Reflections as the interviewer

I was so fortunate to have three people willing to be as candid and vulnerable as they were in this process. This project is not about anyone but my mother, Anita, and Richie. It's about the fact that they each had three incredibly different experiences as immigrants, growing into their cultural and personal identities as they've aged, and how they will continue to do so. It's about their struggle to fit themselves into a box, to check off one thing that conclusively defines who they are based off of where they were born. And it's about the beauty of not doing those things that hide and deny every other aspect of their being.

As I was speaking to each of them, I thought about what that must be like, to feel that uncertainty of not only what to tell others who prompt them about their roots, but what to tell themselves as well. I could see the pride in each of their eyes when they were able to find those things about their identities that they hold so close to their hearts. I knew that no one else could possibly know what it feels like to grasp those stories because of how tightly their grips claimed them. I could also see the mental battle to say "the right thing" or fit certain expectations, even though I just wanted this to be about their truths and no one else's imposed notions.

After each of the interviews, they all expressed a similar worried sentiment. They ruminated over if their answers were "good enough," if they provided "usable" content, or if they simply rambled too much. I told them that there is no "good enough" or expectation, because all I intended was for others to see and hear their genuine, raw stories as they wished to tell them.

There is no single cliché immigrant story. There is no one clear representation of a culture or a place. We stitch together our identities from the experiences and people that impact us the most, regardless of where that may be. We find hegemonic societal definitions imposed upon us without our consent as outward appearances are wrongfully interpreted and cover all of those other little pieces with one big cultural blanket. This project has ripped that blanket a part through three voices who not only open eyes to the complexities of being an immigrant, but of being a human struggling to understand their identity.