Because I don’t live in Brooklyn, I don’t have much knowledge about the immigrant experience in Brooklyn specifically. However, because my mother has worked in Brooklyn for the past sixteen years, I do have a vague understanding of the various immigrant groups in Brooklyn. Most prominent is the Caribbean-American population in Brooklyn. Another immigrant group in Brooklyn that I know a bit more about is the Bangladeshi-American population, a community that I am part of. While there is arguably a bigger population in neighboring borough Queens, Brooklyn still has a substantial Bangladeshi presence. In neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant there is a large and growing Bangladeshi immigrant population. Besides Bed-Stuy, there is a sizable Bangladeshi population in neighborhoods like Fort Greene and Midwood.
In terms of my own life, I definitely think that my story and my family’s story is a small part of the larger immigrant experience of New York City. My father immigrated to the US in the early 1980s, settling in Kansas to go to college. After my mother joined him in the US in 1990, my parents decided to move to Texas, where they lived for about five years (and where I was born).
Growing up in Queens, I was very much aware of the fact that most of my peers were a product of immigrant families just like me. Many of my classmates would talk about the other languages they would speak at home, the different foods eaten, and the various holidays and religious traditions they partook in. As a young child, this definitely brought with it a sense of belonging and a deeper connection with my friends; the fact that I spoke a different language at home definitely wasn’t unique. I found myself feeling much more in touch with my heritage because there wasn’t a stigma associated with being a second-generation immigrant. I feel blessed to have grown in such a diverse community, something that definitely fostered a great sense of tolerance and open-mindedness in me. And although I moved out of Queens when I was twelve years old, my community on Long Island is thankfully just as diverse.
My family took advantage of New York City’s rich cultural landscape. We would frequently attend cultural events in our community—something that fostered a greater sense of unity among the Bangladeshi population. It was through these events that I met many Bangladeshi-American children of my age, people that I still call friends. Many of the places we valued were linked to our Bangladeshi culture. Places like Eisenhower Park on Long Island, where there were frequent Bangladeshi musical events, are symbolic in a sense of the country itself.
My upbringing undoubtedly led to my decision to stay in New York City when it came to deciding on a college. I knew I wanted to go to a diverse school, with people from all different backgrounds and from all different walks of life. My decision is not unique; when contemplating whether to move back to Houston, my parents too have decided against it for the same reason on numerous occasions—they would rather live somewhere with a lively and dynamic cultural environment, something Houston does not offer.
Because of the unique environment of New York City, I feel like I have been given opportunities that my peers from other parts of the country have not had. I am surrounded by people of all nationalities, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds. A CUNY especially gives me the unique opportunity to meet people that I might not have interacted with in my high school. Furthermore, New York City as a whole is much more tolerant and accepting of immigrants and children of immigrants than other places in the country. Due to this, I feel like my family (especially my mother) has been able to pursue a career that is much more accepting of the fact that she is a woman of color. This, in my opinion, is New York City’s biggest feat and most praiseworthy characteristic.
This is a picture of me in Paris this winter break and of Eisenhower Park, a place that is important to me and my family.
