cambodia in the ‘70s and killed millions of people

Diligence – n., strong and consistent effort

Empire – n., a large territory ruled by a single ruler

Access — n., entry, opening

Especially interesting, to us, are movies about the immigrant experience: stories of hope and courage and persistence, above all. To leave one’s home country, no matter the circumstances, is a brave and often dangerous step to take. Here are 6 films that depict and celebrate that struggle. All are available to borrow from the New York Public Library (free), or can be streamed on various platforms (cost about $4).

1. MINARI

Minari | Official Trailer HD | A24

A Korean American family searches for their American dream on a farm in Arkansas, a state in the deep South of the USA. They face many challenges in their new life in the Ozark Mountains, but finally realize the strength of their family, no matter where home is.

2. PERSEPOLIS

Persepolis | Official Trailer (2007)

This animated film tells the story of Marjane Satrapi, a yung girl whose family dreams of defeating the Shah in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. However, as Marji grows up, she sees how repressive the new Iran is. Her parents send her to study in Europe, but when she returns home, she finds that both she and her homeland have changed too much.

3. ENCANTO

Disney’s Encanto | Official Trailer

Surprised to see this Disney classic among movies about immigrants? After being forced out of their Colombian homeland by political unrest, the Madrigal family is blessed with magical gifts. When the family’s powers begin to fade, Mirabel – the only member of the family who was not granted a special ability – is the one to bring everyone together and save the magic. At the center of Encanto, the fear of being forcibly displaced again is part of this sweet story.

4. FOR SAMA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvBqtg2RM0
FOR SAMA is an intimate journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. She falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while terrible and life-changing conflict swirls around her. Should she leave to save her daughter? It is an impossible choice.

5. FLEE

FLEE – Official Trailer
In FLEE, Amin’s life has been defined by his past and a secret he’s kept for over 20 years. Forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child with his mother and siblings, Amin now struggles with how his past will affect his future in Denmark and the life he is building with his soon-to-be husband.

6. THE DONUT KING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY2jXx0OP88
An immigrant story with a twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who escaped the brutal Khmer Rouge and arrived in California in the 1970s. Through a mixture of diligence and luck, he built a multi-million dollar donut empire up and down the West Coast. A tale of success and loss – who gets access to the American Dream, and what happens when you achieve it.

Happy viewing!

Don’t forget the popcorn!

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Remember

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Every couple years we publish a collection of writing from our Advanced Writing Class taught by NYU Gallatin Professor June Foley. Our latest collection is called Remember, and it’s full of stories and poems about NYC, technology, family, art, and the pandemic. Here’s a sample for you:

Counting Hours
Mariana Lemos Duarte

I am not sure why this memory returned.
Maybe because of the silence in the street,
Or because of the fear dancing in the air,
Or because of the sun that insistently
       invades the floor of my kitchen.

When I was a girl, I used to count the hours.

I used to wake up early just to have more hours to do nothing.
I used to sit on the top of my bunk bed just to have
       a different point of view of things.
I used to look out the window to find the Cristo Redentor.
I used to stop whatever I was doing just to see the sunset.

Now, I always have an unfinished task on my to-do list.
And these billions of incomplete to-do tasks grow in a way so
       fast and deep that I lose the joy of doing nothing,
And these billions of incomplete to-do tasks grow in a way
       so fast and deep that I forget to look at things from a
       different perspective.
And these billions of incomplete to-do tasks grow in a way
       so fast and deep that I find myself thinking: Why does
       the sunset take so long?

Suddenly the time goes so fast that I lose
       the ability to count it.

Stop! The world has stopped
To remind me of those days
When I used to count the hours.

To read more, click here.

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$12 Million for Adult Literacy!

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This week we had the pleasure to speak with City Council Members Carlos Menchaca and Justin Brannan and the staff of City Council Members Carlina Rivera and Margaret Chin about the importance of adult literacy, especially in these trying times. Our students need English classes to get jobs, get better jobs, help their children with their learning, live independently in New York, and to help others! We’re asking that the New York City Council to maintain current funding for adult literacy at $12 million per year. Along with the New York Immigration Coalition, we’re also asking for continued legal services and emergency cash grants for immigrant New Yorkers.

To learn more, click here!

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Pictures from a Vigil

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Today University Settlement staff members attended a vigil on the Lower East Side to protest against the separation of families at the border. The vigil was coordinated by Families Belong Together.

Families Belong Together includes nearly 250 organizations representing Americans from all backgrounds who have joined together to fight family separation and promote dignity, unity, and compassion for all children and families. 

Led by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Women’s Refugee Commission, MomsRising, FWD.us, United We Dream, People’s Action, ACLU, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, MoveOn and others, the coalition has raised millions of dollars for immigrant children and families, mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in all 50 states to take action, and helped to reunite thousands of families. 

Families Belong Together continues its work to permanently end family separation and detention, seek accountability for the harm that’s been done, and immediately reunite all families who remain torn apart. 

To learn more, click here.

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Student Stories: Valikhan

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Valikhan a University Settlement Adult Literacy class participant speaks about his experience in the program

Each year University Settlement impacts 40,000 New Yorkers who come from 50 countries and speak 40 different languages. Every September we begin new 10-month intensive classes in our Adult Literacy Program. Valikhan, a participant in the program, tells us what University Settlement’s program has meant to him, in his own words.

In Kazakhstan I was a professor. I was invited to George Washington University for a program and after I decided to stay and move to New York. But I did not know English. It was important to me to lean and so I came to University Settlement two years ago.

I have done a lot. I wrote two books and I met with members of Congress. I can speak different languages. But I did not know English and I needed help. When I heard about University Settlement I came here for help. It’s very important to me to have good teachers. Our teacher Jon has a lot of emotion and I like that.

I feel very good about my English now. I grow slowly but nonstop. There is a lot that I did not know before that I know now. Now I can describe things to people and am able to ask questions. Before I could not.

I was worried and scared at first but the teachers make it comfortable. You are outside your comfort zone but you need to do that to learn. Now I travel to other cities and feel okay about it with my English. I enjoy it. I am taking more classes to get even better. They care about you here and help you. I would tell everyone that they should come here.

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