Being a Cuban immigrant has provided me with a unique bicultural perspective that has become my support system in the United States. For the first eleven years of my life, my culture was composed of music and dancing. In every street corner of my hometown, there was a group of seniors playing domino and close by, their grandchildren dancing to the Salsa music being played on the radio to pass the time. The hardships created by the communist regime are overshadowed by memories of my mother teaching me how to sew and by my paternal grandmother teaching me how to enjoy a strong Cuban coffee. Those precious memories of home became a source of pain when I migrated to the United States. At first, the social peculiarity given to me by my migration status and language limitations made me a victim of bullying, which made me want to go back to the safety and similarity of my home country. However, the persistent nature engraved in me by my parents did not allow me to give in to the constant discriminatory voices that kept telling me that I would never be "American" enough. …show more content…
The value of education engraved in me by my mother was further expanded by the value of a college education in the United States. I also learned to appreciate the freedom of speech and the capitalistic system of the United States. In Cuba, I was forced to agree with everything I was taught, I was obliged to participate in activities that I did not agree with, and worst of all, I met people with boundless potential that were denied their right to study because if their religious beliefs. In the United States, I was able to develop my perspectives, which not always coincide with my parents ' views and also learned to question every new lesson, my current teachers do not only drained me with information but also encourage me to criticize it and form my perspective through
When it comes to Cuban and Haitian refugees in the late 1970s and early 1980s although they were coming to the United States for different reasons, they were both trying to find freedom from dictatorship in their own countries. Though both Cubans and Haitian arrived around the same time in Florida, in Detention by Design, Episode 5: "The New Immigration Detention System Is Born”, Wenski stated, “Because African American communities saw that the Cubans were getting kind of a favored migration status and the Haitians were not” (55). This is important since episode 4: "Mariel Boatlift: The Tide Turns” also states something similar about how Cubans were released quickly while Haitians still had to serve a longer period of time. This shows how differently
In A Cultural History of Cuba During the U.S. Occupation, 1898-1902, Utset seeks to analyze the Cuban experience “between empires”, from a different perspective. Rather than approaching the study by concentrating on the political leaders and elites, she disrupts this trend and focuses on the agency of Cuba’s people en masse—the voices of ordinary Cubans. By examining Cuba below and beyond the elite, Iglesias offers a perspective rarely visited and illuminates the complexities of the developing events that transpired between the end of Spanish colonial rule, 1898, and the beginning of U.S. occupation in 1902. In doing so, she identifies three distinct views Cubans held regarding nationalism: proponents of a staunch unwavering break from the past to a solidified distinct Cuban identity; advocates for embracing progress and modernity by accepting the Americanization of Cuba; and supporters of protecting and maintaining a Spanish heritage. She accomplishes this by utilizing a wide array of resources.
When most people think of the word “home,” they imagine a safe environment where they feel as though they belong as they truly are. This conceptualized environment includes friends, family, traditions, and memories. No matter where someone goes—as long as they are with what that they find peace and happiness in—they will be content. However, not everyone can find this sense of security and belonging so easily. Joy Jordan-Lake’s novel, Blue Hole Back Home, displays the rough transition of Farsanna Moulavi and her family from an unprivileged life in Sri Lanka to the unwelcoming, xenophobic realm of the Southern United States.
One of the toughest adjustments, having been born to Mexican parents, is migrating to an unknown country where traditions and languages differ from one 's own. Though many pursue an education and strive for a better life, the purpose behind an immigrant, like myself, differs from the typical American. Immigrants strive for a life that was once impossible, going to school is not only to attain an education, but to better prove that we can also become successful regardless of our traditions and skin color. I lived in a country for over fifteen years, fearing deportation, not only losing a home, but potentially saying goodbye to a bright future. Although many feel empathy for Mexican-Americans, it is undeniably difficult to truly comprehend the immense trauma children and even adults undergo upon experiencing racism and prejudice.
