WHAT IS YOUR IMMIGRATION STORY?
Susu Schwaber is a creative producer.
So I was adopted when I was around two or three from China. And I'm originally from Chicago. That's where my parents are from. But yeah, it's just been me and my family in Chicago and then I've kind of been traveling to other states through various parts of my life, whether it be for college or for a career change, et cetera, lifestyle change. So I think that the word immigration can kind of be loaded sometimes because everyone comes to the United States and some people are like, I don't know. I don't know.
And then, yeah, moving out when I went to college, that was when I had my very first Asian American movement history class. And that was like the first time that I learned about Chinese immigrants moving to the US. And I was shocked because I didn't hear any of this in my history classes growing up. So it's crazy that only in college is when I learned about everything.
WHAT DOES YOUR CURRENT JOURNEY LOOK LIKE?
How would you best describe your journey towards embracing an American identity if you've so chosen to do so?
I think I've never really thought of myself as not American. So for me, it's kind of just I've grown up with this identity and only when I've gotten older and learned about other people's injustices and other people being othered is when I started to feel like they can call themselves American because of different just situations that they have been in or they've been put through because growing up I grew up just like in a white suburban area and everyone was super nice I never experienced a lot of prejudice or anything bad really.
REFLECTIONS
"So like I said earlier, when I was in middle school, high school, I didn't learn anything about Asian American history. And so I think part of that, I wasn't able to learn about my Asian identity at all. And so I'm hoping that we're able to bring more of these stories out to younger people so that it doesn't come to a shock. It doesn't come as a shock to them when they get to like 18 or 20 and they're like, what, like all of this happened? And then a lot they don't have, I guess for, not everyone, but for me it was like, I feel like I had to learn and I'm still learning way more about my own cultural identity. And sometimes it's hard because I never really grew up with a Chinese figure in my life. Just kind of being in this whole Asian community feels more like familiar to me than just being part of only a Chinese identity.
I'm just hoping that learning, having more people learn more about these different stories and what's happening currently and what happened in the past, that people are able to find a sense of familiarity, so that they don't feel "other," where or whatever stage they're in life."
— Susu Schwaber, a creative producer.
