4. "Becoming American"

Several stories in the video “Becoming American”, were so uplifting, or upsetting, and provoked a lot of emotions. So many immigrants fought to create a life in America and had to persevere through several hardships. Despite obstacles these immigrants were able to achieve citizenship and contribute to the history and environment in America.

One quote that I believe really resonates the immigration to America was one from Meryl Streep when she stated, “I just thought those people were so brave, or what they were leaving was so tough”. There are so many questions as to how and why any Americans ancestors left their countries and began a life in America. I can relate to several of the celebrities in this video in the way that I am also curious as to why my ancestors decided to come to America.

It is very fascinating to hear the different viewpoints of famous Americans. Even people like Stephen Colbert who is the author of the book, “I Am America and So Can You”, can relate and discuss ancestry and where their family originated. Kristi Yamaguchi discusses the hardships her grandparents faced after coming from Japan. She even discussed how she had family members born in a “camp” which is so upsetting. Queen Noor’s ancestry was particularly interesting to hear about. Although she carried so many stories and impressions of her family and ancestry she was still surprised and enlightened by certain details that were discovered and brought to her attention.

It is so interesting to hear such different stories, originations and ancestry however; the stories all have so many factors in common. Although all of these ancestors were from different countries each family fought and struggled to “become American”, and create a new life in America while holding on to as many cultural aspects as they could. I cannot even begin to picture the amount of people and cultures that came over to America in search of a new life, and arrived in New York, the state I live in.