Lecture for American Street
Watch this video of our author interview at the Miami book fair. It is 18 minutes long, hence the reason I cut down on other notes. But I think Zoboi has a lot to talk to us about as readers in terms of her motivations and reasoning in writing this book in the location she did. If wanted hop in at around 1:30 and watch from there--
Interview excerpts:
Folks I struggled to find a really detailed print interview with Zoboi. Most were far too short. Below I have two excerpts taken that reflect some great thoughts around her writing and American Street.
This novel is, in part, about the “American Dream.” What does that idea mean to you, and what does it mean to your characters?
The “American Dream” means being able to support myself by doing what I love; getting paid for what I truly believe is my life’s purpose. Economic freedom is such an elusive idea in developing countries. For my young characters, the American Dream is much more convoluted. When there’s a lack of opportunities and Americans can’t afford basic necessities, there’s no room for rest, no room for dreams. So that dream is just as elusive as it is for people living in developing countries. We have whole third world cities and neighborhoods in America.
https://lithub.com/meet-national-book-award-finalist-ibi-zoboi/
Kreyolicious: Even the most confident writer has their moments. Were there challenging times for you as you put your plot together and were working towards the finished project?
Ibi Zoboi: I was very worried about how I presented my characters. I am writing about Haitians and Haitian-Americans in a way I haven't seen before. I was very careful about perpetuating stereotypes. But I know for a fact that we have all experienced immigration and assimilation in different ways. I tried to remedy that by literally giving each of my characters a voice. I had to step into their shoes for a moment in order to humanize them. I have a responsibility as a writer to provide context for the violence and trauma so that my characters are not one-dimensional.
http://kreyolicious.com/ibi-zoboi-american-street/28041
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This website pulled out some great quotes to get us started reflecting on our reading--
1) “This is the beginning of the good life. Une belle vie.”
2) “So trying to come to America from the wrong country is a crime?”
3) "Child, this is Detroit. Ain’t no Papa Legba hanging out on corners. Only dealers and junkies . . . You’ll figure it out."
4) “We see the magic in everything, in all people.”
5) “We will get my Manman. I exhale deep as we leave the airport. It feels like I’m leaving part of me behind – a leg, an arm. My whole heart.”
6) “I look down at America— its vastness resembling a huge mountain. I felt as if I was just a pebble in the valley.”
7) “...as long as you have a bougie heart, you can aim for the finer things in life.”
8) “When she turns on the light, the first thing to greet me are the shelves and shelves of books and more books. I want to stop and hug her and give her a big kiss on the cheek. With this many books I can make this place my home.”
9) “I call the spirit guides to bend the time and space between where I’m standing and wherever my mother is. Maybe everything is happening for a reason. Maybe this was the wrong thing to do. Maybe we should go back.”
10) “You told me to trust every vision, every tingling of my skin, every ringing in my ear, every inch in my palms. They’re all signs. They’re all the language of the Iwas."
11) "I pray that Manman will get to taste this cold, free air before she rests her eyes tonight, wherever they are keeping her. And then tomorrow, she will come to this side of the glass, where there is good work that will make her hold her head up with dignity, where she will be proud to send me to school for free, and where we will build a good, brand-new life. Une belle vie, as she always promises, hoping that here she would be free to take her sister's hand and touch the moon."
12) “If you had told me to go alone, you knew that I would never agree to it. But this is how you raised me, Manman. You raised me to be like another part of you–another arm or leg. Even as you kept telling me that I’m becoming a woman, you never let me go out into the world to be free. Or maybe I took the place of the sister you left behind. You raised me like this, so I cannot go on with my own life without you."
13) "You can’t go back to Haiti. You have to come to this side because this new family of mine is both familiar and strange–just like how I am American by birth and Haitian by blood, bones, and tears. Familiar and strange.”
14) “But then I realize that everyone is climbing their own mountain here in America. They are tall and mighty and they live in the hearts and everyday lives of the people.”
15) “I am brave. No one has to tell me this. I know it for myself.”
Some more thoughts:
One of the most significant and notable themes in this book is the idea of the American Dream and how it plays out. We at first encounter Fabiola anticipating all that is to come in American and how now in many ways her life will finally begin. In our reading I would like us to think of a few questions and how we might answer them
-How do “outsiders or non-citizens” seem to perceive the idea of the American Dream? Is there more or less a common theme in how it is spoken of?
-Over the course of American Street how does this dream become disillusioned and then redefined?
- How would we as readers define the American Dream? As a myth? A lie? A possibility for some? Something that was more possible in certain moments of our history than others? Something that is still very much alive? ---Is dream the right word, why or why not? And if you think not, then how might we rebrand or redefine this.
-Finally many book descriptions talk about the price of the American Dream and whether Fabiola will have to pay it? Let’s think about what we, as readers understand this price to be at the beginning of the novel and at the end? Has our understanding changed? What is that price, as you understand it, for Fabiola and others like her?
When Fabiola’s mother is detained we witness Fabiola’s fear and worry, but for the most part we are left out of that internal world of U.S. Immigration. The focus is on Fabiola and her experience and what she sees/knows. When this book was published in 2014 issues with and conversations surrounding immigration were quite timely, but are perhaps even more so today given the large frequent political debates and hearings we have surrounding immigration policies. Would you have liked to see this book delve in farther with Fabiola’s mother’s experience? Is that something we should look for in another book?
The more we get into American Street the further entangled we become with issues about accountability and personal choice. For all of the central characters Zoboi in interviews mentions that she gives them a voice. This “voice-giving” is an essential choice on the author’s part to flesh out these characters in a more authentic manner and resist blanket stereotypes.
By having a voice we see these characters: their motivations, conflicts, shortcomings, strengths, and obvious failures. We see this as Zoboi’s way of steering us away from obvious judgments or easy conclusions.
We might empathize with certain characters and feel a fear of or revulsion for others; but at the end of the day Zoboi seems to ask that we view them from the larger context that their narratives emerge. Their histories are complicated and thus so are their choices.
It is here that I think it is interesting to ask ourselves whom we sympathize with over the course of this novel. There are the obvious choices, including of course, our young narrator, Fabiola.
But as we move through the book how do our sympathies or empathies evolve and change?
Who do we think bears responsibility for what?
Who do we distrust, or for that matter trust, initially and does our impression alter dramatically?
Do you find that this book supports your first impressions of these characters in how you first reacted to characters as they were introduced?
Are all of our characters equally culpable to some degree or not?
Is anyone without choices?
What are we left feeling by the end of this book?
Here is an interesting quote-
“I will admit when I chose this book, I expected it to be a feel-good story about a hardworking immigrant family overcoming adversity and assimilating into American life. I was surprised and then humbled when I read the second half of the book and learned that Zoboi had a much bigger message to send. There are no heroes or villains in this book, just flawed, sometimes desperate people trying to survive in a country that isn’t kind to the poor.”