If you think you can grasp me, think again. My story flows in more than one direction.
Sometimes those things are just written for you. -Poetry in Motion
- as articulated by SANJNA N. SINGH
Interesting series of articles documenting the present day leap across the cultural divide. Poignant excerpts shared. ~
"One new fact that took more time to absorb was that I was now Asian, a term that I had heard mentioned only in a social studies class. In Korea, yellow was the color of the forsythia that bloomed every spring along the fence that separated our estate from the houses down the hill. I certainly never thought of my skin as being the same shade." - SUKI KIM
"As my Uncle Joseph liked to say, for people like us, the malere, the poor, the future was not a given. It was something to be clawed from the edge of despair with sweat and blood." - EDWIDGE DANTICAT
"As I weigh the pros and cons of such a move - the effect on my work, my identity; the legal hurdles; the cognitive dissonance ..." - MOHAMMED NAEEHU ALI
"But it's Olivia, my 5-year-old, who encourages me to view this city's patchwork optimistically. A walk down the street provokes in her questions about why "Sidians" wear "curls" and "white pantyhose" or why Abuela speaks Spanish and others don't. She reminds me to take note of the small exchanges, the surprising moments of connection." - NELLY ROSARIO
"New York was my godsend. As soon as I landed, I knew I was in a place that welcomed misfits. From the adventurous streets of the West Village to the cacophony of flea markets on the Lower East Side, people shouted and bargained and laughed with their mouths wide open. Harlem held the history of Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. The Bronx boasted the seed that sprouted hip-hop." - STACEYANN CHIN
MORE EXCERPTS:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/nyregion/thecity/index.html?th
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