You are elated. You are lonely. You are stuck in time and you are flying ahead of time.
You read the signs and hear what people say and you understand somewhat how these people behave and how they treat you and you wonder—what — what does this mean? How do I fit in here?
I was struck the other night listening to these snatches of remarks that come from stories about immigrants and their lives here: lives started anew, lives jolted from one country to another, lives renewed and replenished and restored.
It was at a session with Northwest University students who have been working with professor Jack Doppelt in writing about immigrant communities. For truth in typing, let me point out that Jack and I are partners in an effort that is linking together immigrant news outlets here in Chicago with the help of Northwestern students.
But back to the words that struck me.
This is the core of what the immigrant news media does here: it tells stories about there and here and makes here a more comfortable, more friendly place to be. And that is why I long to read and hear more of these stories that swirl in our imaginations.
Here is the link to the Northwestern program. Read their stories:
