Jordan

“Something about memory. It takes you back to where you were and lets you just be there for a time.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone

“He laughs despite knowing he has ruined every beautiful thing just to prove beauty cannot change him.”
― Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds

“Migration is the most natural thing people do, the root of how civilizations, nation-states, and countries were established. The difference, however, is that when white people move, then and now, it’s seen as courageous and necessary, celebrated in history books. Yet when people of color move, legally or illegally, the migration itself is subjected to question of legality. Is it a crime? Will they assimilate? When will they stop?”
― Jose Antonio Vargas, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

“Here in the U.S., the language we use to discuss immigration does not recognize the realities of our lives based on conditions that we did not create and cannot control. For the most part, why are white people called “expats” while people of color are called “immigrants”? Why are some people called “expats” while others are called “immigrants”? What’s the difference between a “settler” and a “refugee”? Language itself is a barrier to information, a fortress against understanding the inalienable instinct of human beings to move.”
― Jose Antonio Vargas, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen