[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.87,0:00:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Four years after arriving\Nin the United States,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.03,0:00:05.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like any typical 16-year-old,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.62,0:00:08.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to get my driver's permit.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.39,0:00:12.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After I showed the clerk\Nmy immigration papers, my green card,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.26,0:00:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she told me it was fake.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.03,0:00:16.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Don't come back here again," she said.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.32,0:00:20.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's how I found out\NI was in America illegally.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.50,0:00:23.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm still here illegally.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.06,0:00:24.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a journalist and filmmaker.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.64,0:00:26.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I live in stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.51,0:00:27.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what I've learned
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.98,0:00:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that what most people\Ndon't understand about immigration
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.23,0:00:34.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is what they don't understand\Nabout themselves:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.54,0:00:38.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their families' old migration stories\Nand the processes they had to go through
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.48,0:00:41.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before green cards and walls even existed,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.46,0:00:45.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or what shaped their understanding\Nof citizenship itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.71,0:00:47.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was born in the Philippines.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.49,0:00:50.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was 12, my mother sent me\Nto live with her parents,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.30,0:00:51.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my grandparents,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.54,0:00:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, as we say in Tagalog, lolo and lola.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.85,0:00:57.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lolo's name was Teofilo.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.08,0:01:01.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he legally emigrated to America\Nand became a naturalized citizen,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.62,0:01:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he changed his name from Teofilo to Ted,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.68,0:01:08.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after Ted Danson\Nfrom the TV show "Cheers."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.18,0:01:10.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can't get any more American than that.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.31,0:01:14.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lolo's favorite song\Nwas Frank Sinatra's "My Way,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.24,0:01:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when it came to figuring out\Nhow to get his only grandson, me,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.45,0:01:19.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to America,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.63,0:01:21.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he decided to do it his way.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.70,0:01:25.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,According to Lolo, there was no easy\Nand simple way to get me here,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.70,0:01:29.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so Lolo saved up 4,500 dollars --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.58,0:01:31.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's a lot of money for a security guard
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.67,0:01:33.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who made no more than\Neight dollars an hour --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.86,0:01:35.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to pay for the fake green card
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.38,0:01:38.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for a smuggler to bring me to the US.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.10,0:01:39.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's how I got here.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.61,0:01:42.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can't tell you how many times\Npeople tell me that their ancestors
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.95,0:01:45.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,came to America "the right way,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.46,0:01:46.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to which I remind them,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.86,0:01:49.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America's definition of "the right way"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.39,0:01:54.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been changing ever since\Nthe first ship of settlers dropped anchor.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.90,0:01:58.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America as we know it\Nis more than a piece of land,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.36,0:02:02.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly because the land that now\Nmakes up the United States of America
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.25,0:02:05.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,used to belong to other people\Nin other countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.53,0:02:10.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America as we know it is also\Nmore than a nation of immigrants.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.66,0:02:14.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are two groups of Americans\Nwho are not immigrants:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.60,0:02:17.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Native Americans, who were\Nindigenous to this land
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.17,0:02:19.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who were killed in acts of genocide;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.52,0:02:23.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and African Americans,\Nwho were kidnapped, shipped and enslaved
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.36,0:02:25.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build this country.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.65,0:02:29.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America is, above all, an idea,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.49,0:02:32.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,however unrealized and imperfect,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.04,0:02:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one that only exists because\Nthe first settlers came here freely
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.07,0:02:38.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without worry of citizenship.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.47,0:02:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.92,0:02:42.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.65,0:02:43.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who paid?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.84,0:02:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All across America,\Nin front of diverse audiences --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.64,0:02:48.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,conservatives and progressives,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.17,0:02:50.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,high school students\Nand senior citizens --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.22,0:02:51.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've asked those questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.66,0:02:54.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a person of color,\NI always get asked where I'm from,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.44,0:02:56.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as in, "Where are you from from?"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.91,0:02:59.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I've asked white people\Nwhere they're from from, too.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.46,0:03:02.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After asking a student\Nat the University of Georgia
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.92,0:03:04.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he was from,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.15,0:03:05.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he said, "I'm American."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.99,0:03:08.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I know," I said,\N"but where are you from?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.01,0:03:10.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I'm white," he replied.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.96,0:03:13.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"But white is not a country," I said.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.87,0:03:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Where are your ancestors from?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.43,0:03:18.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When he replied with a shrug,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.18,0:03:19.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I said,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.76,0:03:21.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Well, where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.44,0:03:23.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here? Who paid?"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.64,0:03:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He couldn't answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.36,0:03:29.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't think you can talk\Nabout America as America
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.22,0:03:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without answering those\Nthree core questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.100,0:03:35.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Immigration is America's lifeline,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.90,0:03:39.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how this country has\Nreplenished itself for centuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.18,0:03:43.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the settlers and the revolutionaries\Nwho populated the original 13 colonies
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.91,0:03:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the millions of immigrants,\Npredominantly from Europe,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.34,0:03:49.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who relentlessly colonized this land.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.32,0:03:52.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though Native Americans\Nwere already here
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.94,0:03:56.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had their own tribal identities\Nand ideas about citizenship,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.42,0:04:02.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they were not considered US citizens\Nuntil the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.09,0:04:07.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act\Nthat Black Americans fought for
