We Are All We Have, page 19
This story originated one day when I was riding a subway in Brooklyn and a vision of Rania appeared right before me: black hair, black combat boots, a ferocious teenage poet wanting to gulp in the city. Soon after, I was standing under the slanted ceilings of Bnai Keshet in Montclair, observing congregants figure out how to make the space into a sanctuary.
That summer, I left for a residency at VCCA Moulin a Nèf, in Auvillar, France, where, the very first night, I stumbled upon an albergues—a welcoming hostel for pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago.
This book was born out of that spirit of pilgrimage and sanctuary, marking the third novel I have written exploring the post-9/11 experience for immigrant and especially Muslim teenagers. When Rania stands before the Brooklyn Bridge, she invokes the spirit of Walt Whitman, who keenly understood the transformative possibilities of America, which has always been changed and replenished by each new, surging wave of people.
Two significant backdrops also inform this story: the draconian immigration policies instituted in the US in 2018, when asylum-seeking families were separated at the border, and the ICE crackdowns and dragnet sweeps that became a regular, terrifying occurrence for immigrants. The other backdrop is the increasing authoritarianism, suppression, and censorship of journalists in many countries. At the time of Abu’s “disappearance,” violence and murder of journalists in Pakistan was at an all-time high. Today, throughout the world, journalists are imperiled for doing their job by reporting the truth. It is to them I—and all of us—are forever indebted.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A huge shout out to Lauren Blodgett, inspiring founder of The Brave House, an organization for immigrant young women and gender-expansive youth. She allowed me to be a fly on the wall with her in immigration court, and graciously vetted this manuscript. So too did Loretta Lopez and Afia Nathaniel, who combed the manuscript for cultural nuances. Stephanie Gibbs of Safe Passage, Dan Kesselbrenner—former executive director of the National Immigration Project—and Andrew Painter provided further legal clarification.
Many people encouraged and inspired me as I wrote: Rabbi Elliot of Bnai Keshet in Montclair gave of his time, explaining the sanctuary movement, and he led me to Charlene Walker of Faith in New Jersey. My fellow organizers from the Montclair Writers Group created a reading of immigrant literature, called “Borders of the Heart,” to raise money for families stranded at the border.
As I write these acknowledgments, I am ending one journey to begin a new one: I decided to leave my position as a professor at William Paterson University to write full-time. It is a bittersweet moment: my students have always helped me “keep it real,” and my colleagues have provided a kind and supportive environment.
Wendy Lamb and Dana Carey pushed me to bring clarity and precision to this story. Sharyn November gave a crucial read at a key time. Gail Hochman is always there, cheering for me. Dorothy Kelly helps keep my work life humming. My husband, Marc, is my constant companion in this sojourn of marriage and creativity. Both my boys, Sasha and Rafi, gave me insight into teenage speech. The friendship of Bonnie Friedman, and of our fellow writer-readers in the Grove Street Group, kept me running creatively even when my fuel gauge was empty. And a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction gave me more space for all my writing.
Wellfleet—that windswept bit of land at the edge of the continent—has provided sustenance, inspiration, and family rejuvenation for years.
Thank you all.
For more information:
Committee to Protect Journalists: cpj.org
National Immigration Project: nationalimmigrationproject.org
GHAZALS/SONGS
MIRZA GHALIB
Let’s Live in That Place / Rahiye ab aisi jagah
Let’s live in that place where there’s no one, let’s go,
Where no one knows our tongue, there’s no one to speak to.
We’d build a house without doors and walls,
Have no neighbours, watchmen forego.
In sickness no one to nurse us, enquire,
If we died, no one to mourn us, no!
rahiye ab aisī jagah chal kar jahāñ koī na ho
ham-suķhan koī na ho aur ham-zabāñ koī na ho
be-dar-o-dīvār sā ik ghar banāyā chāhiye
koī ham-sāya na ho aur pāsbāñ koī na ho
padiye gar bīmār to koī na ho tīmārdār
aur agar mar jāiye to nauha-ķhvāñ koī na ho
Permission is granted by Dr. Maaz Bin Bilal for use of “Let’s Live in That Place” as quoted from: https://scroll.in/article/803540/three-love-poems-by-ghalib-for-every-day-of-the-year
MIRZA MUHAMMAD HAKIM
Partial lyrics for O King of the Holy Sanctuary / Tajdar-e Haram:
O king of the holy sanctuary
Bless us with your merciful gaze o king of the holy sanctuary
So that our days of woe may turn for the better
O patron of the poor, what would the world say
If we return empty-handed from your door?
O king of the holy sanctuary
Tajdaar-e-haram
Tajdaar-e-haram ho nigaah-e-karam
Tajdaar-e-haram ho nigaah-e-karam
Ham ghareebon ke din bhi sanwar jaaenge
Haami-ye be-kasaan kya kahega jahaan
Haami-ye be-kasaan kya kahega jahaan
Aap ke dar se khaali agar jaaenge
Tajdaar-e-haram
Tajdaar-e-haram
Permission granted by Zahra Sabri, translator, from “Tajdaar-e-Haram” lyrics song sung by Atif Aslam for Coke Studio Pakistan, a tribute to Sabri Brothers.
MOHAMMED QULI QUTUB SHAH
1
I can’t ever drink my drink without my love
I can’t ever breathe; I sink without my love
I should be patient, you say, without my love
How unfair! I can’t even blink without my love…
Piyaa baaj pyaala piyaa jaaye naa
Piyaa baaj jek til jiyaa jaaye naa
Kaheethey piyaa bin saboori karoon
Kahhiya jaaye amma kiyaa jaaye naa
Reproduced in arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers India Private Limited from the book Hazaron Khawaishen Aisi: The Wonderful World of Urdu Ghazals selected, edited, and translated by Anisur Rahman.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARINA BUDHOS is the author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her novels for young people are The Long Ride, Watched, Tell Us We’re Home, and Ask Me No Questions. Her nonfiction books are Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers and two coauthored books, Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro & The Invention of Modern Photojournalism, and Sugar Changed the World, written with her husband, Marc Aronson. Budhos has received an NEA Fellowship in Fiction, has been a Fulbright Scholar to India, and was a professor of English at William Paterson University.
marinabudhos.com
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Marina Budhos, We Are All We Have
