Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – World Refugee Day celebrates unity creating stronger Nebraska

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

This is a guest post from intern Allie Christianson.

With June coming to a close, Immigrant Heritage Month has brought many stories and celebrations of our neighbors, including the recent celebration of World Refugee Day at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. The event was full of not only kind and talented people and beautiful works of art in the galleries and booths, but also with the laughter and friendship among them. It was inspiring to hear speakers share their stories at the speaker series and heartwarming to see the warm welcome from everyone around.

At our welcoming booth, community members signed a canvas with words of welcome and appreciation for all of our neighbors and thought of ways that they would welcome someone new into their neighborhood. Kids drew pictures and wrote how they would welcome someone new at their school and how they would want someone to make friends with them. We had heartfelt messages on the canvas and wonderful conversations with folks who shared their stories with us.

While I was at the welcoming booth for the majority of the event, I was able to go to the speaker series and hear Feroz speak about his experience as a refugee and the situation in Afghanistan. In his speech, I was struck by two prominent experiences as a refugee, first as a child and then as a father.

He opened my eyes to the feelings and awareness that had been so different in each. Feroz brought a gritty sense of humanity to a subject that is often stripped of the real experiences that refugees have. His experiences detailed a life that we often do not associate with refugees but one that I think we should: before coming to the U.S., he and his wife led successful careers and were happy in Afghanistan.

Hearing stories from refugees like Feroz brings a light to the issue and reveals the human experiences behind it. Sharing these experiences is necessary to build understanding that will help foster more welcoming and inclusive communities.

World Refugee Day provided a space for the Omaha community to come together and celebrate refugees’ unique contributions to our shared history and culture and a space to forge a brighter, more welcoming and inclusive Nebraska. I look forward to next year’s World Refugee Day and to continue hearing more stories of those who truly make Nebraska home.

Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – Prague Spring 50: A Reminder of Nebraska’s Tradition of Welcoming Immigrants

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

Lee Kreimer

This spring, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln had the honor of hosting a convening of authors, playwrights, engineers, and academics from Czech Republic who live and breathe the impact of the Prague Spring in 1968 and the effects it had on the decades following.

With one of the largest populations of Czech Americans in the United States and a strong tradition of celebrating Czech culture — from kolaches for sale at farmers markets, summer Czech festivals across the state, polka music playing in restaurants and meeting halls, and the strong Czech language and culture program at UNL — Nebraska is a logical home for this unique event. As a descendent of Czech immigrants myself, I’m not surprised. My family’s story and our state history shows a long tradition of welcoming refugees and immigrants that has existed for generations. In 2016, Nebraska continued that tradition by welcoming the largest number of refugees per capita in the U.S.

The Prague Spring 50 event posed a rich opportunity for presenters, the University, and the larger community to discuss the impact of the uprising of Prague Spring and its longstanding after effects – the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and 20 years later, the social movement led by Vaclav Havel that led to freedom from totalitarianism. For his work and leadership, Havel remains a human rights hero around the world.

Attending this event was an important reminder for me about the importance of history. Not only is it important for us to learn from our past, but it’s equally important for us to recognize where we came from.

Czech Republic has a long history of human rights achievements. I am proud and intrigued to be a descendent of a country that has demonstrated strength in so many ways. At the same time, I’m equally proud to be the daughter of my parents and the granddaughter of my grandparents, farmers in Central Nebraska and Czech Americans.

It’s incredible to live in a place with such a rich variety of cultures, stories, languages, and experiences. Cultural events such as the Prague Spring 50 that celebrate the diverse history and background of Nebraska are one of the many reasons why I’m happy to call Nebraska home.

Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – Raul Arcos

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

Raul Arcos

Raul Arcos, whose family is originally from Mexico, is now a young leader in the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

I originally came to the United States because of my mom. She wanted my brother and I to have greater opportunities and better education than we could have in Mexico. So, we moved to Idaho when I was eight years old.

