What makes someone a citizen? Papers? Loyalty? Community?
“I refuse to live a life of fear defined by a government that doesn't even know why it fears what it fears. Because I am not a citizen by law or by birth, I've had to create and hold on to a different kind of citizenship.... Citizenship is showing up. Citizenship is using your voice while making sure you hear other people around you. Citizenship is how you live your life.”
–Jose Antonio Vargas
This was a deeply moving book for me. So thankful for Jose Antonio Vargas’ voice.
He writes about being undocumented and migration, but his is just as much a story about separation and belonging. Whenever our understanding of such topics human element, we move towards separation. Not just in the way borders separate us, but a spiritual separation that happens when we forget the ways we belong to each other.