Humans Of New York: Immigration
Yusum- Gujarat, India
Amongst the hectic streets of Jackson Heights stood a shop window with a faint silhouette of a man’s body. An arm rose from the silhouette and waved back and forth towards oncoming tourists. Yusum attracted a group of individuals around him eager to hear about his journey of immigration. Between busy restaurants and barber shops, he made others notice him with the power of his story.
Yusum is from Gujarat, India and moved to the United States in 1992. He was motivated to begin life in the United States because his brother lived there. “My brother was here. He died. My three brothers are dead,” he said.
Although he is the last remaining of his brothers, he still has a family whom he lives with. “My wife is here and my son all together. My son is working now,” Yusum said.
For six to seven hours a day, Yusum stands in the window of his shop which he opened four years ago. Everyday, he surrounds himself with various spices which he sells to passersby. His life has been dedicated to supporting his family through his work. “I have family. I only work and then home,” Yusum said.
When he spoke of his family, his lips opened wide to reveal a toothless smile. “Four years before I make the teeth at the dentist. He gave me the dentures, but I am without teeth. I eat rice, but I have no teeth,” he said.
As he finished explaining his recent life story, the same hand which attracts people to Yusum wave people away knowing more than they did when they approached him.
Rico Frederick- Trinidad
“Okay if I’m in an elevator , I can’t move too fast ‘cus I will freak somebody out. This has happened to me in an elevator before in my own building. In the elevator, the door opens and someone does not expect me to be in my own elevator so they freak out and start screaming. I’m like ‘okay what did I do?’ She's like ‘oh I didn’t expect you to be here.’I’m like ‘I’m in an elevator where do you expect me to be?’ There are people walking into grocery stores or Macys. The security guards are like ‘what are you doing here?’ and I’m like ‘dude it’s Macys.’ The stories that you hear on the news are crazy, but they’re real. Someone got arrested for buying a Gucci belt at a Macys because no one could believe that he could afford to buy a Gucci belt for his mother. I started really taking note of all the things that I do just as a precursor to anything that could, might, or will happen to me on a day-to-day basis. So the stories are all real. I was kicked off of a campus because they couldn’t believe I was in the art department. Security came and was like ‘yo what are you doing here?’ I was like ‘here’s my school ID. I can be here.’ They’re like ‘no you can’t be here. You’re in the writing department. You’re not allowed to be in the art department.’ I’m like ‘but I’m a 20 year graphic designer. I’m pretty sure I could teach a class here if I needed to.’ And they’re like ‘nope you gotta go.’ And escorted me out of my own campus.”
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