We first moved to Idaho because my extended family lived there. While there were many seasonal job opportunities for work, it was very difficult to find a full-time position. Eventually, one of my cousins moved to Schuyler, Nebraska. They liked it a lot and then convinced the rest of my family to move there. After two years in Idaho, we moved to Schuyler when I was 10.

Two years later, my mom, my brother, and I moved to Madison, Nebraska. Perhaps because of my small school, I felt like a part of the community. There were at least 10 other Latino families living there, and my teachers were very welcoming. They made me feel like I belonged there. I felt like Nebraska was home.

That sentiment has continued. A couple of years ago, I moved to Columbus for work. With better jobs and higher wages, I had better opportunity there.

At this point, I’ve lived in the United States for 25 years. I have grown to be deeply invested in my community here. The work that we do at my job with the local Chamber of Commerce has been amazing. And, the moments of success in this work are what I cherish the most.

I love seeing GED participants get their GED because of the effort, dedication, and sacrifice they make. I also enjoy helping Business Development participants open their business and assisting them with technical issues. I get to see the growth in the process with all of the work that we’re doing in Columbus. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Nebraska is home!

Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – Mohamed Warsame

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

Mohamed Warsame

After moving to Nebraska from Somalia, Mohamed joined many other immigrants who found work in a meatpacking plant near South Sioux City.

Seven years later, Mohamed is one of the go-to employees for any job at the plant, but has made an even greater impact by helping newcomers adjust to important details of life in the U.S. through his business, Sugal Consulting.

“A lot of people here, especially those from Muslim countries, they would like to buy a house or a business, but they don’t have a credit score,” he says. “So they come to me: ‘Mohamed, is there a way you can help?’”

Read more about Mohamed’s impact on his community at New American Economy.

Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – Saaehmoo Marvel

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

Saaehmoo Marvel

Originally from Thailand, Saaehmoo is now a U.S. citizen and an integral part of the Lincoln community.

My name is Saaehmoo Marvel. My family is originally from Burma, but I was born and raised in Thailand. I have had a passion for working to help my community for a long time. Before I came to the U.S I was working with the humanitarian organizations along Thai-Burmese border to help refugees by providing interpretation and translation. At that time, I really wanted to go back to live in Thailand. But, my heart told me that I should go to the U.S because I dreamed of a better future. Back in Thailand, it was so hard to live. I worked but I could not afford to go to school or buy a car, a home, good food or good clothing.

I resettled in the U.S as a Karen refugee with my husband in 2007. I was crying a lot in the first year living in the United States due to language barriers, new cultures and work discrimination. After a couple months, due to financial difficulty, I sought work and I got a job as a prep cook in one of the casinos in New York. After a few years, my husband and I moved to Nebraska for better work opportunity and cost of living. We’ve been here ever since.

As I look back on these struggles, they slowly fade away. After that difficult time, I wanted to go back to school so I could gain more experiences and not live behind others. I came to the U.S for freedom and I really found freedom. Because of the education system, I have been able to earn the degrees for my career. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communications and then a master’s degree in Management.

We have settled down here in Lincoln. People in Nebraska are very friendly, and those who I’ve connected with are very nice to me and my community. And our Karen community is very close here. As a community, we help if someone is sick or in need. We support each other. The people in my community are very reliable and we are pretty close. Whenever we need help, we go to each other.

My husband and I bought a house a few years ago. And I really like my job in-home healthcare. I get to help my community directly by hiring caregivers from our community to care for those that need it. I am fortunate to be able to work directly with them.

I am blessed and I am thankful for the opportunities in the U.S. Being a person without a country is very hard because I never had a place to belong. In 2015, I became a U.S. citizen. I am thankful to be an American.

Immigrant Heritage Month 2018 – Seth Mock

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

Seth Mock

My father moved to Des Moines, Iowa, from Africa. Shortly thereafter, the rest of our family followed. We didn’t adapt well to Des Moines. My father learned that the majority of our South Sudanese Community was happy in Nebraska so he moved us to Omaha. I’ve been in Nebraska ever since. The people in Nebraska have been good to me.  

Seth, an immigrant Nebraskan from South Sudan, founded Lincoln’s Midwestern African Museum of Art.

I learned from my father at an early age that I wanted to be a producer of change. My father founded the two largest refugee churches and organizations that helped thousands of refugees inside the refugee camps in Africa. In Omaha, my father also helped found Omaha’s Refugee Empowerment Center, which works directly with the refugees and South Sudanese community. The group he works with has developed many community leaders, and I really valued that.

I wanted to give back to the community in a meaningful way. I worked as a diversity consultant for Omaha Public Schools. Nebraska is home to many refugees from South Sudan, Congo, and many other countries. I enjoyed working with families of diverse backgrounds and helping the district become more inclusive.

Despite the great outcomes of this work, I wanted to do more. The community was lacking a place where Africans could feel at home. Where our youth and women were positively empowered. They were missing a place where some of their deeper needs as a community could be met and our African Heritage could be preserved and exhibited to the public.

I wanted to use art as a vehicle to help youth bring positive change while providing a platform for Nebraskans to experience and celebrate African culture.  Unfortunately, it was difficult to do this in Omaha at the time. We couldn’t find the right space at the right price. We looked into the possibilities of starting in Lincoln.

The African community in Lincoln was interested in having more cultural activities. In many ways, because of our persecution as a people, we could also connect with the Yazidi community in Lincoln. We felt that Lincoln was strategic because it’s the capital of Nebraska. Today, the Midwestern African Museum of Art is in downtown Lincoln, next to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Nebraska History Museum.

As a family, my wife Pamela and I have had to make many sacrifices to start the MAMA Culture and Resource Center in Lincoln, including moving our family to Lincoln and finding a new home. Despite these challenges, MAMA is now a non-profit organization that serves a very large, diverse community through various enriching and family-focused programs, and in the process helps Nebraska became a more attractive international destination.  

This is the only African art museum in the Midwest and the only one founded by an African immigrant in United States.

With many challenging things happening around the world, MAMA seeks to help bring positive change in our community. When you have a shared understanding, you have something to connect with.

Nebraskans will celebrate National Immigrant Heritage Month in June

***For Immediate Release***
June 1, 2018

Contact, Christa Yoakum
Nebraska Is Home Coordinator
Office: (402) 438-8853
Cell: (402) 890-5662
Email: cyoakum@neappleseed.org

 

Nebraskans celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month

Local events will recognize contributions made throughout Nebraska’s history by immigrant families

LINCOLN — In June, Nebraskans will celebrate our state’s proud history, which continues today, of immigrants making valuable contributions to our state during National Immigrant Heritage Month.

Through festive community events and telling stories of shared history, Nebraskans from all backgrounds will recognize how immigrant families of many different origins are united through the ways, big and small, that they enrich Nebraska every day.

“National Immigrant Heritage Month allows us to celebrate the long-standing tradition of immigrant Nebraskans making valuable contributions to our state,” said Christa Yoakum, Coordinator of Nebraska Is Home. “During National Immigrant Heritage Month, Nebraska families across our state can share their own family’s story, and recognize that no matter where your family is from, we’re all united as Nebraskans. Both long-time residents and families that recently have come to Nebraska can stand side by side to celebrate each other’s contributions to our culture, our state’s history, and the current steps we’re taking together to build a strong future for Nebraska.”

Events Include:

June 2 – North Lincoln Summerfest, 11:00 am-6:00 pm, LUX Center, 2601 N 48th Street, Lincoln

June 7-10 – Santa Lucia Italian Festival, Lewis and Clark Landing, Omaha

June 8-10 – Loup City Polish Days, Loup City, NE

June 16 – World Refugee Day, 10:00 am-4:00 pm, Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha

June 12-16 – New American Dish, 11:00 am- 2:00 pm, Cafe Durham (inside Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha

June 16 – “What We Carried: Lincoln,” a storytelling project by photographer Jim Lommasson, highlighting the journey of the Yazidi community from Northern Iraq to the Lincoln with a focus on the items brought with them on their journey. Joslyn Art Museum, 11:00 am.

