Displacement and Gifts

This week we are looking at three texts that take on the perspectives of immigrants and slaves.

Ashley Bryan Yuyi Morales Aya Khalil

Anait Semirdzhyan

While each text goes along with the theme of displacement, they also display the gifts brought by each immigrant and slave. A keynote speech given by Yuyi Morales, the author of Dreamers, inspired me to look at the gifts each character has in the texts. I will discuss this more in the vlog below, but first please listen to what Yuyi Morales has to say about the gifts immigrants bring! The entire video is wonderfully insightful, but if you don't have time to view the entire thing make sure you at least watch 17:30-18:55, that is where Yuyi discusses gifts and it will help you understand what I discuss during my vlog.

Yuyi Morales keynote speech:

Vlog:

Persona Poem: The Arabic Quilt

This is a persona poem I created from the perspective of Kanzi

Kanzi

I am Egyptian-American and I bring America a gift

I live in America but I lived in Egypt

I wonder if America will accept me and the gifts I bring

I hear my peers snicker and my first language

I see them laughing and disrespecting the beauty of who I am

I want to be accepted

I’m as unknown as the depths of the ocean

I am Egyptian-American, I bring America a gift, I worry I will be rejected, and seek comfort

I question if my classmates will really want to know me and my culture

I feel nervous they will reject my beautiful quilt made by my Teita

I taste a turkey sandwich

I worry my teacher and classmates will think my quilt is silly

I excel at bringing my classmates together

I understand how differences are a gift that can make us kinder

I am Egyptian-American, I bring America a gift, I am kind, and I unite

I say differences can unite us together like a quilt

I believe we should speak our languages without guilt

I dream that one day the whole world will be united like my quilt

I try to use my languages with confidence

I hope America will accept the gifts immigrants bring

I was once worried and uncertain

But now I inspire others and I am sure of myself

I am Egyptian-American, I bring America a gift