Chicago Mosaic
Immigrant Stories of Objects Kept, Lost, or Left Behind
A sword, a grandmother’s shawl, a Rolex watch, a cow-shaped cream pitcher, a 2008 gold Toyota Corolla. The stories of these objects—and others—are told within this volume. They are the stories of objects left, lost, or kept. Together, they compose a mosaic of Chicago immigration.
Like a mosaic, the individual items in these stories might seem unrelated, but taken together, connection and complexity emerge. Chicago is made, to a large extent, of the stark regrets and hopes of immigrants. Some of the objects in this volume represent difficult memories of family left behind; others point to the possibility of prosperity for future generations.
Given the current aggressive U.S. policy toward immigrants, alongside new stories breaking about migrant children working dangerous factory jobs, an anthology reminding readers that immigrants are people and not aliens, and that the United States is largely made of immigrants, or their descendants, is more important than ever.
Of course, many of us living in the United States also descend from indigenous ancestors, or from those who were brought here on slave ships or by other forceful means. There’s no easy way to describe the people who make up the fabric of the U.S., or of Chicago, for that matter. This volume doesn’t try to do that. Rather, it offers a way for us to listen to stories that may not be our own, but that remind us that we are all vulnerable to the world’s economic, political, and climatic shifts, no matter where we’re from.
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