#immigrantstories

Every now and then, you stumble across a story that just hits different. I recently found this YouTube channel by a guy named Anwar - a Saudi man from Jizan who’s been living in the States for over 25 years. On paper, the dude’s got it okay. He’s a trained engineer who came here for his Master’s, he’s financially stable, had a family, and now lives solo. But when you watch his clips, there’s this heavy, raw layer of anxiety and burnout that he just can’t shake. Despite being an engineer, he’s been clocking in at a laundromat for decades. He’s got this crazy talent for editing and storytelling, yet he talks about himself like he’s a total failure. The real gut-punch came when his younger brother visited him after 20 years apart. They spent three weeks together in Anwar’s small spot - two rooms and a bath. Just enough space to survive, but not enough to actually live. Before heading out, his brother dropped a line that basically stripped everything bare: “Bro, you aren’t living in America... you’re living in a room.” It’s a brutal wake-up call about the "internal exile." You can cross the ocean and move to the land of opportunity, but still end up trapped in a mental and physical box. Anwar’s stuck in this linguistic limbo too - his English is rough, and even his Arabic feels like it’s slipping away, leaving him struggling to find the right words for his own pain. He’s clearly going through it, dealing with deep-seated mental health struggles since he was a kid. But the wildest part? After pouring out all that frustration and gloom, he ends every single video with: “Life is beautiful.” It doesn’t feel like some cheesy Hallmark quote. It feels like a man clinging to a life raft. If you want to see what it’s like to be truly "lost in translation" while living the American Dream, you need to check out his channel. It’s haunting, it’s real, and it’s honestly one of the most honest things on the internet right now.

When I was illustrating Fatima’s Great Outdoors by @brownpeoplecamping, I wanted to incorporate lush scenes inspired by my time spent in the outdoors. After leaving DreamWorks Animation in 2015, I sold everything I owned and hit the road in my Honda Element. I traveled around the US, Canada, camping, climbing, and creating art. Until then, I never felt brave enough to travel by myself, especially as an Asian American woman. From what I was exposed to as a kid, women needed to be successful in their careers, then marry and have children, and definitely didn’t travel alone. So, choosing to live on the road - was definitely not the norm. Some scenes in the book were inspired by those days spent in the forest, or evenings around a campfire with other travelers, eager to connect with nature. The outdoors can be a place for healing, and finding new purpose if we feel lost in life. Being in a tent, with the stars above you, the smells of a campfire filling the air, tired from a long day adventuring, is something that I hope every kid can experience. This image is a sneak peek of what’s under the jacket. @kokilabooks and I thought it would be fun to include the same scene as the cover, but at night. Hope you can get out for an adventure today! 🥰 #kidlit #immigrantstories #illustration #fatimasgreatoutdoors https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxdSbzpRdn/?igshid=s1vgyr7bjudv

Thanks for reading

Almost American Girl has been selected as one of NPR book concierge’s best book of 2020! My heart is full of gratitude for everyone who’ve read and resonated with my memoir. Thank you @npr @malakagharib for including my book on this list of amazing books! ❤️🎉🙏 #yabooks #graphicnovels #memoir #immigrantstories #koreanamerican #comics https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQwFYEh7TI/?igshid=1uk5jllbis3qa

Unable to speak the language, unfamiliar with the cultural customs, older immigrants often become isolated and are entirely dependent on their children after they arrive in a new country. Lacking social connections, they often feel lonely, bored and powerless. How to continue a life with all the discontinuities is a difficult question to answer.

I post about this announcement already, but can’t help not sharing this IG post from my editor Kait ❤️ what a beautiful sneak peak of the book💓Thank you, Kait💕 #Repost @kaitfeldmann with @get_repost
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Feeling so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with FOURTEEN different creators on this incredible picture book. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the art. 🤫 Everyone has blown me away with their contributions. Aida’s poems are captivating, and it’s been amazing to watch how so many talented artists each brought their poem to life in their own way. 📚
#immigrants #immigrantstories #immigrantpride #kidlitart #kidlit #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #alinachau
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFdn13SJk8F/?igshid=194xp91nm7j95

So the inability to speak a word the way you want to hear it equals stupidity? I dare you to name someone with more fire in her soul for the purpose of protecting family, of making their lives better than her own. I dare you to say that those acts are lazy, stupid. Don’t act clever when you can’t be kind. Don’t act superior when you can’t have compassion. When she understands less than half of your sentence, she can understand where you’re coming from. Can you?