373 posts. For most of my life, I told myself that I was just oversensitive, that I read too much into thingseven though chink was among the first English words I learned, even though I had never been in a public space in America without fearing for my bodily safety. QJW: I think it was very difficult for my parents to shift their relationship to work. She joins us now from Brooklyn, N.Y. Absolutely, I had always thought I would maybe one day write it as a child. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me an undocumented migrant. And for all three of us, it just happens to be around the same age of 7 or 8. Even so, I figured I would never make it happen, because I lived under messaging from all directions, my parents included, that my past was shameful and had to be kept hidden. QJW: Its deeply problematic to me when people try to frame my story as the American dream because there were profound privileges that I came into these years of being undocumented with, with the primary privilege being that my parents were able to get a good education in China, however you may define it. The Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative, From Undocumented Child to Successful American Jewish Lawyer and Writer. It was a physical kind of labor, and that was especially taxing for my mother not just because of her health issues, but also because she was a woman, and the ways that manifested I think deeply, deeply affected her. It was safe and I could always count on it to supply my old and new family and friends in the form of beloved characters and all for free. In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of Charlottes Web (which I still have!) By clicking Subscribe, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to PenguinRandomHouses, certain categories of personal information, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information. What would that little girl think about me having paid off all my loans and having no excuse anymore to be afraid of being hungry, to continue to work for and represent corporations and billionaires and be in this kind of golden-handcuff situation? For the ceremony, I wore a white gown that I never even thought about it until my husband pointed out, Your parents are super-playful. At age 7, Wang moved with her academic parents from China to Brooklyn, where they lived undocumented for five years. I decided to embark on writing this when I became a citizen in May 2016, six months before the election. After that, I thrust myself into writing. It was not until after years of therapy of struggling to make peace with my past while etching a balanced, ethical relationship with food that I realized my response to Sharples had been far from abnormal. I love memoirs that read like novels - the ones that are not just factual but also artistic. That required a lot of intensive therapy, unearthing traumas and memories that I had shoved into the basement of my mind and of my heart. Having been professors in China, their work was mostly intellectual through the use of their ideas and concepts and thought, and we came here, and work became very much physical. SN: How did your work as a lawyer influence the writing of this book, and vice versa? This years Rosh Hashanah is major for me for many reasons. By virtue of being Asian is just - I was just seen as being weak. Theres never a fee to submit your organizations information for consideration. SIMON: What did your parents caution you you should avoid saying and doing because your family was without documents? So help us understand how you navigated through that world. Its a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. So it finally culminated in the night that I found her rolling in bed and forced to call 911, and then holding my breath and waiting to see if she would get medical attention or we would instead get deported. To check it out at their local library? Qian Julie Wang, who is a Yale Law graduate, now an attorney, has written a memoir, "Beautiful Country." QIAN JULIE WANG: It was very difficult at first because these years were years that I never allowed myself to think about or talk about for decades, because my I was attuned to my mother's every move pretty much the minute we landed at JFK. I knew from my father, who had been an English literature professor in China, that native fluency would be the prerequisite to finding acceptance in American society, and on this front, I relied on my good friends Clifford, Berenstain Bears, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar to introduce me to the very basics of the English language. SARAH NEILSON: How did you access and embody your childhood voice in the book? In the book near the end a Judge says this very powerful line that seemed like the core of the book. the truth? Minor Feelings gave me the permission I didnt know I needed, and it helped me dig up more of my voice, my compassionand in the wake of anti-Asian hate and Atlanta, this is a change Ive seen in not just myself but younger Asian Americans across the nation. And that's why they think immigration should be strictly regulated, because undocumented people can be exploited. That contrast weighed on me far more than my newfound pounds. We are not a monolith by any means, but the unity of intersectionality is a beautiful thing. There is great pressure for people from marginalized communities, and particularly for immigrants and people of color, to choose between the either/or of the facets of their identities. Your parents are such a central part to the book as you are an only child. Rarely are we able able to attend services without receiving at least some inappropriate, offensive remark. Qian Julie Wang was bornthe daughter of two professors in China and when she was seven, they moved to Mei Guo (the Beautiful Country) America and became undocumented immigrants. American Judaism is Ashkenazi-centric, even though, historically