Illinois College: Facing Immigration
A Facing Project
To begin with, I would like to thank Professors Devin Bryson and Emily Adams, who have established a caring relationship with this community. Without their support in a variety of ways, the project would have been impossible. Similarly, the students … [Read more...]
(Projection of the DRC and US flags.) NARRATOR: America. Land of the free, home of the brave. Bombs bursting in air, and the rockets’ red glare. A symbol of power for the world or an opportunity for better days. For the citizens of America, we are … [Read more...]
CEPHAS: There are two reasons people come to the US—for security and a better economy. I no longer have to work at JBS. I now work at Reynold’s. And I’m not making the plastic. I’m an instructor. They hired me to interpret English to Africans who … [Read more...]
RACHEL: I like the American Government. I like it because they give the candidates the opportunity to go to the media and explain the program to the people that they expect to rule. That’s a good thing. But in most of Africa, they don’t do that. Our … [Read more...]
(NARRATOR begins and the cyc should light up with an ominous red color. The WORKERS are behind the scrim.) NARRATOR: JBS is a meat packing factory in Beardstown, Illinois. Most workers have ten-hour work days. MCABRAHAM: I start work at two and … [Read more...]
JEFFREY: In Africa how the family is is very different. Here what your family is is your parents your brother and sister (Enter a small Caucasian family: a mother, father, and daughter behind scrim). In Africa it not the same. In Africa the family is … [Read more...]
ANIMA: In the US you leave cars unlocked and no one touches them—and everyone has a whole car to themselves. You can leave a house unlocked and nothing happens. But it’s not like that back home. There, if you left a car like that, it would be stolen. … [Read more...]
YUHUA: Are Americans different than you thought they would be? HATEEYAT: It’s always different from what you expect. People are always different. You always have ideas, and then there’s reality. I’m hesitant to say. I do not want to offend … [Read more...]
SCENE 4: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED AKUA: What did I bring with me to the United States? I brought my passport. Yes. I think that I left everything. JEFFREY: I brought my family: my wife, my two children, and a new baby on its way. I brought just … [Read more...]
(Airplane/airport noise. MCABRAHAM enters, in America for the rst time, and speaks to the audience.) MCABRAHAM: When I got to America, I rst found it very confusing. (Lights expand to the entire stage as several Americans in business … [Read more...]