Introduction #1
Welcome to Displace Me, a project exploring issues of migration and displacement. I seek to expand on the definitions of concepts like migration, displacement, il/legality, non/citizenship, il/legality, forced/chosen movement, geographical relocation, immigration vs emigration, psychological migration, homeland, motherland, native land, home, family, cross-cultural experience, transnationality and nationality, language, etc.
Initially the inspiration for this project comes from my taking a class at a college near where I live that explores the dynamics of displacement and migration. This is my final project for that class, but I hope to continue it beyond the scope/time period of the class as well. I hope to see this project become something of its own. The project is loosely defined around the theme of "Windows into Experiences of Migrants' Lives," but I seek to explore the concept of the "migrant" in many complex ways. Certainly, in this world, so many of us have histories (or present conditions) of migration, whether internal (within a country or area) or external (outside of a country or area). I am interested in exploring those histories/conditions and seeing how they relate to our other experiences of identity, affinity and general life circumstances.
For some of us, migration/displacement is a much more present theme in our lives. For others, it is more historically based. Sometimes it is a combination. Undoubtedly, it ends up being complicated and intersecting with various other positionalities, such as gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, citizenship, documentation, class, caste, education, other status, disability, neurodivergence, mental illness, size/body, etc. The stories presented here vary greatly while also showing similarities-- Eventually, Displace Me is about finding the peripheries and borderlines in our lives, and trying to express what those mean to us.
I will be sharing my story as well as my parents' stories, and the stories of several friends and acquaintances. I have collected many of these stories through interviews. I also invite you to share your own stories, whether through art, poetry, informal explanation, formal prose, or whatever medium you feel comfortable with. Please note, I am trying to make this space accessible in at least some ways (and hopefully more ways), so if you can help by providing content/trigger warnings, image descriptions, audio transcripts or captions/subtitles, video transcripts, translateable formatting, alternate formats, etc, that would be awesome. You may also feel free to ask me if you would like an interview.
Feel free to leave feedback, either at the ask box here, or by emailing displacemeproject at gmail dot com.