Kentwood — With emotion in her voice, East Kentwood High School senior Paula Gonzalez-Delgado spoke of her mother, who at age 5, in 1995, settled in Grand Rapids with her family from Chihuahua, Mexico.
The story is one of sacrifice, work ethic and loss, but ultimately about overcoming barriers.
“Like so many immigrants who come to pursue the American dream, they were driven by the desire to work hard and provide — to create better opportunities for myself and future generations,” she said to an audience of parents, Kentwood staff and community members during the recent “Our Composite Community” event at Grand Rapids Public Museum.
Paula and nine of her peers shared their family’s — and their own — stories of immigration. Several students are first-generation Americans and some are refugees who settled in West Michigan as recently as the last few years. All have become part of the community at East Kentwood and beyond.
The project, spearheaded by AP World History and AP African American Studies teacher Matt Vriesman, builds on last year’s student-led Vietnamese heritage event that commemorated students’ family stories during the refugee crisis of the ’70s and ’80s. It expands stories to include the many immigrant groups represented in Kentwood Public Schools.
In total 50 East Kentwood students interviewed their families, documenting their stories with narratives and photos to be added to the Grand Rapids Public Museum archives. Students are from countries including Mexico, Congo, Vietnam, Eritrea, Bosnia, Sudan and Myanmar.
‘We are living proof that diversity is our strength.’
— senior Hawathiya Mulal
In preparation, students visited the GRPM Newcomers: The People of this Place exhibit, to get an idea of how to write and present family stories.
“Today, I think, was my greatest day in education,” said Vriesman during the event. “Listening to our students rehearsing the stories they prepared to tell tonight, I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t want to have any other job or to be anywhere else in the world.’”
Our Composite Community is named after statesman and abolitionist Franklin Douglass’ 1867 speech, “Composite Nation,” in which he said, “We should welcome to our ample continent all the nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples.”
Vriesman described East Kentwood, the most diverse high school in Michigan, as the perfect example of what Douglass envisioned.
“The thing that’s really bringing us together is this idea of a composite community,” he said.
Living Legacies
Students credited their families for shaping their lives and values.
Paula said her father was deported when she was 3. But her mother became a DACA recipient, which allowed her to thrive.
“That gave my mom opportunities that once felt impossible. She was able to work legally, continue to build her future and eventually earn her bachelor’s degree,” Paula said. “Hearing her story helped me realize how much strength, sacrifice and resilience shaped the way I am proud to live today. Her experience also helped me better understand my own story and struggles growing up between two cultures.”
Senior Hawathiya Mulal told of her father, a Lost Boy of Sudan, who was one of 20,000 boys who fled to Ethiopia on a 1,000-mile march from Sudan during the second Sudanese Civil War. Her mother was a refugee from Ethiopia.
‘I want to use my education not only to create opportunities for myself but also to advocate for others whose voices are often unheard.’
— senior Paula Gonzalez-Delgado
Both came to the U.S as teenagers, eventually settling in West Michigan.
“Because West Michigan embraced them, my parents embraced them back. This still continues,” she said. “Because West Michigan gave opportunities to people like my parents to rebuild, belong and thrive, I feel inclined … at University of Michigan to major in philosophy and potentially go on a path to Congress in hopes of representing this beautiful community.”
Junior Kris Hmong was a young child when he and his family arrived in West Michigan in 2010. His parents had fled Myanmar due to civil war and met each other at a refugee camp in Malaysia, where Kris was born. The family received help from a local church, moved into an area in Kentwood with other refugees and became involved with the Chin Baptist Church.
Kris grew up translating for his parents and became very involved in his culture’s traditions. His parents received their citizenship, but he was worried about his own status, having not been born in the U.S., he said.
“At the time I didn’t think much of it; however, as the political crisis about immigration took over the news and I heard stories about immigrants being taken away from their families, from their homes, from the country where they thought they were safe, I was afraid.
“I didn’t even want to go outside. I asked myself, ‘Am I safe here?’ I went from doing everything I could to be rooted in my culture to now being afraid to express it.”
Kris said he prayed that he would be safe.
“My prayers were answered. Tonight I can officially say that on May 25 I will be going to Detroit for my citizenship ceremony.”
Students mentioned their plans and dreams, many tied to the family stories they presented.
Paula said she plans to pursue pre-law at Aquinas College.
“Working on this project allowed me to reflect on (my family’s) experiences and understand how immigration policies and family separation affect not only individuals but entire families and future generations.
“I want to use my education not only to create opportunities for myself, but also to advocate for others whose voices are often unheard,” she said.
Read more from Kentwood:
• First taste of theater begins with tea, treats and tiaras
• Board member sparks ‘meaningful and lasting change’
