(reed instrumental music)
- My great-grandfather came over to America
from Northern Iran around the turn of the 20th century,
escaping the massacres.
There was a moment when he was cornered by
some men that demanded that he deny his faith
or they would shoot him, but he refused.
He said he'd rather die than deny his faith in Christ.
And so they pulled the trigger,
but the gun didn't go off.
- My dad came from Hong Kong in the 60's.
I think the biggest thing that I don't have to face
that my dad had to face was
probably just financial.
He started off just doing restaurant work.
He was slowly able to get a job as an engineer.
- My grandmother immigrated from Cuba
to the States in 1967 via the Freedom Flights.
When Castro came in,
they had to leave everything behind.
The moment you made it known to the government
that you were planning on leaving via the Freedom Flights,
they had someone watching you every day,
day in and day out.
So they basically boarded the flight
with just the clothing on their back
and I think my mom had a doll.
- My grandmother immigrated from Mexico in the 50's.
My grandfather came to America to make money
and send it back to the family.
She decided enough was enough
and the family needed to be together.
So she sold all of their earthly possessions
and sent him a telegram,
saying "we will be arriving" and just left with them.
- My mom came from Ghana to America in 1979.
Her father died when she was one
and her mother died when she was about 10 years old.
My mother is someone who's very
thoughtful and she thinks of everyone
and I think that's always something I've appreciated
and I've always hoped that some time in the future,
I'd be able to become like that.
- I am excited.
- [Voiceover] Open your eyes.
- Whoa, wow.
(laughing) It looks amazing.
It is kind of a way to like,
literally stepping into his shoes kind of a thing.
It's funny 'cause growing up, people said that
I kinda looked like him,
but now I look a lot like him.
- (laughing) I totally look like my dad.
These glasses, they really help it.
I think if you ever needed proof
that I am my dad's child, then this is it.
(laughing) It can take second-generation kids
a little bit more time than other kids
to develop that feeling of self-worth.
- (laughing) Oh my God.
I did not know you could do this with my hair.
It's the eyebrows all right,
my grandma's all about those dark eyebrows.
It just feels like I've been through a lot,
that's what it feels like.
For me it was a big deal just moving cross-country,
but to know that you're never gonna
see your family again kinda thing
and no communication whatsoever,
except for like a phone call every now and then,
that's just, what?
- Oh my gosh!
Oh my gosh, what? (laughing)
I only know the cultural things
that she's passed down to me,
so to be able to wear this and have a connection
to not only her, but also my grandmother, who owned this,
it's really nice because I don't always
get to share those things with her.
- Oh my God! (laughing)
Wow, oh my gosh.
See, I'm so emotional right now. (laughing)
She's at the end of her life
and I wish I had appreciated her more
when I was younger.
It's hard when you have that like,
language barrier and you have the cultural differences
and knowing the sacrifices that she made and
all the things she did for her family,
I just wish I had understood that
and appreciated that when I was younger.
Being an immigrant, for some reason,
in this time is something that is dividing us
when it's actually something that should be uniting us.
- It took me a really, really long time
for me to learn that being Asian
and not being form here was actually really cool and
it really informs how I go about my life.
- You can't let fear stop you from moving forward
and making a better life for yourself,
no matter what the situation you're in.
(uplifting guitar music)