Students share family hardships immigrating to America

Krystal Ortiz Contributing Writer

The Student Leader Alliance for Multiculturalism sponsored a discussion panel titled “Coming to America: Stories from We, the People” on Nov. 8 in the EndZone, as a part of this year’s Week of the Peacemaker.

The student speakers were seniors Tamara Abi-Mourshed and Jasmine Solano as well as sophomore Maria Desir and junior Ella Gregorio. The discussion was facilitated by Dr. Alison Rivers, a psychologist at the Iona Counseling Center.

During the event, the students shared the hardships of their families immigrating to America and what different lessons could be taken from each of the stories they had to tell.

Tamara Abi-Mourshed told the story of her Middle Eastern family, who travelled between Lebanon and Syria through breakouts of war during its French occupation. Abi-Mourshed said her family still found the light within each other before immigrating to America, in which they would endure a whole new set of struggles involving discrimination, prejudice and assimilation.

“Us sharing our stories – I want you to take light from that, whether it’s you explaining our story to someone else or being empowered by what you heard and want to learn more,” Abi-Mourshed said.

Solano then described her parents’ hardworking virtue and their struggles in leaving a comfortable life in the Dominican Republic to build a life in America. Solano also shared a wise lesson she learned in high school.

“Society works like a hand,” Solano said. “So if I want to pick up this pen, I can’t just do it without the assistance of my palm and my other fingers. In order to tackle an issue, or end a stigma or stereotype, we all need to work together just like a hand does to pick something up.”

Desir, who was the third speaker, told the story of her Haitian parents immigrating to America just before she was born, and how they taught her that illiteracy does not equate ignorance. The story also shed a light on conditions in developing nations. Desir also said that she wanted those who heard her story to take something from what she had to say.

“Me being Jamaican, you being Haitian, whether you being bisexual or any label by which you identify, at the end of the day, you are still a human being,” Desir said. “That is how we should treat each other, as human beings first.”

President of SLAM Ella Gregorio then told those in attendance about how sad the decision of starting a life somewhere else could be. She also talked about the significance of the event within the context of the Week of the Peacemaker.

“There are so many things that transcend the color of your skin and where you come from,” Gregorio said. “It’s ironic that we are talking about this in a week where we are focused on immigration, but in reality, we are pointing out that we are not that different. We feel pain in the same way, and we all experience happiness and joy in the same way. It’s all the same, and that goes above and beyond any label you can put on somebody.”

Professor Derese Kassa from the Sociology department, who attended the event, spoke about his past experiences as an immigrant and refugee and praised the panel for sharing their stories and the depiction of immigrants in America.

“I think it was an incredibly well-done panel,” Kassa said. “I think all the presentations were really moving. One thing that stood out for me was the sheer honesty of it. The depiction of what their parents went through and had to solve, and showing the students trying to navigate two different cultural identities.”

Dr. Carl Procario-Foley, director of the Office of Mission and Ministry, recognized their stories as powerful and expressed the importance of sharing stories like theirs.

“The Week of the Peacemaker has been a lot about listening,” Procario-Foley said to the speakers. “That’s not well done in our culture. We need to listen, and it’s been a privilege listening to you guys.”