My Favorite Book for 2022: Go Back to Where You Came From
OMG! This is my favorite book of 2022 and I highly recommend it.
I listened to it on audiobook and it is read by the author, Wajahat Ali. I highly recommend listening to the book rather than reading it. Wajahat has done a TED talk, been a successful playwright and director of The Domestic Crusaders, and is a writer, activist, and recovering attorney.
Wajahat's parents immigrated to the US in 1965 and he was born in CA in 1980. He describes he and his family's journey over 40 decades with humor and self-awareness interwoven with the harsh realities of being a person of color while trying to achieve the American dream.
He kicks off his book with actual hate emails that he receives. His responses are humorous, but it is along the lines of "I laugh to keep from crying" because there is so much hate and vitriol in the emails.
His father was almost deported when his father was studying in the US. The random act of kindness by a stranger prevented his father from being deported the following day. Other people who were involved in the situation did not offer to help and had racist views toward immigrants. Wajahat's father was approved for an "Einstein" visa which is typically given to immigrants with "extraordinary ability" and those who are highly acclaimed in their field, such as academic researchers, Pulitzer, Oscar and Olympic winners. It is the same type of visa that was granted to Melania Knauss (Trump) in 2001 when she was a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump.
Wajahat grew up with a "healthy" build which required him to wear Husky jeans with a Husky label on the back that was in "92 font and visible from outer space."
Wajahat is also left-handed and he humorously describes being a lefty in a "right supremacy" world.
One of Wajahat's aunts visited from Pakistan and became extremely concerned when she saw a Black man when they were getting gas at a gas station. When Wajahat asked her about her unwarranted concerns, she mentioned that in Pakistan the television information from America typically shows Blacks as criminals and people to be feared.
Wajahat also shares his perspective on the "model minority" that is often used to describe Asian/Pacific Islanders. He stated, "We don't rock the boat, we row the boat." Then he shares why that approach and perspective can be damaging.
While he was attending college, his parents were arrested as part of Operation Cyberstorm---the FBI and Microsoft partnered together to locate individuals who were suspected of selling and distributing counterfeit software, laundering money, and committing credit card fraud. Forty-seven people were arrested.
When his parents were arrested, the US government confiscated all property belonging to the family. Wajahat was in his 20's and had to figure out how to help his parents get an attorney, where he and his two grandmothers would live, how he would earn money to pay expenses, etc. It was a tremendous ordeal to handle. Many of their friends and people in their community turned on them.
After many years of investigation and legal appeals, 4 people of the 27 arrested were sentenced. His parents were sentenced to 5 years in jail and ordered to pay restitution of $20 million to Microsoft.
At age 30, Wajahat and his mom were sharing a bedroom in his uncle's home with a few boxes of belongings prior to the date when his mom reported to prison.
His book is filled with the peaks and valleys of life, but the peaks are more jagged and shorter and the valleys are deep, almost unnavigable troughs due to how immigrants and people of color are viewed and treated in America---even when children of immigrants are born in America and are American citizens.
Despite the various challenges he has faced, including his two-year old daughter's battle with stage 4 cancer, he is optimistic and creates a rallying call to invest in hope. He asks readers/listeners to imagine they have a bi-racial grandchild whom they love dearly. What would each reader/listener do differently to ensure their bi-racial grandchild was safe and able to reach their fullest potential.
This is one of the most memorable, poignant, humorous memoirs that I have read that bear testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.
Highly, highly recommend! Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American
I listened to it on audiobook and it is read by the author, Wajahat Ali. I highly recommend listening to the book rather than reading it. Wajahat has done a TED talk, been a successful playwright and director of The Domestic Crusaders, and is a writer, activist, and recovering attorney.
Wajahat's parents immigrated to the US in 1965 and he was born in CA in 1980. He describes he and his family's journey over 40 decades with humor and self-awareness interwoven with the harsh realities of being a person of color while trying to achieve the American dream.
He kicks off his book with actual hate emails that he receives. His responses are humorous, but it is along the lines of "I laugh to keep from crying" because there is so much hate and vitriol in the emails.
His father was almost deported when his father was studying in the US. The random act of kindness by a stranger prevented his father from being deported the following day. Other people who were involved in the situation did not offer to help and had racist views toward immigrants. Wajahat's father was approved for an "Einstein" visa which is typically given to immigrants with "extraordinary ability" and those who are highly acclaimed in their field, such as academic researchers, Pulitzer, Oscar and Olympic winners. It is the same type of visa that was granted to Melania Knauss (Trump) in 2001 when she was a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump.
Wajahat grew up with a "healthy" build which required him to wear Husky jeans with a Husky label on the back that was in "92 font and visible from outer space."
Wajahat is also left-handed and he humorously describes being a lefty in a "right supremacy" world.
One of Wajahat's aunts visited from Pakistan and became extremely concerned when she saw a Black man when they were getting gas at a gas station. When Wajahat asked her about her unwarranted concerns, she mentioned that in Pakistan the television information from America typically shows Blacks as criminals and people to be feared.
Wajahat also shares his perspective on the "model minority" that is often used to describe Asian/Pacific Islanders. He stated, "We don't rock the boat, we row the boat." Then he shares why that approach and perspective can be damaging.
While he was attending college, his parents were arrested as part of Operation Cyberstorm---the FBI and Microsoft partnered together to locate individuals who were suspected of selling and distributing counterfeit software, laundering money, and committing credit card fraud. Forty-seven people were arrested.
When his parents were arrested, the US government confiscated all property belonging to the family. Wajahat was in his 20's and had to figure out how to help his parents get an attorney, where he and his two grandmothers would live, how he would earn money to pay expenses, etc. It was a tremendous ordeal to handle. Many of their friends and people in their community turned on them.
After many years of investigation and legal appeals, 4 people of the 27 arrested were sentenced. His parents were sentenced to 5 years in jail and ordered to pay restitution of $20 million to Microsoft.
At age 30, Wajahat and his mom were sharing a bedroom in his uncle's home with a few boxes of belongings prior to the date when his mom reported to prison.
His book is filled with the peaks and valleys of life, but the peaks are more jagged and shorter and the valleys are deep, almost unnavigable troughs due to how immigrants and people of color are viewed and treated in America---even when children of immigrants are born in America and are American citizens.
Despite the various challenges he has faced, including his two-year old daughter's battle with stage 4 cancer, he is optimistic and creates a rallying call to invest in hope. He asks readers/listeners to imagine they have a bi-racial grandchild whom they love dearly. What would each reader/listener do differently to ensure their bi-racial grandchild was safe and able to reach their fullest potential.
This is one of the most memorable, poignant, humorous memoirs that I have read that bear testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.
Highly, highly recommend! Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American
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