In 1619, the first ship carrying kidnapped Africans landed on the shores of what was then the British colony of Virginia. From that year until 1808, Africans were continuously kidnapped, shipped across the Atlantic, and sold into slavery, despite growing recognition of the horrific conditions of the Middle Passage and
“It occurred to me that I really was in someone else’s country and yet, in some necessary way, I was outside of their country […] for the first time I was an alien, I was a sailor—landless and disconnected. And I was sorry that I had never felt this particular
The concept of war by proxy holds a special (although far from cherished) place in my heart. This is in part due to my academic interest in the current affairs of the Middle East, but mostly because of my heritage. As someone with Middle Eastern roots, I have seen the
Every Asian American I have ever met has shared one or more of these similarities: growing up with ethnic foods, slowly forgetting our native speech, or bonding with friends about our overbearing family dynamics. Occasionally, I’ll meet a third-, fourth-, or even fifth-generation kid who can’t relate, but they too
Sitting under trees on a New York City park bench reminds me of The Zoo Story. While two men from different parts of life relate to the struggles of one another in such a developed society, why do I feel connected to the idea of the unknown creating loneliness? Seeing
Mama is the strongest woman I know. I’ve always called her my role model, my supermom, and my lifeline. My relationship with Mama started on a rough patch. She was barely at home, and if she was, she always nagged me to study for school or read books. As a
Don’t eviscerate me yet. The question is not as wild as it seems. You think of integration and you assume it’s generally positive: the coming together of everything under one general umbrella in society. That is what history has illusioned us to think anyway. Integration–in society, in the military, and