ABC’s sitcom “ Fresh Off the Boat,” based on Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name, has become a hit by telling the story of one immigrant family’s journey from Taiwan to America.
Now the show’s creator is sharing hundreds of immigrants’ stories in a new book, with each story told in six powerful words.
The book ― edited by Larry Smith, creator of the famed six-word memoir series ― sheds light on what it’s like to leave one’s country to start a new life in America. The book contains hundreds of stories from famous, notable and everyday immigrants who come from all around the world. It explores everything from their thoughts on “smelly” foods and masked accents to the sweat, courage and determination it took to begin anew in the United States.
As President Donald Trump works to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program ― which would directly affect the lives of 790,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children ― perhaps it’s the perfect time to hear immigrants and first-generation Americans tell their own stories of how they found their identity in the U.S.
Below, see a selection of short memoirs from “Six Words Fresh Off the Boat: Stories of Immigration, Identity, and Coming to America.”
“We exist because these stories exist.”
“America gonna Panda Express Chipotle everyone.”
“We Immigrants are America’s true super power.”
“In 1941, I was a refugee.”
“Even after internment, still love America.”
“A better life for our children.”
“Is there fish sauce in Nebraska?”
“Separated seven years, father a stranger.”
“From migrant farmworker to NASA astronaut.”
“A father swims, a daughter soars.”
“Nobody is ever just a refugee.”
“Texas was Mexico. Border crossed us.”
“My mother: maid to mechanical engineer.”
“Zeiger too ethnic! How about King?”
“Learned all English and still foreign.”
“Gained: American passport. Lost: Mother tongue.”
“DREAMers are only allowed to dream.”
“We came,we saw,we stayed.”