We Live Here
Personal stories challenge stereotypes and can overcome misunderstanding.
This is our hope as we tell the stories of immigrants and refugees in north Texas. We are shedding light on their contributions to the economy, and to the character and spirit of our city and our country.
A fourth of Dallas residents are foreign-born and they make up a third of the workforce. About a fourth of immigrant workers are in science, math and engineering—the STEM fields. And, immigrants represent a third of all entrepreneurs and business owners in Dallas.
Our multimedia installation: "Dallas is Home," is also a social-media campaign and community collaboration with immigrant families in the Dallas area. Starting November 16th, and through -December 20, you can see the exhibit at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center in Dallas at 223 West Jefferson Blvd. Soon, too, the installation will become an online documentary.
Our goal is illuminating the public’s view of the cultures shaping the region, making it more diverse and vibrant. This is the first dialogue in a conversation we hope to have with the public, much as migration itself is a series of encounters between people, where each step of the journey is a human interaction.
At the exhibition visitors will find a viewing area that echoes the domestic spaces we encountered as we collected photographs and audio recordings. Our hosts—the immigrants and refugees—welcomed us as guests, gave us tours of their homes, cooked meals for us and offered openness and generosity that will forever mark our visits. The simple interactions over food and stories re-enforced the proven notion that such sharing is basic to our learning, our wellbeing and our survival as humans.
In addition to their stories, we hope to share with our viewers, readers and listeners the warmth we encountered when visiting our fellow Texans.
Htee Shee
Htee Shee, (second from left) arrived in Dallas, Texas with her parents and infant brother when she was four-years-old. Her parents are ethnic Karen faced violence in Myanmar, causing them to flee to a refugee camp in Thailand where she and her brother were born. Her parents sought to emigrate when they saw Htee Shee would not have the education she craved as a young child in the camp. During her first school years in Dallas, she was bullied and ostracized by her young classmates. She says the discrimination motivated her to learn English and excel in school. This year she graduated from the Irma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, a public school in Dallas, and is now attending the University of North Texas on a scholarship to study business and art.
Pedraza Family
Cindy, Gala and Andrea Pedraza (L-R) are pictured in their herb garden where Andrea (right) the co-founder and chef of Coco Andre Chocolatier in Dallas, Texas grows herbs used in her recipes based on coco sourced in Mexico. Andrea Pedraza arrived in the United States without papers in the 1970's and was naturalized during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Here she founded her forward-thinking community oriented business Coco Andre with her daughter Cindy. Cindy and granddaughter Gala were born in the United States.
Syrian Familes
Rania Alalmad (left, yellow hijab), mother of 4 and Nawara Shaker (right, white hijab) mother of 2, are pictured with their children in Nawara's living room in Dallas, Texas. The families fled violence in Syria and have been adjusting to life in Dallas in a neighborhood where a number of Syrians have settled. The women work with an organization called Break Bread, Break Borders which helps immigrants to apply their cooking skills to a catering business in order to financially support their families.