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Our families come from different places, and we all have different stories to tell, but the one thing we have in common is our love of America. Watch Bellamy Young, Angela Yee, Javier Munoz, Dean Obeidellah, Shannon Woodward, Paola Mendoza, Edgar Sotelo, and Dawn Lyen Gardner explain what the immigrant experience means to each of them.

“We looked at each other like… Oh my God! What is this place? This is paradise!”
Ofi’s story
I had just turned five years old, and I guess the revolution had just happened. Castro had come into Cuba and my mother decided she was not staying. She told my father, “We need to leave for the United States!” but my dad didn’t want to leave. So my mom said, “Ok, you stay, and I’ll leave with the kids.” At this point, my dad rethought it.
We arrived in the United States on Halloween…October 31st, 1960. My brothers and I arrived at a house here in Miami where my cousins were already staying. My cousins, who had come two weeks earlier from Cuba, said “you’re not going to believe this…you knock on people’s doors, and they give you CANDY!” They had all these bags and buckets of candy which they dumped on the floor in front of us. We looked at each other like “Oh my God, what is this place?! This is paradise!”
Cecilia’s story
I was born and raised here in Miami. My great-grandparents on my father’s side came from Ireland. My great-grandmother on my mother’s side came from England, but went through Alsace-Lorraine and Canada in the 1800’s before coming to the U.S., first to Pennsylvania and then to Ohio. My grandmother was actually sold as an indentured servant at the age of nine in Canada before she made it here. When her mom died, her dad kept her seven year old sister and sold my grandmother to a family. When she was 19 my grandmother went to teachers college and by the time she was 20, they let her go. She came to the United States after and met my grandfather here, where they started a family.

Ofi & Cecillia

“Way back when, he used to play at some of the clubs where black people weren’t allowed to actually be inside, he had to play behind a curtain in those days.”
Roger’s story:
I’m from New Orleans. I’m mixed, black and white, but most of my life I’ve kind of had the black experience. I think that’s going to be important for my child to have that unique perspective. He has so many different heritages and it will give him the ability to understand things from different angles. Having skin in the game from all these different backgrounds is going to give my child a unique perspective.
My family never really talked much about our heritage. My mom talked about growing up in Indiana. My dad was a Jazz musician and a piano tuner and had a business that my mom used to help him with. Way back when, he used to play at some of the clubs where black people weren’t allowed to actually be inside, he had to play behind a curtain in those days. I’m a DJ in the city and I walk some of the same paths that my dad used to.
My dad taught piano and vocal lessons too and a lot of that rubbed off on me. He would always try to get me involved in music, to pick up some type of instrument, but that never really stuck with me. I was always more interested in the technical stuff. I did pick up a lot from being around him though. That connection to music is something I hope to pass down.
Tiffany’s story:
I’m from Long Beach, California. I was born in the Philippines on an Air Force base. My dad is half black and half Japanese. My mom is full Chamorro from Guam. My parents always taught me to surround myself with positive people.
I came to the U.S. when I was about two, after my dad got out of the Air Force. I don’t know as much as I would like to know about my Japanese heritage. It’s kind of hard to maintain without being in it everyday. I do remember that we always had to take our shoes off when we walked into the house. And the dishes always had to be put away before we went to bed. I want to make sure my family is always surrounded by Roger’s family, so there is a coming together of different experiences. That is the most important thing. Our son is mixed with all of that.

Roger & Tiffany

“Spanish was my very first language. But my parents wanted to improve their English to get better jobs and to provide for us, so we had a very strict rule growing up that we would only speak English in the house.”
Nehaya’s story:
My mom’s side of the family is from Jordan and my dad is from Palestine. I was born here, I’m one of seven children. Four siblings were born overseas and three were born here in New Orleans.
Everyday I wear something from my Palestinian background—my evil eye necklace. It’s supposed to protect you from certain energies and vibes. Prayer is also very significant. We pray five times a day. My mom throws down in the kitchen too, so food is a big part of our lives. There are certain traditions I’ve been part of since I was seven years old, like fasting for Ramadan.
Rocio’s story:
My mother is Honduran and my father is Mexican. That makes me a first generation Latina. I was born in Baltimore but I’ve lived in New Orleans almost all my entire life. Spanish was my very first language. But my parents wanted to improve their English in order to get better jobs and provide for us, so we had a very strict rule growing up that we would only speak English in the house. Little by little they learned more English and I learned more Spanish.
I think it’s very important for my kids to be able to speak Spanish. It’s vital that we don’t have future generations forget about where they come from. I try to keep that awareness of my heritage by staying connected to other Latinos either here or in other cities. It allows me to feel more comfortable being Latina.

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Ofi & Cecillia

Roger & Tiffany

Rocio & Nehaya