June 15-17 – Stromsburg’s 66th Annual Swedish Sommar Festival

June 19-20 – Oakland Swedish Festival, Oakland, NE

June 22-24 – Clarkson Czech Festival, Clarkson, NE

Also during National Immigrant Heritage Month, Nebraskans will have stories of their families’ recent and distant immigrant backgrounds featured at NebraskaIsHome.org.

Immigrant Heritage Month – Elizabeth Jane’s story

Note: This is a post from Nebraska Is Home intern Adoni Faxas.

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

I believe that America was a land of immigrants, and people can come. I think, “Why do we have label people like this?” I think everyone should be allowed to come to the United States, but very few people think that. I think it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave and people should be able to be allowed to come when they want.

I am a Hispanic/Latina, that’s how I identify with myself. I’m proud of my mom and my grandma and what they had to put up with. I realize now that it wasn’t an easy life for my mom and she had a lot of prejudices here, as we all do, some more than others.

 

Heritage: Mexican-American

Identities: Hispanic/Latina

Elizabeth Jane

It started with my mom when she passed away in June, four years ago. While we were going through her things, we discovered trunks, and inside of these trunks were documents, photographs, and letters. I didn’t really recognize the enormity and the value that I had at that time, but I wanted to preserve it for my own’s sake, so I grabbed as much as I could. I had all of those letters from my grandma and from the relatives from Mexico that I was curious as to what they said. No one seemed really excited about it, and then I emailed Dr. Lola Lorenzo, who’s the adviser for the Spanish major, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and she got me in touch with Dr. Isabel Velázquez, a Spanish professor at UNL. From there I met with Dr. Isabel and Kate Walters, the head of the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at UNL (CDRH). They came out to my house and they kind of saw what I had and they were really interested in the letters.

My grandmother was always a puzzle, and my mom was always kind of a puzzle too, because she would never talk about where she came from. Every time I would ask who her dad was, she still wouldn’t wouldn’t say a thing about who her father was or anything, she would just always give the thumbs down signal. The caregivers who took care of her actually got her to write down a little bit of information on like a little story. My grandmother’s name, as I always knew it was, Jesusita Barros Torres, and I knew my grandmother’s maiden name was Flemate. And so my mom and my uncle’s last name never changed. My mom and my uncle were always Baros, and then we just got to be more curious where my grandma came from too. Now, I know that my grandmother’s original name was Liboria Flemate, and she was born July 15th, 1896. Among the documents that I have, she had listed her name differently as Jesusita Flemate. We still don’t know where Jesusita came from or why she decided to change her name. She was married and had two kids. At some time Jesusita must’ve gotten pregnant again with my mom, and she was born October 30th, 1921, in Zacatecas, Mexico, and my grandma must’ve come up to the U.S. some time between 1921 and 1926. My grandma swam across the Rio Grande River with Santos and Jess, my mom and my uncle, on her back and that’s how she ended up getting into the U.S.

Now, I see and understand the amount of courage it took my grandma to come up here all by herself, not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, coming into a foreign country, and having to leave her whole family behind. For me it’s like, “Would I have done that, would I have had the courage to do that?” I don’t know. It was all for a better life for her children. My mom and my uncle were able to go to grade school and also went to junior high. Afterwards they started following the migrant sugar beet path and they left Albuquerque, NM all of a sudden to go to Wyoming and then to Denver. My mom by then had gotten a job and was out of school. She started working for the railroad and my grandma worked for the railroad. My grandma later ended up in Ft. Lupton, Colorado and was able to buy a lot there. My mom met my dad in Denver at a dance and they got married in 1946. My dad and my mom moved back to Lincoln, Nebraska, where my mom ended up moving in with my paternal grandparents.

I think it’s really neat to know all of this stuff.

