COMPLEX ALLEGIANCES
Constellations of Immigration, Citizenship & Belonging
A Wising Up Anthology
Charles D. Brockett, Heather Tosteson, Anna Steegman
Editors
We invite you to listen with us as forty-six people from twenty-one countries on six continents thoughtfully explore through memoirs, essays, interviews, and poetry their complex relationships to U.S. citizenship, residency, and their individual sense of community and belonging—as birthright citizens with little direct acquaintance with the U.S., naturalized citizens, dual (or triple) citizens by birth or choice, serial citizens, asylees, diversity lottery winners, lifetime expats, U.S. or global families with differing citizenship statuses and cultural attachments, undocumented residents with a keen desire for citizenship, or lifetime permanent resident aliens with none. Why do we come, stay, go, commit, 'Americanize'? Where do we belong? Each story here presents us with a unique and changing constellation of allegiances and answers—all of which help us understand better what is involved in fostering an increasingly inclusive sense of community and belonging where we live today. 398 pages ISBN 978-0-9827262-5-9
EXCERPTS
Table of Contents
Introduction: Constellations of Belonging: What You Will Find Here
I. Why Does It Matter?
Charles D. Brockett: Allegiances Straightforward and Complex: Social and Historical Context
Heather Tosteson: Listening for Belonging I
II. Why Do We Come?
Ara Sarkissian: Where Is the 'We'?
III. Why Do We Stay?
Natalia Trevino: And Crown Our Good
IV. Why Do We Go?
Yar Donlah Gonway-Gono: To Me Education Is Sacred
Alexandrina Sergio: Can You Take the Country Out of the Girl?
Jose Varible: Jose Dreams of Becoming an American Citizen
V. Why Do We Commit?
Anna Steegmann: The New (Torn) American
Nikolina Kulidzan: Margaritas and Guacamole
VI. What Does 'American' Have to Do with It?
Julija Suput: The Return Home
Diana Anhalt: Growing Roots
VII. Where Do We Belong?
Brian Jungwittanaporn: Asian/American
Thomas Spaccarelli: Internationalism
CONTRIBUTORS
Diana Anhalt◊Emily Beeson◊William Betancourt◊Jennifer Clark
Emilio DeGrazia◊D. Elwood Dunn◊Aurora Ferrer◊Mariana Figuera
Debra Gingerich◊Yar Donlah Gonway-Gon◊Paige Higbie◊Jodi Hottel
Brian Jungwiwattanaporn◊Murali Kamma◊Marcelle Kasprowicz
Janet Kim◊Joe Kim◊Nikolina Kulidžan◊Zoë Losada◊Iain Macdonald
Andy Martin◊Buddhwanti Masih◊Alan Masters◊Mary O'Connor
Saad Nabeel◊Carl Palmer◊L.S.◊Plamen Russev◊Ara Sarkissian
Alexandrina Sergio◊Lauren Sergio◊Thomas D. Spaccarelli
Anna Steegmann◊Tom Sternberg◊Julija Suput◊Taye
Natalia Treviño◊José Varible◊Shantilata Yohan
