We’re sharing 10 powerful excerpts and quotes from immigrant writers of all different backgrounds and faiths, in hopes that it will help inspire more change in the way we perceive and interact with our immigrants brothers and sisters.
“you have to understand, that no one would put their children in a boat unless the sea is safer than the land” – Warsan Shire
“You broke the ocean in half to be here. Only to meet nothing that wants you” – Nayyirah Waheed
“My name is a tongue twister so don’t worry, I am from a country with a different ethnicity, it is not just about spices and chillies, a little more than curry leaves and corianders. I can’t say it better for my cheap vocabulary. To you it must be still blurry” – Ravi Kiran
“It is greencards that become blue passports. It is unlearning the language of our grandparents. It is knowing how to pronounce Arkansas and Illinois. It is enjoying barbecues on somber national holidays.” – Anamika Nair
“When my mother struggles to spell a word in English, I want to break the entire language into little pieces so the edges of these letters will stop cutting her” – Aysha Syed
“They have no idea what it is like to lose home at the risk of never finding home again, have your entire life split between two lands and become the bridge between two countries.” –
“Is it my fault if I do not look like an English girl and I do not talk like a Nigerian?” – Chris Cleaves
“Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery.” – Amy Chua
“so, here you are, too foreign for home, too foreign for here. Never enough for both.” – Ijeoma Umebinyuo
“Do you understand the sadness of geography?” – Michael Ondaatje
Sources
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