I acknowledge that both my grandma and mother came to this country as undocumented immigrants and that’s where I come from. My mom being in southeastern Nebraska and even how she was able to live with people that she didn’t know. She changed her name from Santos to Sandra, so when she would go back to Colorado, she would be Santos, but when she’s over here in southeastern Nebraska, she’s Sandra. My mom at that moment was becoming acculturated being with my dad. They loved each other very much. She married my dad, who is a U.S. citizen. My dad, before he retired from the Burlington, he did all of this documentation to get her her own social security, her own I.D., and her own railroad retirement number.

She got her Social Security number and she got everything else, and so she was taken care of for the rest of her life, and my dad didn’t have to worry for when she passed away. My grandma became a U.S. citizen. It took her 9 years and it was quite a struggle with the INS back then. She started in the 1950s and she didn’t succeed until 1964. She received her citizenship papers and was able to go back down to Mexico to finally seen her kids that she left down there 40 years ago. She had left these kids and she never saw them again for 40 years, which I thought was “Wow, that’s amazing!

I believe that America was a land of immigrants, and people can come. I think, “Why do we to have label people like this?” I think everyone should be allowed to come to the United States, but very few people think that. I think it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave and people should be able to be allowed to come when they want.

I am a Hispanic/Latina, that’s how I identify with myself. I’m proud of my mom and my grandma and what they had to put up with. I realize now that it wasn’t an easy life for my mom and she had a lot of prejudices here, as we all do, some more than others.

Immigrant Heritage Month – David and Jezharela

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

“A lot of people don’t realize what others sacrifice to come here. They don’t always come because they are poor or need a job. Like my dad, he was a professional in Mexico, never worked a day in his life in the fields or in manufacturing. And then he came here and had to work in a bean packing plant, minimum wage, for years. The blow to his pride was immense. But, he was willing to do anything for the success of his family.”

David’s story:

david+jezharelaMy father is from the Ukraine; he immigrated after World War II to Canada and made his way to a refugee settlement camp. So I was born and raised in Canada, it’s where my mother is from. We had a lot of the same television shows that Americans watch but we also had a lot of homegrown talent that we are proud of. When Brian Adams won some sort of award we would always root for the Canadians, the John Candy’s and Jim Carrey’s of the world.

I went to the University of Toronto for my undergrad and University of Windsor for Law School. I came to the U.S. in 2000. I had met a gal in California. We met at the right time and got engaged. I moved down here to Lincoln and got a new job.

I practice immigration law. I give someone hope and a future here in the United States. I have not yet met anyone who is not excited to become a U.S. citizen. To me, it is a great benefit and exciting opportunity. We do our best to try to work with people who are doing it the right way and at the same time call the government on mistakes that they make. The majority of what we do is business-related, a lot of people from Europe and Canada, entrepreneurs who want to set up shop here. And when they come they don’t want to leave. So that is the next step to try to help them with business visas.

Immigration is a hot button topic in the press but it is one of these issues where you are often taken advantage of if you are undocumented. It is much easier for somebody like me because of the NAFTA agreement and the similar cultural experiences. If my wife and I came from a different culture, if I was Latino or Chinese for example, I would expect to be asked a lot more questions in an interview than I personally received. At times I think there is an institutional bias that people see a certain type of skin color and feel like they have to look out for something.

The funny thing is that when I was a kid I wanted to be Prime Minister of Canada. I was very happy in Canada. The issue with me was that I just hadn’t found the right person, and I happened to find her while on vacation in California. She was in school and really there was not a comparable program in Canada. And here I was studying U.S. immigration law in Canada, and it was a perfect opportunity to make the move. I feel like my opinion is valid now that I’m a U.S. citizen. I can vote and I can have an opinion on what this country does in the world. Before it was always “Well you Americans think this or that.” This is my country now. It feels good, it is a source of pride.

