1st generation immigrant, congratulations, you have landed in the land of the free and the brave. Now what? How do I get around? How do I integrate? How do I avoid all the banana 🍌 peels on my journey towards becoming a productive and effective citizen? How do I stay out of trouble? My friends, it is tough, yes it is not easy. Perhaps so challenging that most people are completely lost. In this series, I will share with you once a week some difficulties most 1st generation African face in America. I will cover topics such as education, paying bills, weather, dating, making friends, going out, employment, discrimination, racism, driving, foods, housing and so much more.
The goal is to serve as an educative and a collaborative vehicle for immigrants.
However, today I want to clarify the mean of 1st generation immigrant.
What is a 1st generation immigrant?
According to… a first-generation immigrant is a person that relocates to another country as the first of his family. Well, in Africa the definition of family can be extensive and somehow confusing. Hence, let me say as the first in your bloodline. Basically, the first of your mother and your father to move and settled in the USA. Moreover, we are not just talking about African from Africa. Even though most are from there. Still, I meant to talk about everyone that identified themselves as black.
Challenges
As you might know, it is not an easy task to be the first in everything or place or bloodline. No matter the circumstances. Regardless, you must find and define your path with little or no assistance. The level of stress that comes with that reality is so high that sometimes you just want to give up. For instance, coming from a slow pace country to a fast pace country where everything happened so fast requires a certain level of moral and physical adjustment. Nonetheless, because you are alone, only you can deeply understand the steep curve ahead of you.
The contribution
I just want to contribute towards the topics and share some details, experiences, and available resources; to help my people become contributors to this great nation that opened their generous arms to welcome us. In return, we must love the country, care for the country, be loyal to the country and embrace its values.
Conclusion
This is an open discussion with not really order of execution. Hence your contribution is valuable. So please do not hesitate to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, ideas, and recommendations. You never know any idea is welcomed and can literally make someone’s day. Even better, it can save someone’s from so much trouble.
