Book 1: Post 2

 American Like Me, edited by America Ferrera 

“American Like Me” was an eye-opening read about the nuances of growing up between different cultures in America. Ferrera sets the tone of the book by providing anecdotes of the prejudice she faced growing up, and how she persevered to become an actress who wasn’t boxed into latino stereotypes. After the first post, I was excited to continue reading other prominent figures’ stories. I was surprised to find so many similarities across people of different backgrounds surrouding their experience with their name, food, and school. Many of the authors struggled with their identity and faced judgement with their name, the food they brought to lunch, and simply existing as a non-white person.

 

One of the stories that stood out to me was from Reshma Saujani who founded Girls Who Code and ran for Congress. I did a Girls Who Code program one summer but had no idea who the founder was and what her story was about. I was horrified to learn that despite her pacifist attitude in school, she was still bullied and even beat up at the end of middle school. Even through the hardsship she faced, she made sure her voice was heard. She took an active role in changing her mindset to not be ashamed to be Indian-American and founded a diversity club. Later on she bravely dropped her career to run for political office as the fiirst Indian-American woman to do so.

 

I really enjoyed reading “American Like Me” and I learned something new from each of the stories. For example, I was familiar with Jeremy Lin and had always been proud to see him breaking the norm in basketball but learning about the ways he constantly had to “prove” himself growing up was all new to me. I would strongly recommend this book to not only people who similarly grew up between cultures but also to anyone living in this country. It’s important to see the other side of growing up in America.