America Through My Eyes

Moving from the Middle East to the United States was something that I never imagined. It was a step that changed my life, my thoughts, and my perspective of the world. It enabled me to see clearly things that were hidden. In this book, I share in my second language, moments, tears, smiles, reflections, thoughts, lessons I learned and my answers to many questions I heard.

A richly imagined portrait of an immigrant woman in the heady and unpredictable first half of the twentieth century. Sweeping and panoramic, You Were There Before My Eyes is the epic and intimate story of a young woman who chafes at the stifling routine and tradition of her small, turn-of-the-century Italian village. When an opportunity presents itself for her to emigrate to America, her hunger for escape compels her to leave everything behind for the gleaming promises that await her and her young husband in Mr. Ford’s factories. Determined to survive, and perhaps even thrive, young Jane finds herself navigating not just a new language and country, but a world poised upon the edge of economic and social revolution—and war. As Jane searches for inner fulfillment while building young family, the tide of history ebbs and flows. From the chaos of Ellis Island to the melting pot of industrial Detroit, You Were There Before My Eyes spills over with colorful characters and vivid period details. Maria Riva paints an authentic portrait of immigrant America and poignantly captures the ever evolving nature of the American dream.

The inspiring story of Brad SnyderÕs journey from the Naval Academy to Afghanistan, from being blinded by an IED explosion to winning Paralympic gold Ê In Afghanistan, Lieutenant Brad Snyder had one of the worldÕs most dangerous jobs: to find and destroy enemy bombs, as an elite US Navy Special Operations warrior. On September 7, 2011, the former Naval Academy captain of the swim team stepped on an improvised explosive device while helping save the lives of his patrolÕs Afghan counterparts. The subsequent explosion left Snyder permanently blind. Through unrelenting pain, hard work, and dedication, Snyder qualified for the US Paralympic Team and on September 7, 2012Ñone year to the day after suffering his devastating injuryÑhe won a gold medal in menÕs swimming for Team USA in London. Brad SnyderÕs journey from darkness to light embodies the courage of AmericaÕs new ÒGreatest GenerationÓ and serves as an inspiration to all of us.

Includes introductory material on the history of Somalia and Islamic religion and customs, as well as a glossary, discussion questions, and extension projects.

America has long exported its network and cable programming abroad, but with a changing world comes a changing dynamic. As global centers of power shift, and wealth becomes redistributed, and perhaps even re-centered, vast audiences which have never before had contact with American television will begin to gain access to the full wealth and abundance of American programming. The opening of new markets and new audiences, particularly within the growing superpowers of China and India, presents us with a novel situation. It is one thing for a show like The OC to be played in a nation like England, where the cultural and religious differences with the United States are not that profound, and quite another for it to air in a nation like India, where arranged marriages, the caste system, and pervasive poverty are still everyday realities. America Through the Eyes of China and India explores the dynamics of television, identity, and cultural communication, providing a new lens for encountering, interpreting, and judging American culture and the American identity.

America Through the Eyes of an Immigrant from a Socialist Country By: Dave W Chen America Through the Eyes of an Immigrant from a Socialist Country details Dave W Chen’s early life in China, his experiences immigrating to and living in America, and the stark difference between the two systems. Many Americans are naïve about the evils of living in a socialist country compared to the freedom of capitalist America. With his perspective as an immigrant, Chen has a unique vantage point as first an outsider and then an insider and citizen of the USA. Americans must treasure this country in order to keep it great and never let it slip into the hands of socialism or communism where dictators and their accomplices benefit and the rest of mankind suffers.

"Foreigners have been writing about the United States ever since its foundation. Now it is my turn. But please don't hold this against me: the United States itself is at fault. Like a great many people on earth, I've long been fascinated by this remarkable phenomenon which calls itself America. My fate -or perhaps good fortune- has been that of a foreigner who for half a century lived the American experience-as a child, as a student, as an author, as a recurrent visitor and as a university professor. Being Mexican places me in a special category: having lost half its territory to the United States in the 19th century, having found itself caught up in the maelstrom of America's current identity crisis, Mexico can never ignore what happens north of the border. Further, while serving as Mexico's Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2003, I had the privilege of peeping inside the machinery of power that makes this great nation tick. That said, this book is not written from a Mexican perspective but rather from that of a sympathetic foreign critic who has seen the United States from both inside and outside. And its hope is to contribute something to how Americans view themselves and are viewed by the world. Before embarking on this journey, I naturally looked back at some of my forebears, earlier foreigners who were drawn to visit or live in the United States and who then went on to offer their version of America to their home readers. Some like the French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the early 19th century classic, Democracy in America, felt European nations had much to learn from the American democratic experiment. Others like Charles Dickens left dismayed by what he considered to be the country's singular obsession with money. But they are just two of dozens who have tried-and continue to try- to find a magic key that unlocks the complexities and contradictions of American society. Indeed, it is as if the United States seeks to challenge foreign writers to explain it, confident they will fail. And in taking it on, these outsiders have variously experienced frustration, hope, anger, excitement, disappointment and enlightenment- but never indifference"--

In November 1960, all of America watched as a tiny six-year-old black girl, surrounded by federal marshals, walked through a mob of screaming segregationists and into her school. An icon of the civil rights movement, Ruby Bridges chronicles each dramatic step of this pivotal event in history through her own words.