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.20,0:04:11.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inspired the 1965\NImmigration and Nationality Act,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.50,0:04:15.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which ended America's\Nrace-based exclusionary system
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.38,0:04:18.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had lasted for 40 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.57,0:04:20.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could go on and on here,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.54,0:04:23.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but my point, my larger point, is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.20,0:04:25.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much do any of us,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.99,0:04:28.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether immigrants\Nof the past or the present,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.80,0:04:32.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,know of these crucial parts\Nof American history?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.10,0:04:36.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much of this history makes up\Nthe actual US citizenship test?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.47,0:04:37.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever seen it?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.74,0:04:39.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a mostly oral test,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.49,0:04:44.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and government officers ask applicants\Nup to 10 of the 100 questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.33,0:04:48.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To pass, applicants must get\Nat least six answers right.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.47,0:04:50.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I looked at the test recently,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.35,0:04:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was aghast at the questions posed
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.54,0:04:57.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what constitutes acceptable answers\Nto the glaring omissions.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.71,0:05:01.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a question about\Nthe Statue of Liberty and where it is.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.11,0:05:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's no question about Ellis Island,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.49,0:05:05.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the United States\Nas an immigrant nation
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.97,0:05:09.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the countless anti-immigrant\Nlaws that were passed.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.38,0:05:11.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's nothing about\NNative American history.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.25,0:05:15.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a question about\Nwhat Martin Luther King, Jr. did,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.81,0:05:19.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but largely, there's inadequate\Nand irresponsible contexts
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.32,0:05:21.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about African Americans.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.10,0:05:22.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's an example.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.31,0:05:26.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Question number 74\Nunder the American history section
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.53,0:05:32.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,asks applicants to "name one problem\Nthat led to the Civil War."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.05,0:05:34.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are three acceptable answers:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.38,0:05:36.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,slavery,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.91,0:05:38.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,states' rights,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.74,0:05:41.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,economic reasons.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.40,0:05:44.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Did my Lola and Lolo get that question?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.61,0:05:46.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If they did get the question,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.17,0:05:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do they even understand\Nthe history behind it?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.06,0:05:51.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How about my uncles\Nand aunties and cousins
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.27,0:05:54.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and millions of other immigrants\Nwho had to take that test
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.58,0:05:56.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to become Americans?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.62,0:05:59.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do immigrants know\Nabout America before we get here?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.44,0:06:04.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What kind of citizenship\Nare we applying for?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.04,0:06:08.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And is that the same kind of citizenship\Nwe actually want to be a part of?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.22,0:06:12.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Come to think of it --\NI've been thinking a lot about this --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.14,0:06:15.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what does dignified citizenship look like?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.59,0:06:20.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can I ask for it when I\Njust arrived here 26 years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.13,0:06:21.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Black and Native people
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.70,0:06:24.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who have been here in America\Nfor hundreds of years
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.61,0:06:26.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are still waiting for theirs?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.03,0:06:29.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of my favorite writers\Nis Toni Morrison.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.84,0:06:34.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1996, a year before I found out\NI was in the country illegally,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.32,0:06:37.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my eighth-grade class was assigned\Nto read "The Bluest Eye,"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.35,0:06:38.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Morrison's first book.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.17,0:06:43.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instantly, the book challenged me\Nto ask hard questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.46,0:06:45.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why does Pecola Breedlove,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.17,0:06:47.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this young Black girl\Nat the center of the book,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.72,0:06:50.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,why did she want blue eyes?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.66,0:06:52.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who told her to want it?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.77,0:06:54.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why did she believe them?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.07,0:06:58.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Morrison said she wrote the book\Nto illustrate what happens
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.40,0:07:03.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when a person surrenders\Nto what she called "the master narrative."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.68,0:07:10.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Definitions," Morrison said,\N"belong to the definers, not the defined."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.13,0:07:13.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once I realized that I was here illegally,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.24,0:07:18.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I convinced myself that if I was not\Na legal citizen by birth or by law,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.86,0:07:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,another kind of citizenship was possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.12,0:07:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as participation:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.57,0:07:25.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I engage.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.81,0:07:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I engage with all kinds of Americans,\Neven Americans who don't want me here.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.78,0:07:33.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as contribution:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.05,0:07:36.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I give back to my community\Nin whatever ways I can.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.86,0:07:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As an undocumented entrepreneur --\Nand yes, there is such a thing --
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.58,0:07:43.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've employed many US citizens.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.22,0:07:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as education:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.78,0:07:49.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can't wait for others\Nto educate us about the past
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.91,0:07:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how we got to this present.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.81,0:07:55.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have to educate\Nourselves and our circles.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.78,0:07:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Citizenship as something\Ngreater than myself:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.01,0:08:02.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are, I think,\Nindividually and collectively,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.84,0:08:06.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rewriting the master narrative of America.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.28,0:08:09.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The people who were once defined\Nare now doing the defining.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.24,0:08:12.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're asking the questions\Nthat need to be asked.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.69,0:08:14.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A core part of that redefinition
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.61,0:08:17.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is how we define\Nnot only who is an American
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.76,0:08:19.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what constitutes citizenship.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.28,0:08:24.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which, to me, is our\Nresponsibility to each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.28,0:08:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So consider your own personal narrative
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.99,0:08:29.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ask yourself:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.81,0:08:31.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where did you come from?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.60,0:08:32.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did you get here?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.73,0:08:34.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who paid?