WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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(reed instrumental music)

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- My great-grandfather
came over to America

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from Northern Iran around
the turn of the 20th century,

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escaping the massacres.

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There was a moment when he was cornered by

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some men that demanded
that he deny his faith

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or they would shoot him, but he refused.

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He said he'd rather die than
deny his faith in Christ.

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And so they pulled the trigger,

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but the gun didn't go off.

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- My dad came from Hong Kong in the 60's.

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I think the biggest thing
that I don't have to face

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that my dad had to face was

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probably just financial.

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He started off just doing restaurant work.

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He was slowly able to
get a job as an engineer.

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- My grandmother immigrated from Cuba

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to the States in 1967
via the Freedom Flights.

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When Castro came in,

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they had to leave everything behind.

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The moment you made it
known to the government

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that you were planning on
leaving via the Freedom Flights,

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they had someone watching you every day,

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day in and day out.

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So they basically boarded the flight

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with just the clothing on their back

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and I think my mom had a doll.

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- My grandmother immigrated
from Mexico in the 50's.

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My grandfather came to
America to make money

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and send it back to the family.

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She decided enough was enough

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and the family needed to be together.

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So she sold all of their
earthly possessions

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and sent him a telegram,

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saying "we will be arriving"
and just left with them.

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- My mom came from Ghana
to America in 1979.

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Her father died when she was one

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and her mother died when
she was about 10 years old.

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My mother is someone who's very

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thoughtful and she thinks of everyone

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and I think that's always
something I've appreciated

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and I've always hoped that
some time in the future,

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I'd be able to become like that.

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- I am excited.

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- [Voiceover] Open your eyes.

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- Whoa, wow.

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(laughing) It looks amazing.

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It is kind of a way to like,

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literally stepping into
his shoes kind of a thing.

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It's funny 'cause growing
up, people said that

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I kinda looked like him,

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but now I look a lot like him.

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- (laughing) I totally look like my dad.

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These glasses, they really help it.

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I think if you ever needed proof

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that I am my dad's child, then this is it.

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(laughing) It can take
second-generation kids

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a little bit more time than other kids

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to develop that feeling of self-worth.

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- (laughing) Oh my God.

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I did not know you could
do this with my hair.

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It's the eyebrows all right,

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my grandma's all about
those dark eyebrows.

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It just feels like I've
been through a lot,

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that's what it feels like.

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For me it was a big deal
just moving cross-country,

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but to know that you're never gonna

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see your family again kinda thing

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and no communication whatsoever,

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except for like a phone
call every now and then,

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that's just, what?

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- Oh my gosh!

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Oh my gosh, what? (laughing)

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I only know the cultural things

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that she's passed down to me,

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so to be able to wear
this and have a connection

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to not only her, but also my
grandmother, who owned this,

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it's really nice because I don't always

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get to share those things with her.

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- Oh my God! (laughing)

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Wow, oh my gosh.

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See, I'm so emotional
right now. (laughing)

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She's at the end of her life

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and I wish I had appreciated her more

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when I was younger.

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It's hard when you have that like,

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language barrier and you
have the cultural differences

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and knowing the sacrifices
that she made and

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all the things she did for her family,

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I just wish I had understood that

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and appreciated that when I was younger.

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Being an immigrant, for some reason,

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in this time is something
that is dividing us

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when it's actually something
that should be uniting us.

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- It took me a really, really long time

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for me to learn that being Asian

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and not being form here was
actually really cool and

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it really informs how I go about my life.

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- You can't let fear stop
you from moving forward

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and making a better life for yourself,

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no matter what the situation you're in.

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(uplifting guitar music)