Kicking off M.Y. Immigrant Pride: Celebrating Immigrant Contributions to Society

When I heard the hateful message from one of our world leaders, I was incredibly disappointed.
However, I was not surprised. The reason is, I faced this kind of anti-immigrant sentiment during much of my childhood. Not just in America, but in other parts of Africa and London.

One of my earliest experiences with anti-immigrant sentiment was when I came to the United States a second time. I was meant to advance to high school but was stopped by the school district. Their rationale was that I was too young, though younger people had gone to high school and graduated. The real reason, in my opinion, was that the people overlooking my transition felt that my education was not on the level of an American education. Though I followed a British school system for much of my life, because I was coming from Nigeria, the amount of resistance I faced in advancing my education to the high school level was immense. After pleading to my parents, they persuaded the school I wanted to enter, to allow me to take a test.

Sadly, there were no happy endings here for me. I failed the test, not because I could not handle the concepts, but because some of the questions posed were higher level questions that I had not yet covered. So, I repeated the eighth grade, to my dismay. It was one of my worst experiences at the time. Even now, I do not think the move helped me much. I did not study for any of my exams and did reasonably well. Only A’s and B’s, but I did not feel challenged. I went from answering essay-style questions to multiple choice questions. I did not have to know the answer. I only had to guess it. Plus, the repetitive content made me less willing to try hard, as I already knew them. Let me say, this is not a good attitude for anyone to have. It only spawns complacency. I hate to say that this 'laid back' attitude followed me through my high school years. I only experienced a slight jolt of discomfort when I took Geometry in summer school and started learning proofs. NEVER TAKE GEOMETRY IN SUMMER SCHOOL IF YOU CAN AVOID IT. It's best to take it during the year where you have time to digest the concepts before the next quiz or test (a little advice from your friendly, neighborhood blogger). However, I am digressing. Sadly, the experience of discomfort was transient, and I went back to being pretty 'laissez-faire' until my sophomore/junior year of college.

This is only one of many anti-immigrant experiences I faced. When the 419-era came in the early-2000s, where Nigerians were scamming people online for money, I was among a handful of Nigerian students at my school, defending why not all Nigerians are scammers and con-artists. Then came the West Nile virus scare not too long after that. A couple of classmates kept clear of me for a while. At that time, if you were Africa, minus Egypt (for some reason, Egyptians were not considered Africans then), you either had West Nile or AIDS. A nonsensical thought process that the teachers did nothing to quell. However, all these negative experiences did not stop me from reading books and working hard to pursue a challenging profession like engineering. I did not change my name or reject my cultural heritage. It was not an easy experience though. Partly because I could not refer to accomplishments from other Nigerians like myself in the United States. It's not like they did not exist. There just was not much fanfare around spreading the contributions of Africans. Things got better after 2010, but it took a while.

This post is not meant to trash America. The current leader might be a jerk and openly biased towards certain groups of people, American and non-American, but the country has made strides in the past to celebrate immigrant-born Americans. Plenty of other countries have voiced this anti-immigrant sentiment, including African countries. No matter the country, the rhetoric can be a blistering condemnation of immigrants which many times lead to violence against immigrant groups from domestic zealots. Though the elderly immigrants take some of the anti-immigrant sentiments spewed in public and at their workplaces, the effects of the sentiments are mostly felt by the immigrant youths who are still trying to find themselves in an already hostile world. They are the easiest immigrant groups to give in to gang violence and extremist pressure. I feel the easiest way to reassure immigrant youths that they do not need to change themselves to fit in with the general population, is to connect them with immigrants, like them, whose contributions have positively affected immigrants and non-immigrants, alike. Which is why I'm launching an Immigrant-Pride multi-series post where I highlight the achievements of immigrants from all around the world. This will span from music and movies, to technological advancements.

It is true that some immigrants come to a country with ill-intentions. However, painting an entire immigrant group with a broad brush by bunching them with a small percentage of harmful, ill-willed immigrants, is a fallacious perspective that only strengthens the cause of the immigrants who care nothing for you and me.

