Throughout the narratives in Immigrant Voices: Volume II, authors illustrate the immense responsibilities and expectations placed upon those in the intersecting positions of immigrant and mother. In these narratives, immigrant mothers act as not a monolithic category, but as a collection of individuals who must work to maintain their families, their heritage, and their dignity in an environment which encourages them to fail. Through Americanization, cultural celebration, monetized stereotypes, and through cultivating the impressions of others toward them, Le Ly Hayslip, Dr. Rose Ihedigbo, and Loung Ung, and others portray how immigrant mothers work to fulfill the multiplicity of tasks set out before them.
In Child of War, Woman of Peace, Le …show more content…
Rose Ihedigbo instead feels determined to connect herself and her family more deeply with their Nigerian heritage. Ihedigbo is keenly aware that her family will face the “harsh and uncomfortable realities of being an ‘other’ in society” (158). Because of this otherhood, Ihedigbo and her husband feel more than ever that it is “necessary” to “keep their children connected to their roots” (159) as a means of armoring themselves against the conformist messaging of their primarily white Massachusetts hometown. One of the ways in which Ihedigbo connects her family to her culture is through the food she serves. Ihedigbo cooks an “abundance of Nigerian food” for her children, serving “palm oil, egusi soup, stews, rice, yams, and traditional West African fare” (171). Although the family prefers more American food as time progresses, Ihedigbo still “[trains] her children well in making the Nigerian staples” (171) when they learn to cook, and one of the children’s specialties is “rice and stew” (171). By cooking Nigerian food, as well as teaching her children the recipes, Dr. Ihedigbo provides a tangible, physical reminder of the family’s heritage. Although Nigeria may be thousands of miles away, Ihedigbo ensures that the children regularly see a piece of Nigerian culture on their dinner
In Child of War, Woman of Peace, Le …show more content…
Rose Ihedigbo instead feels determined to connect herself and her family more deeply with their Nigerian heritage. Ihedigbo is keenly aware that her family will face the “harsh and uncomfortable realities of being an ‘other’ in society” (158). Because of this otherhood, Ihedigbo and her husband feel more than ever that it is “necessary” to “keep their children connected to their roots” (159) as a means of armoring themselves against the conformist messaging of their primarily white Massachusetts hometown. One of the ways in which Ihedigbo connects her family to her culture is through the food she serves. Ihedigbo cooks an “abundance of Nigerian food” for her children, serving “palm oil, egusi soup, stews, rice, yams, and traditional West African fare” (171). Although the family prefers more American food as time progresses, Ihedigbo still “[trains] her children well in making the Nigerian staples” (171) when they learn to cook, and one of the children’s specialties is “rice and stew” (171). By cooking Nigerian food, as well as teaching her children the recipes, Dr. Ihedigbo provides a tangible, physical reminder of the family’s heritage. Although Nigeria may be thousands of miles away, Ihedigbo ensures that the children regularly see a piece of Nigerian culture on their dinner