Immigration and Knitting in NYC

Living in New York is about participation in an international city.  Sound obvious?  Many Americans probably think that this is true from reading or visiting.  For me, it is particularly sharp to live with that reality every single day.  Earlier this year when we had the futile hope that Congress would move in an intelligent and useful direction on immigration, I'd wondered.  How would my landscape change if recent immigrants--both legal and undocumented--disappeared?

June 1, 2008, Kew Gardens' Spring Community Fair was a typical day of interaction with the City.  Ron and I were asked to help out with a knitting clinic at the Fair.  Before we drove to Queens, we stopped at D'Agastino's, a local grocery chain.  At the checkout counter, in native dress of Mali was the pretty woman at the beginning of this post.

Rachell (yes, two lls) Turner who is fluent in French and Mandarin joined us; she's teaching a little Chinese girl here.  Rachell was one of the few American-born adults (some children probably were also) we encountered that day--and Carol Lacks, native New Yorker, who organized the event.

  Boys, girls, mothers, grandmothers, we had them all.  Sometimes it was a stretch to know if we'd been understood but the craft carried us through.  The woman in red and black is a quilter who came by to visit from another table.  At first I thought she was from Africa.  She was an American artist among those from southeast Asia, all living in Queens, the City's most diverse borough.  Two young artists--twins, high school students, very self-possessed--amazed everyone with their on-the-spot portrait gig. Our location was the parking lot for the Kew Gardens stop on the Long Island Railroad; some fair attendees took the train to other stops in Queens.  It's a fortunate community that has public space like this, or maybe it's semi-public.  The distinction can be hard to determine some times.  Also part of the scene is Bliss Cafe, whose owner emigrated years ago from Asia, is known for her community enthusiasm--and gracious host  to frequent visits from our granddaughter who lives a few blocks away. 

Being with Roxie ended our intense knitting-helper day.  Her people landscape is so different from her Portland cousins.  It's always a bit of culture shock when we visit Oregon and notice less diversity of people on the streets.  We're very fortunate to have a foot in both cities.    

Comments

[Judy Welles]

Holy cow! You should try living in Central Pennsylvania like I do! Everyone is white and overweight. I moved here 12 years ago from Oakland, CA and it was a real culture shock!

I have a knitter daughter who lives in Flatbush, and I do vicarious New York knitting through her. Glad to see you exist, and I'll be following your blog.