Immigrants usually go through phases when it comes to migrating to a new country and this essay was an attempt to outline those phases with an emphasis on the negative effects of assimilation. Firstly, isolation. Nearly every immigrant finds themselves isolated at first, but this tends to go away as they become assimilated with the new culture. As this happens, they start to lose touch with their cultural identity and start to change in order to fit in with the new culture. Sometimes this is forced, other times the immigrant knowingly assimilates.
Maya Angelou once wrote that “the ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned”. Many people go through life searching for a place to call home - a place to belong, a place they can truly be themselves. But home is more than just a place. It is more than the walls that surround us, more than the doors we walk through and the roof over our heads.
Introduction Over the course of spring break, I and 25 other students visited Havana, Cuba to study global entrepreneurship. We visited several businesses throughout the week some of which include a farm, a textile factory, an art gallery, many paladares, and a cigar factory. Below are some of the most memorable experiences from the trip as detailed using the D.I.E. approach to debriefing. Meeting Bryan at the farm and taking him to the FAC that evening Describe the situation We met Bryan at the farm we visited on Thursday.
Over the course of the past two weeks we have further studied various ethnic groups and their experiences in America. Cuban Immigrants came to America after Cuba’s 1959 revoution, when Fidel Castro, the grassroots leader that overthrew Batista. The first major migration after the revolution included Cuba’s upper class elites and others who had done well financially under Batista. The next wave which began in 1961 contained many middle and upper class Cubans who chose exile from the island rather than life under Castro’s authoritarian government. By 1962 almost 200,000 cubans had come to America.
My most rewarding accomplishment consists of my ability to overcome the fear and weakness that was conceived upon my arrival to the United States from Mexico, in addition to a newly evolved character which allowed me to achieve academic, professional, and personal success. Nearly seven years ago, my mother and I immigrated from a harsh economic climate in Mexico that was plagued with unemployment. Additionally, our family faced bankruptcy. While holding onto our faith, we left our hometown with only what we could carry and bought two one-way bus tickets. With nothing more than fear, two bags, and $50 in each of our pockets, we set out for what would be the most challenging journey of our lives.
Our Declaration of Independence states that it is the duty of the government to protect “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, what happens when the government that is supposed to protect these “unalienable rights” robs them from her people? This is the question that the Cuban people had to answer in the year 1953, when their government did just that. Their response to this question would forever change the history of Florida.
In this documentary we learn a lot about immigration to the United States especially from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba. We hear stories from people whose parents experienced the events that i will be talking about and it gives us a new outlook on things. From about 1836 to about 1914 over thirty million immigrated to the United States. The U.S was thought to be a “dream place” that has an abundance of food and jobs but that is not completely true. Jose Marti joined the earliest group of Latinos that immigrated to New York.
Immigration has been and will continue to be a very influential and important part of my family’s history and my life. About eleven years ago, my family and I became immigrants as we started our new life in the United States. Being an immigrant is a part of my identity, and it is something that I embraced and is proud of. However, growing up in an immigrant family has never been easy. Moving to a new country at a young age made me feel lost and confused about my own identity.
My entirely-immigrant family had arrived at a position of personal, professional, and social comfort from virtually nothing: no connections, few advantages, and many odds against them. My father was a high school dropout who succeeded by taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves until he reached a position that brought him satisfaction and success. He never asked for help but he always offered it. My mother simultaneously raised two young children, worked full-time, and completed her undergraduate degrees. These images and examples of self-reliance and success instilled in me, from a young age, the same values.
Lingering in the shadows of my hometown community, exclusionism and intolerance for anyone on the outside shook the foundation of my outlook and behaviors because my initial understanding of citizenship was incredibly tolerant. For the majority of my childhood I was cared for by a nanny, her name was Juana, from Mexico City and her three children were my closest and most treasured friends. Juana’s husband, Carlos, was an employee of my father’s and when he came home at night from work he would teach me to count in Spanish and I would teach him to read my books in English. They taught me to speak Spanish, how to roll and flatten the tortillas before we cooked them on the stove, how to celebrate birthdays, how to dance, how to sing, and the most beneficial of all was how to feel welcomed and included into their family culture.
As a 19-year-old Cuban-American woman, I can recall early moments in my childhood where my father’s love for politics