There are immigrants who come to a country, to provide a better life for themselves, their families and the community they represent. They leave their lands to escape persecution and find work that helps them put food on the table and clothes on their backs. They pay taxes and are active in their communities, steering non-profit organizations and donating items like food, clothing and services. They respect the land they are in, and are grateful for the blessings they have, yet they still yearn to contribute their efforts to making their native homes safe and prosperous. These immigrants are too often replaced by mean-spirited, violent, non-caring ones who so happen to come from their land, but they do not represent their values. It’s the hard-working, caring, community-sensitive immigrants who I am honoring. They are the youths who work hard to become doctors, lawyers and advocates to those without a voice. They are the entrepreneurs who create devices and invent methods to tackle some of the most difficult problems our global society have faced. They are me and they are you.

So, what can you, the reader, do to contribute? Of course, if you are a musician, actor, or anyone who is actively involved in music or movie, send me a link to your work. It does not necessarily have to be profession. I’ll have a look and respond back to you as soon as I can. To those of you who have contacted me and haven't heard a reply, I apologize. I have not glanced at my email in a while, so its likely cluttered with all promos and other junk mail. Please reach out to me again and I will respond back as soon as I can. If your work is thoughtful and moving, I will dedicate a blog post in your honor.

Also, I am including a poll of countries where prominent immigrants have come from who have positively impacted society on a domestic, and global scale. Vote on which countries you want this site to focus on and please send me a message on countries you feel should be on the list. I'll look at them and do some research on positively-impacting immigrants from there. If you know some immigrants, please mention them on the comment box. There are thousands of immigrant inventors, scientists, activists, musicians and the like. So, don't be surprised if I miss a few.

Finally, if you're a blogger, extend the movement of immigrant pride to your site. Point me to your site and let me know what about your culture, you are most proud of. Most likely, I'll dedicate a post to you and give your blog a major shout-out.

So, I hope you'll join me in welcoming The Modern Youth's first Immigrant Pride event. Keep your heads high. The country you came from have likely produced prominent immigrants. Someone just hasn’t properly honored them yet.

If it hasn’t, you can be the first. You have what it takes --- your name, a rich history and a community that supports you. Just continue expanding your knowledge, contribute to your community and take the mantle as a leader for the immigrants who will come after you.

I look forward to sharing this moment with all of you. With that, let's kick it off with the first of many posts.

With that said, let us kick-off the event with the Nigerian immigrant community. The country of Nigeria has produced some influential inventors, doctors and mathematicians --- one of which is known for his direct contribution to the Internet. His name is Philip Emeagwali. His expertise and efforts made it possible for microprocessors to communicate to multiple other ‘neighboring microprocessors’ at the same time. Also considered as one of the fathers of the Internet, Dr. Philip Emeagwali also contributed in how computers detect oil reservoirs.^1,2 Here is a short biography of him from the TIME.

Given this is also a music and movie site, I cannot end this post without a link to a song or a movie clip. I do not know if Dr. Emeagwali is a fan of rap, but I hope he enjoys this song from one of the most influential rappers of the early 2000s. He is also of Nigerian descent. The song is called “Hip Hop Police/Evening News” by Chamillionaire featuring the epic, Slick Rick. Enjoy!

Chamillionaire - Hip Hop Police/Evening News ft. Slick Rick

Special thanks to ChamillionaireVEVO for sharing this video. Feel free to like the video on its official YouTube page here and leave a comment.

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M.I.A "Rewear It": The Voice of Textile Recycling

Sources:

¹ Gray, Madison. “Philip Emeagwali, A Calculated Move”. Time. Created: Friday, 12^th January 2007. Viewed: March 11^th 2018.
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1963424_1963480_1963457,00.html

² “Dr. Philip Emeagwali – Inventor of the World’s Fastest Computer”. Famous Black Inventors. Viewed: March 11^th 2018. http://www.black-inventor.com/Dr-Philip-Emeagwali.asp.