As an immigrant Pakistani-American & as a Muslim, 4th of July and everyone celebrating “independence” can bring along mixed feelings. It is the truth that despite all of it’s quirks, America has been kind & welcoming to so many like us who came from far across corners & have built our lives here.
In some ways, our stories are different from many of the immigrant stories. We weren’t escaping from tyrant countries, wars or unsafe places. We, and most of the people around us, came for work or for better opportunities whether for ourselves or for our kids.
Some of us – many of us, thought we were here for just a few years… (very few of us actually went back.)
Over the years we did our best to learn, to assimilate – while also holding on to the values and traditions that were a part of us. We tried to adjust our accents as much as we could, switched to the American versions of words instead of the British ones that we grew up knowing – all the while missing our families, the pieces of us we had to leave behind & just that feeling of fully belonging in a place.
But there were other things we gained..
Despite initially thinking we would go back ‘in a few years’, we ended up staying – The opportunities, the conveniences, the lifestyle, law & order, a sense of security… the diversity and that feeling of being welcomed, like we too can belong here, that we are welcome, that we have a voice!
All of that & more, just made it hard to leave. And here we are now a decade plus more after moving here..
There are times, especially in this post-Trump area where we do wonder about the future of being a Muslim in the United States. Though living in the Seattle area we are incredibly blessed to be part of a beautifully diverse community that has been very welcoming. Compared to Muslim-Americans who were born here, in some ways our dils (hearts) will always be Pakistani, but for our kids who were born and brought up here it’s a different story, even when they do love their Pakistani background like our girl does.
Just wanted to share these random thoughts & feels with photos from our 4th of July picnic from last year. Despite all of the quirks, thank you for everything you have been to us America. You have become home!
// Sharing a few reads that REALLY resonated with me //
It would be a dishonor to America, and to the next empire poised to rise in our dust, to omit the clear and simple truths of this nation’s ugly past and present. Most of all, on this Fourth of July, it would be a lie to tell my son that we wave our flag free from guilt.. In fact, we can wave the red, white, and blue with genuine pride and celebrate the extraordinary lives we’re privileged to live — but we hold this truth to be self-evident that not all men and women (and certainly not those who identify as neither) are created equal in this great land. It simply means that my generation, my son’s, and the ones that come after must continue to fight for America to be the truly inclusive place it aspires to be. (Read the full post here)
Indeed, as an Iranian-American Muslim woman, I’ve never felt so hated and unsafe in my own country. But ultimately, no matter how conflicted I am about my place in America and America’s place in the world at the moment, I am a proud American.. As much as I hate the colonialism, genocide, slavery and rape upon which this nation was built, I love the promise and possibility that it represents — not in its power structures or its stone monuments, but in its people and its natural wonders. (Read the full post here)
The beauty of the United States is that we’re allowed to have intersecting identities, that we’re allowed to be American-Arab, American-Syrian, American-Latina. To not have one homogenous America, but really just a bunch of people that make up the fabric of our country. If you’re going against all the different pieces that make America so great, which is all of us, with all our backgrounds and different experiences and different ethnicities, if you are attacking that essence of it, then the whole experiment of America just falls flat. (Read the full post here)
I’ve lived in America for 25 years now. When I first came here, I was very into the idea of America as the land of opportunity for all..But we don’t really think about it as celebrating independence, even though that’s obviously what the day is supposed to be about. It’s strange, because I definitely feel some sentimental value towards the holiday. When the kids were little, I would bake a cake and decorate it red, white, and blue, things like that. It’s not so much independence we’re celebrating, it’s a celebration of the good life I’ve made here. (Read the full post here)
Thank you so much for reading!
Lots of love!
PREVIOUSLY ON THE BLOG: This country we call home // Waking up in Trump-land // Hate cannot drive out hate
BLOG | Nataliya Khan 