What does it take to become American?

By Sheilah Kast,

Melissa Gerr

Published October 1, 2021 at 10:08 AM EDT

In 'Becoming American' ten women talk about the triumphs and challenges of life in the US and what they want their fellow Americans to understand about the journey of immigrants. Credit: CityLit Project — In 'Becoming American' ten immigrant women talk about the triumphs and challenges of life in the US and what they want their fellow Americans to understand about the journey of immigrants. Credit: CityLit Project

CityLit Project, dedicated to literature, writers, and their audiences, understands how storytelling can promote empathy. Its current series called ‘Becoming American,” offers proof.

CityLit board member Aditya Desai and author/producer Saima Sitwatgive us a preview. It features videos and essays of ten women immigrants who now call Maryland home. One of them is Ale Balcazar from Colombia:

"We all share the missing of home. And I feel that if American fellows could understand that, things would be so different. Missing the sense of belonging. It changes your whole experience.”

Links: Becoming American, CityLit Project.

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

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Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

See stories by Melissa Gerr