My mother is a second-generation Chinese descendant who grew up living in Java island of Indonesia. She fled the country and escaped to the United States in search of safety and a better future for her children during a time when anti-Chinese political riots were rampant in Indonesia. At the time, Chinese living in Indonesia were routinely discriminated against by businesses and general society. Chinese Indonesians would be harassed on the streets, outcasted in many social groups, and charged higher prices on goods solely based on their ethnicity. When fleeing the country, my mother had to leave my brother, her only child who was six years old at the time, with my grandparents because she could not afford to support him during her migration. When she migrated she brought with her a couple of keepsakes to remind her of home. One of these keepsakes is this bracelet, which is made from the volcanic rock of Tangkuban Perahu, a volcano located just an hour away from my mom's hometown of Bandung. To her, it symbolized how, with some effort, something difficult and undesirable can be forged into something beautiful and worthwhile. Though she struggled to make ends meet upon arriving in America, she was eventually able to support herself and provide a visa for my brother as a single mother. Thanks to all her hard work, my brother and I were able to obtain an American education and grow up in a society that granted far more opportunities for us to shape our own lives. 

– M

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant