What my America is: Through the eyes of an Immigrant Woman

Abstract

For many Caribbean immigrants, life on a small, underdeveloped island, working the land, isn’t the biggest dream they have for themselves and their family. They want better opportunities for the generations that come after them, and the only way to accomplish that, is to move to America; the land of opportunity. They want that American dream. They are optimistic and eager to level up after they step off that plane, unaware of the setbacks that can easily hinder their aspirations. There are 4.4 Caribbean immigrants that currently reside in the United States, many of them working small jobs barely able to provide for their family. It’s very easy to get caught up in what could be, “ You’ll have better opportunities for college”, “ You’ll make a lot of money”, “ You’ll live better”. It’s difficult to see what the reality is, “ I’m behind on rent again this month”, “ I don’t know what we’re eating for dinner”, “ I haven’t worked in 3 months.” I will focus on my family and myself as the main characters, I will include video of my mother, sister and I meeting family members for the first time, because it's a piece of our life we didn’t have because we moved away and it adds to the point of regret. It will be very emotional and add the overall feel of the piece. My family hasn’t really seen much positivity from moving here, my father divorced my mother, leading to my uncle trying to murder my mother, which led to my family [my mother, sister and I] going into a protection program where no one was allowed to know where we were, and my sister and I were only allowed to see my father at a police station. We had curfew at each location we were moved and it was basically like we lived in prison. My family moved here in 2008 and we have experienced a number of things that are relevant to the point I’m trying to make with this piece.