The New Americans

by Rubén Martínez, Joseph Rodriguez (Photographer)

Spanning four continents and several years in the lives of seven immigrant families, The New Americans is at once the most globe-trotting and intimate introduction to the new American immigration. Emmy Award–winning journalist Rubén Martínez's "powerful and perceptive chronicle" ( Booklist ) lyrically recounts the dramatic voyages and day-to-day experiences of a small group of families who were featured in the PBS documentary of the same name. They come from Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, India, and the Dominican Republic, and wind up in Chicago, Montana, Silicon Valley, and the California badlands. Their stories―told with "enthralling" ( Publishers Weekly ) literary skill and illustrated with stunning portraits from award-winning photographer Joseph Rodriguez―paint a portrait of the new, multicultural America. Martinez weaves his own family's moving immigrant history into the book, and essays on the films of Indian American director Mira Nair, the contemporary corridos of Mexican border musicians Los Tigres del Norte, and other immigrant artists explore the ways the new immigrant culture is transforming the United States.

Genres: History, Education

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Rubén Martínez, an Emmy-winning journalist and poet, is the author of Crossing Over, Desert America and The New Americans. He lives in Los Angeles, where he holds the Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature and Writing at Loyola Marymount University.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rubenm...

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the companion to a PBS documentary about 7 families who came to the US. It provides a human perspective to the difficult choices immigrants have to make that even an immigration attorney benefits from being reminded of.

[Bresney Pettit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I can’t think of a single thing about this book that I didn’t like. The author is incredibly talented, and knows how to form a beautiful, heartbreaking picture for the reader in every story. He integrated his own story throughout, but did so in a way that tied the stories together rather than detracting from one another.

The stories were truly eye-opening about how our country, built on immigration, treats immigrants so poorly. Obviously, I’ve always known this on a surface-level having experienced 9/11 in kindergarten and watching how the dynamic changed. But, it’s undoubtedly worse than I ever could have imagined in my child-mind, especially as a white child. It’s so important for people to listen to these stories — these people who came to America for a slice of the “American Dream” and portraying how what they gained came at a painful price. How the “American Dream” is a myth for most. Of course this book is dated as it was written over 15 years ago, but the conversation around immigration has unfortunately not changed all that much, leaving this book heartbreakingly relevant.

I also loved learning about the rebels and exiles, those who put their lives on the line to fight against the oppressive regimes in their countries. Americans always think that people just flee their countries in such violent times, when in reality there are so many who choose to stay. Seeing such patriotism for the lands that they loved expressed in beautiful music and poetry was incredible, and it introduced me to artists and writers that I wanted to read from and learn more about.

There was one line that struck me so intensely that I had to write it down:

“It’s no wonder, then, that American nativists seem to share rhetorical if not philosophical ground with Islamic extremists: Both want a return to that mythical time before the fall into global chaos, to return to the ‘purity’ of the culture. It seems that Pat Buchanan and Osama Bin Laden actually have a lot in common.”

I highly recommend this book to absolutely anybody that claims to care for their fellow human. You cannot do so without caring for humans from any corner of the world, practicing any religion, speaking any language, donning any clothing, of any skin color. We are all human, deserving of compassion and love. Listen to their stories.

[Bradley Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fly-on-the-wall experience that helps us understand a variety of scenarios of the immigrant's journey and the composition of our diverse country.