 

Jezharela’s story:

I was born in Tijuana, Mexico. I got to the United States when I was seven. I have three siblings who are deaf, so my parents wanted to give them a better education — one that we could only get in America. We moved to Nebraska when I was seven. My brothers didn’t understand much of what was going on. We left our dog behind, and I cried when we crossed the border. I never went back. The different culture and language was a big adjustment. I consider the United States my home, but I still feel like a piece is missing. That deep connection I have to some other place is difficult to explain. Here it feels like some place I was brought to and just had to deal with. We have done well, but in the back of my mind I still wonder what would have happened if I had stayed.

I work in immigration today interestingly enough. For professionals there is a way in, for normal people not so much. A lot of people don’t realize what others sacrifice to come here. They don’t always come because they are poor or need a job. Like my dad, he was a professional in Mexico, never worked a day in his life in the fields or in manufacturing. And then he came here and had to work in a bean-packing plant, minimum wage for years. The blow to his pride was immense. But, he was willing to do anything for the success of his family.

My father is a pastor of a Spanish speaking church here in Lincoln. When I graduated from high school with honors, I couldn’t get scholarships. I often wonder if I had gotten them, where I would be now. It feels like this barrier that has been in my life for a very long time. People just do not understand these barriers.

Imagine how much greatness people could contribute not only to the country, but to the world with the proper opportunities. And this is all through no fault of our own by the way. I was brought here, I didn’t choose it. I thought about going back, but I never had a driver’s license, I never had anything there so to the Mexican government I am basically dead.

Immigrant Heritage Month – VJ and Mary

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. Throughout the month, we’ll be celebrating both our diversity and our shared American heritage by telling the stories of individuals that, together, comprise a uniquely American narrative.

vj+mary“I kind of like the mystery of my heritage because then there are no ties to the past and I get to think about just moving into the future.”

VJ:

I work at an ice cream store.

Mary:

I work at a coffee shop.

VJ:

We work below the poverty line but we can pay for utilities, pay to get around, and still have time for our art. We found a nice balance of doing what we love and working. We aren’t worried about the struggle and competing like in some other cities. We live in a community here where people want you to share your work, and it makes a big difference, especially in happiness.

Mary:

VJ and I met in 2008. I ended up in Nebraska because of my dad’s job and because my brother played football at the university. My family lived all over the Midwest and West. We lived in Utah for a while, and Colorado. My dad is from Alabama and mom is from Hawaii. I don’t know much other than that. She is Samoan, born in Honolulu, then lived in Samoa and Fiji. My parents met in California, my mom was on a mission trip and my dad was just working out there. I moved here in 2005 in the middle of high school. I don’t speak Samoan or Fijian or Tongan or anything. She does, and I wish she had passed that down a little bit more. Food is a big thing that I learned from her, some traditional Hawaiian meals. After my parents met in California they traveled around a while and then landed in Utah. They’re still together. They currently live in North Dakota. I don’t really know if I have a hometown considering all the moving that I’ve done.

VJ:

I really don’t know where my parents are from. I was adopted so there is not much history about my family. My mother was a drug addict in New York City in the ‘80s. I was adopted at the age of five, lived upstate in New York until I was a freshman in High School, then I was shipped to a boarding school. I really don’t know what my heritage is. Some people say I look like I am from Brazil. Some people say I’m Middle Eastern. I kind of like the mystery of my heritage because then there are no ties to the past and I get to think about just moving into the future. I believe it is all about cutting the negative cords. Being a person of color is a great experience because it forces you to look at yourself outside of what is considered to be the norm.

Mary:

Exactly, because you are already marginalized. So it makes you think “Ok, who am I as an individual?”

VJ

America is a great place because there are so many cultures that have converged. People out here in Nebraska are connected to the Earth; this is a historically agricultural community. People have a love for the planet. There is a heritage of farmers out here, a ton of people love to garden and share food. There is an abundance, and when people have that, you are in a good spot.

Mary:

I think in Lincoln there is a great and loving community that is connected to the Earth, who put their creative lives first. The people are progressive about spiritual healing as well. That kind of separates race from the connection you have with other people. You want to know people because of the energy someone is giving off to you above all other descriptors of who they are or their physical appearance.