Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts

39% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference Review

Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference

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Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference Review

As someone who once worked for a company where I had colleagues who were refugees of war-torn countries, this book was personally relevant. Just as in the book, I was told the most astounding and frightening tales of what people did to survive on a day-to-day basis and how they were ultimately forced to flee their homes for fear of their own lives and those of their families. It really made me think of how lucky I have always been to have never had to face anything remotely like what they'd gone through. I had the same feeling when I read this book and St. John delved into the stories of the Fugees players and what they had gone through before reaching the U.S.
Perhaps the saddest part of this book is the reality that greets these people when they reach the U.S. It was sobering to read about how they were settled in apartment complexes where they lived next door to drug dealers and gang members. It was sad to think that these people had escaped the devastation of their homes only to end up in a totally foreign culture in which they'd face a lot of the same dangers. 1
It was also disturbing to read about their treatment at the hands of the police and the long-time residents of the town. I don't think St. John was trying to paint these people out to be evil. Rather, he showed how human fears of that which is different and misunderstood can really tear at the fabric of a society. These people struggle with trying to find a way to deal with the influx of refugees into their town. Sometimes their solutions are brilliant, such as the story of the local grocery store, and sometimes they are just wrong, such as the Fugees inability to find a decent soccer field near their homes.
I was really struck by Luma, their coach, and how much she sacrificed in order to run her three soccer teams. The dedication of people like her and some of the other volunteers described in the book is really something to contemplate. She gave a lot of herself not only to get the team running but also to do what she could to ensure that her boys stayed in school and out of trouble. Her teams pretty much became her entire life rather than just a pastime. It's hard not to marvel at how heroic someone like this is because it makes the reader question if s/he would be as dedicated.
This book is a really important read. The face of the U.S. is definitely in a state of transition. This is and has always been a nation of immigrants but this book is timely when placed in the context of the arguments about illegal immigration that took place during the Bush administration. The big question, really, seems to be about immigration in general, both legal and illegal. In order to really make our country work, we have to find a way to live with our neighbors and to respect their customs. Even if you're not a fan of soccer (as in my case), this is still a book that will fascinate, amaze, and horrify you. What's more, you'll walk away with it with some new and valuable ways of looking at the U.S.

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32% Off Discounts: Purchase Cheap A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America Review

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America

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A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America Review

This is an excellent multi-cultural account of American history. Takaki focuses on the perspectives of many different cultural groups, providing several interesting, unique and sometimes sobering stories of America's history. After reading this book, you may find yourself feeling cheated by your grade school history lessons. This work is fair, honest, and *VERY* well documented, with endnote references on almost every page.
I don't believe Takaki has a score to settle with this book. Nor do I believe he is racist or *overly* slanted, but I can see how some might feel that way. His focus on nontraditional perspectives seems to me an effort to balance the scale a bit by emphasizing the viewpoints, stories and facts that have been under-emphasized in the past. Perspectives include those of the Irish, Japanese, blacks, Native Americans, and others as various times throughout American history. To me, Takaki does a very good job of putting the reader in the mindset of the people at a certain place and time.
Stories in this book are not sugar-coated, which may at times be unsettling, but the facts and research that back the stories up are indisputable. Takaki uses many direct quotes and indirect references to underscore his points. His accounts are credible, believable and educational. This book should be required reading in all high schools, but should not be considered a replacement for traditional American history texts. It is more a book about cultural perspectives in history than about historical facts. As an example, Takaki will devote many pages to very specific events in history to catch a specific cultural perspective, while completely glazing over many larger and arguably more historically significant timeframes.
The book is a good read, but because of several references, chapters should probably be read in order. For example, at the start of the book Takaki sets up the story of Shakespeare's Tempest as a point of comparison throughout. (It was tempting to me to skip around, since each perspective seems well encapsulated in a chapter.)
I hope you enjoy it!

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42% Off Discounts: Lowest Price Enrique's Journey Review

Enrique's Journey

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Enrique's Journey Review

This is a fascinating book concerning the flood of young Central Americans coming to America and the treacherous journey they must undertake. But it looks at the influx of illegal aliens into America in a new light. These youths who travel by train up to 1,600 miles north through Mexico are coming to find their Mother's who have left them years ago to have money to support their kids back in Nicaragua, Honduras or Guatemala. Years before these mothers faced raising kids as a single mother as the tight Catholic families in these countries are pulling apart. With limited jobs, these women smuggle to America and send money back. But the emotional toll on these kids is traumatic and many choose to journey to America, many at an age much too young.
The Pulitzer Prize winning author rode the trains and researched completely the significant danger in the first state of Chiapas where the risk of being robbed, raped or killed is the greatest. The next state shows the true spirit of the Mexican people as many bring food and clothing to this rag-tag group of refugees. Great detail is spent describing areas to avoid and relationships with smugglers, police and "la migra", the immigration police.
The final part of the journey across the river to America is also traumatic and great detail is spent on different ways of crossing, many involving paying "coyotes" significant money to cross with no guarantees they will not be robbed.
But this book does not end there as finally Enrique finds his mother in North Carolina. But is she really a "Mother" since she hasn't seen her son in about 10 years? Obviously their relationship is unique and the book delves in to the difficulty.
You will be educated on a significant human rights issue effecting America. On so many levels this is a book that needs to be read and whatever your current thoughts on immigration on our southern border, this will "humanize" the issue, give you greater insight and probably change or soften your position. Is there an answer? Probably not. We are blessed in America and these people want just a small piece of this dream and are willing to risk everything to change the future of their family.
I do have one complaint about the book. The ending. I would have liked a better or more complete resolution. But this isn't fiction, it's real life. Read this book to learn. It is a fast read as it is so engrossing.

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50% Off Discounts: Special Prices for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Review

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Review

I was one of the physicians involved in the care of Lia Lee. I'm referred to in the book as the physician that first diagnosed Lia's spells as seizures. Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, the principal pediatricians in the book, were and are good friends of mine.Having experienced Lia Lee's saga personally, and then having read the book, I can only refer to Anne Fadiman's talent as astounding. Anne walks an incredibly fine, and very well documented, line as she describes what happens when American medical technology meets up with a deep and ancient Eastern culture. My team (Western medicine) failed Lia. Never have I felt so fairly treated in defeat, and never have I felt so much respect for an author's skillful distillation of a tragically murky confrontation of cultures.
ADDENDUM (8/8/09) I wrote the above review almost a decade ago. The experiences that I had during the events described in this book have continued to guide the way that I practice medicine. The Spirit Catches You has become a true classic in the medical and anthropological fields, being read in college, medical school, and nursing classes throughout the United States every year. This speaks to the enduring quality of the work that Anne Fadiman did in a book that remains unique in the skill with which it was written. The story it contains remains fresh and astoundingly relevant to the practice of medicine in particular, and cross-cultural relationships in general.

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