American Dream Through the Generations

by Samantha Bracamonte

cover art by Blue Nguyen

The American Dream and the Asian American identity have been ever evolving counterparts. In the eyes of my young mother, America was the land of milk and honey. A glamorous Hollywood world filled with M & M's, chocolate kisses, and Pringles on a golden platter. To my sixteen-year-old mother, it was a clean, fragrant, beautiful country. It was a land free of corrupt politics where the government could be trusted. A land where individual voices were heard and even had the potential to spark change in the world. 

HOME? by Blue Nguyen: “This art project utilizes mixed media art: photography, digital art, etc. The project examines the complexities of defining what "home" is as well as "who are you?" The project demands to examine the interconnectedness of a home and the self. The art utilizes a photo of my hand, a photo of the window of my current apartment, shapes and vivid colors, and digital art edition + mixed media art. I recently moved to Boston, MA to a very queer friendly home and being able to find healing within queer community. As a queer Vietnamese person I wanted to examine what "home" and the "self" really is. The idea of the "home" and "self" are more often than not interconnected. However, as someone who has come from a very tough not queer friendly environment, I am happy to have made myself a home where I can be myself in all of my queerness. I am love my very queer home and I am in the process of learning to love my very queer self.”

But my mother’s outlook of the American Dream has shifted. As she grew older, she began to understand the importance and value her own background holds, even in a new cultural setting. She learned to accept her cultural background in order to become a bridge between the Asian and American portion of her identity. The art of America is built off of many different beautiful colors and cultures.

Now, through her child’s eyes, I see the American Dream as a quest of my ancestors. A quest to guide their legacy to a world where I could reach the stars. A world in which I will learn where I come from, and where I am going. The American Dream now gives me the quest to embody the fruits of its labor. The quest to bridge the two worlds of Asian and American.