and globally, Judaism is far more diverse. Author Q&A: Qian Julie Wang. I was afraid they cascade over me. So letting that child in me feel those feelings for the first time, there was huge sense of closure and healing. Ingoing back I came to appreciate how incredible children are, how special that time is and what innate resilience we all have as kids. Verified. In many ways, "Beautiful Country" issuch an American story. So, from day one, I knew the books were my salvation. The person that you engage at the restaurant and shop they could be one of those people and they need empathy and kindness. My third grade teacher gave me a copy of Charlottes Web because she knew I loved books. How did you balance working as a litigator and writing your memoir? As such, our groups mission is first and foremost to build a safe space for Jews of Color to connect and engage in their religion shelter for when we feel utterly unwanted in all other Jewish spaces. I read and re-read it while editing my book, and it opened my eyes to all of the ways in which growing up under white supremacy had shaped how I viewed myself, and how I invalidated the extremely valid feelings that decades of racialized misogyny had engendered in me. Even so, I figured I would never make it happen, because I lived under messaging from all directions, my parents included, that my past was shameful and had to be kept hidden. As such, our group's mission is first and foremost to build a safe space for Jews of Color to connect and engage in their religion - shelter for when we feel utterly unwanted in all other Jewish spaces. The team at A Little Bird are taking a break to recharge and make some exciting changes behind-the-scenes. How did you balance working as a litigator and writing your memoir?. SN: Can you talk about your relationship to work in the narrative of the book, or in general? While I grew up learning English on library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. That said, an education system formally, certainly is crucial and is the way that we can ensure that there is social mobility in this country. It wasnt until the discourse of the 2016 election, which took place just six months after I became a naturalized U.S. citizen, that I discovered that I had a newfound power and thus responsibility to share my story, that at that juncture of my life, I was making an actual decision to stay quiet a privilege that millions of undocumented immigrants do not have. Photo credit: Nor would it be true to the beating heart of the Swarthmore we love. But having had that ingrained early on, in my adult life there is nothing that is too much work for me. I had become a citizen six months before and felt I had a responsibility to tell my story. It wasstill difficult as I hadnt thought about the events for decades so I went into therapy to talk about what had happened. I hadto start with the happy memories to crack that door open and then start working on the harder memories. What helped me a lot, was that I didnt have lots of time. Working on 80 hour a week as a lawyer, I wrote on the subway commute and it felt like I was texting somebody my story rather than writing a book. That was just natural for me. The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order, Books Based on Your Favorite Taylor Swift Era, Cook a Soul Food Holiday Meal With Rosie Mayes. Courtesy of Quian Julie Wang More than two decades after I first landed at JFK, I earned my citizenship. There were not so many immigrants from North China. It became her second home, a place of safety. 04 Mar 2023 20:24:54 For a few magical minutes, I dont even care that I didnt have a real childhood, however you want to define it, because to be children with your parents right there is just so rare. Both of these names are integral parts of me, and I can no more choose between them than I can between my left and right legs. For decades thereafter, the shadow of hunger lived in my stomach. I regret that the publication of my book might have awakened that sense of trauma in him, and I badly want to shield him from it. They can be found on Twitter @sarahmariewrote. Soon, she was spending all her free Something I was really struck by was how much reading, and your local library, was a safe space for you as a child (as a fellow kid who looooved going to the library!). Sign up for Moments upcoming Zoominarsand watch all our past eventshere! I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was a North Star in this project. As utterly devastating as recent events have been, I do believe that we will look back on 2021 and see this as a marked turning pointa beginning for real and meaningful progress for the rights and equality of Asian Americans in our nations history. Balance is a concept that I think few litigators know (I certainly don't!). For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. But two months later, on December 30, I was done with the entire draft. On this front, Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"were my north stars in crafting my own book. Copyright 2021 NPR. QIAN JULIE WANG: It was very difficult at first because these years were years that I never allowed myself to think about or talk about for decades, because my parents and society told me that it had been bad and I would have gotten in trouble if I ever talked about it. When seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. It was the thing that commanded me to binge whenever I came upon a buffet, that whispered that the only way to stave off the hunger of my past was to eat all of the free food that ever came before me. My parents have read parts of it, and I have fact-checked certain memories with them, but they have not read the whole thing! Now, she's telling her story for the first time - buoyed by This program is part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation. HOME| Webcourtesy of qian julie wang 09 Daily, I fought the urge to rescue perfectly edible meals from the garbage, recalls Qian Julie Wang 09. What does it mean to you that other young Chinese kids will be able to read your story now? Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. The brunt of our changing ecosystems falls first upon people of color and the poor, long before it will ever threaten to touch the perimeter of our lush campus. Copyright 2023, David Strathairn plays historic Holocaust witness Jan Karski in PBS's 'Remember This'. It is obvious that synagogues, where discrimination is most hurtful, have not addressed this vexing, humiliating and ongoing problem, whether by a few or by many Jewish racists. Wang and her parents were undocumented, and the 2016 election - which occurred just after she became a naturalized American citizen - spurred her to begin writing her memoir on her phone on the subway. By the time of my wedding in 2019, Id uncovered a sense of fashion that, for the first time, gave me home in my body. My copy is well-loved: full of highlights, annotations, and tabs. And Julie represents the pre-teen, teen, and woman who was determined to survive no matter the cost, even if it meant hiding or obliterating her origin story and her authentic self. That myopic focus in the U.S. tends to result in Jewish spaces that feel deeply unwelcoming, and often even overtly hostile, to Jews of Color. American Judaism is Ashkenazi-centric, even though, historically and globally, Judaism is far more diverse. Her family escaped to the United States, New York, in 1994 but were undocumented, and they had to live, in the Chinese phrase, as people in hei (ph) - the dark, the shadows, the underground world of undocumented immigrants who work menial jobs off the books in fear that their underground existence might be exposed. SN: What is the importance or role of education, inside or outside of the American education system, in the book and in your life? During my undocumented childhood, a period of extreme poverty that I never dared speak of during my time on campus, I arrived at elementary school every day starving, stomach churning toward the free meal that would be slopped onto my tray at lunchtime. And it was in that room that I first felt this sense of agency. WebQian Julie Wang is the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country: A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood, which was named a best book of 2021 by the New York There were many immigrants from South China, and most everyone spoke Cantonese or Fujianese. Shalom, Shana Tova & Gmar Hatima Tova, In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to beautiful country.. Interview by Elena Bowes. Making more equitable access to books and literacy is, I think, number one. After we finished most of the substantive edits, I made partner, and then it was a fork in the road. I cant imagine going from being a lawyer to someone who has to work in a sweatshop and a sushi factory and just has to endure. Balance is a concept that I think few litigators know (I certainly dont!). Are you writing another book about the second half of your life? He had even started teaching me the importance of keeping my head down, of not asking any questions or drawing any attention, seemingly forgetting that he had taught me the exact opposite in China. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. My parents have read parts of it, and I have fact-checked certain memories with them, but they have not read the whole thing! I think that kind of background at home cannot easily be supplanted by an external education system. And sometimes even fourths. At the age of seven, Qian traveled to the United States with her mother. Most of all, though, I am really looking forward to getting together with family at the seder. Adults often say that children cannot help but tell the truth. ButI had to maintain this secret everyday, almost like a double life. WANG: It really happened during my second clerkship, when I was clerking on the 9th Circuit. That was all pre-covid. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Its less in the book with my dad, but over the years as hes processed some things and started to move on from the past a little, I see these glimmers of moments where the child comes out. More than an immigrant narrative or an Asian American story, at bottom, the book is an exploration of what it means to be human, and what it means to make a home. people are often shocked to hear that i wrote my entire book on my commute while making partner at a natl law firm & enduring chronic workplace harassment& it should be said, within weeks of my DIY wedding. Those subway snippets would become "Beautiful Country," a gorgeous and heartfelt tale of Wang's childhood as an undocumented New Yorker, published Tuesday. Shondaland spoke with Wang over Zoom about education, equity, and her relationship to work, play, and joy. The first time I stepped into that room, I think I stopped breathing because I had never seen a room of that squalor. Your email address will not be published. WANG: I think that viewpoint is deeply myopic. Sad because of the discrimination inflicted on Ms. Wang by no other than The Most Discriminated People on Earth. QJW: There are people in my life who know me only as Qian, and others who know me only as Julie. When I discovered Judaism, I finally felt complete. SIMON: Your parents were academic professionals in China, but what did they do to get by in the U.S.? Thank you so much So, I turned down partnership, and it shocked absolutely everybody in the firm, and I opened up my own firm to focus on education law, civil rights, and discrimination work. It also means standing up and speaking out even when it might be uncomfortable to do so - to be rooted first and foremost in our faith in equality. Could you share why you chose your name and the meaning it has in your life? Review of Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. Qian Julie Wangs incandescent memoir, Beautiful Country, puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world. She recalls their experience, with a childs frankness and naivety, which is really what makes this book stand out. It became her second home, a place of safety. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. Web12.7k Followers, 1,121 Following, 373 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Qian Julie Wang (@qianjuliewang) qianjuliewang. Ingrams industry ranking lists are your go-to source for knowing the most influential companies across dozens of business sectors. One classmate referred to Wangs family not as low-income but no-income. I gave myself permission then to stop working on the book, not knowing if I would ever find my way back. And when I did, they expressed profound anxiety about the government coming after us, even though we are all on legal status now. It was then that I realized that what I had long thought of as singularly mine was no longer my secret to keep. All of us have secrets but once youre told to keep something a secret, there is an inherent shame to them. Whether they are or not. It took me decades to unroll the physiological effects it had on me.. I would say the first year of working on the book was just me in therapy trying to break everything apart and understand what had happened. For me, being Jewish cannot be separated from tikkun olam, the concept that calls upon us to repair the world. Her hunger was regularly so intense that she broke into cold sweatswhich, according to her Ma Ma, meant Wang was growing and getting stronger. My first year at Swarthmore in 2005, I gained 20 pounds. At age 7, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, with her parents. They carry such guilt and shame over my childhood because they couldnt provide for me and I would love that if offers them some sort of healing. QJW: I wrote Beautiful Country with the hope that readers will experience it as a train ride back into that familiar, joyful, and sometimes terrifying forest of childhood. Watching Moment Magazine wonderful moderator Sarah Berger interview of Qian Julie Wang was a welcome & sad experience. SIMON: This memoir takes us through five years in your childhood, a young girl trying to make a home in America with her family. Id always dreamed about writing this book. Books played a central part in your childhood. It was my biggest and wildest ambition to write a book that might allow others out there to see themselves reflected in literature, and have them know that it is possible to survive similar circumstances. WebMs. As this mimicry went on, the pounds fell off, but the weight of shame on my shoulders grew. For many years of my life, I operated by a set of clear and abiding principles, and asked inconvenient, challenging questions, but I had no formal spiritual framework. She is managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP, an educational civil rights law firm, and her writing has appeared in major publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Memoirist Qian Julie Wang Finally Found a Home With Her Fellow Jews of Color The "Beautiful Country" author speaks with Alma about her love of libraries and What do you hope readers take away from "Beautiful Country"? For me, Qian represents the self and the precocious, mischievous child who went from knowing only love and acceptance to living in daily shame and hunger. Nowadays, we are sent a link to a video where authors have recorded a short blurb about their book. Lauded by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary," Qian Julie has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in Librarians are our unsung, modern-day heroes. For me, being Jewish cannot be separated from tikkun olam, the concept that calls upon us to repair the world. He sees on the dirt ground a single character written in blood: . Wrongly accused. I pulled my phone out and started typing on that flight, and gave myself until December 31, 2019 to finish the first draft or forget about it for good. Thats something that still guides me to this day. But I had to think about making an income, and law seemed like a way that I could use storytelling to make a difference in peoples lives and still make sure I could pay off my loans. Her uncle, a teen at the time, was arrested for criticizing Mao Zedong, and her father's family lived under a hail of rocks, pebbles, slurs and worse. One cannot be passionate about demolishing systemic barriers of racism and wealth inequality while remaining apathetic to food sustainability and climate change. Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. The Shadow of Hunger. Once I opened the floodgates and really let myself feel everything, it came back fairly quickly. If readers can take away anything from the experience, I hope it is that, beyond the external labels and divides, we are all not that different from each other. It became her second home, a place of safety. Before I read it, I never complained because I thought black Americans had it worse but to see somebody older than me writing about the same feelings that shaped her growing up, it really opened my eyes to how valid my feelings were and that there was something very real about the oppression we face. When did you feel you could begin to talk more openly about all of this? How did they react? When seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York That changed when I started gathering with my fellow Jews of Color. This is the very reason I wrote the book: this dream that another Chinese, Asian American, immigrant, poor or hungry kid might come upon it at their public library and might find in it something that gives them hope or solace to keep going. In China, Qians parents were professors; in America, her family is illegal and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
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