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.”
- Nahnatchka Khan, creator of ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat" sitcom
“America gonna Panda Express Chipotle everyone.”
- Eddie Huang, celebrity chef and author of the memoir "Fresh Off the Boat"
“We Immigrants are America’s true super power.”
- Junot Diaz, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"
“In 1941, I was a refugee.”
- Madeleine Albright, America's first female secretary of state
“Even after internment, still love America.”
- George Takei, actor
“A better life for our children.”
- Mila Kunis, actress
“Is there fish sauce in Nebraska?”
- Thakoon Panichgul, fashion designer
“Separated seven years, father a stranger.”
- Jen Min Kuo
“From migrant farmworker to NASA astronaut.”
- José M. Hernández
“A father swims, a daughter soars.”
- Wai Chim, author of "Freedom Swimmer"
“Nobody is ever just a refugee.”
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author and 2008 MacArthur Genius Grant recipient
“Texas was Mexico. Border crossed us.”
- Maria Dolores Castillo
“My mother: maid to mechanical engineer.”
- Jennifer Na
“Zeiger too ethnic! How about King?”
- Larry King, iconic TV and radio host
“Learned all English and still foreign.”
- Beau Sia, spoken-word poet
“Gained: American passport. Lost: Mother tongue.”
- Grace Prasad
“DREAMers are only allowed to dream.”
- Ivy Teng Lei, undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient
“We came,we saw,we stayed.”
- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Before You Go
