Remembered, Regained: “Telling the Immigrant Story” Review

On Wednesday, February 13, Vox Culture took part in the Houston Arts Alliance’s second event of its Remembered, Regained series, Telling the Immigrant Story. The event took place at the premises of the Houston Museum of African American Culture. Panelists for this event consisted of three individuals who shared the stories of their immigrant backgrounds with the audience.

The first individual was Rathna Kumar. She is a dancer, choreographer, musician and teacher. Anjali, the center for performing arts that she established in Houston in 1975, has trained over 2,000 students from all over the U.S. Rathna has received numerous honors, both for her excellence as a dancer and for her pioneering contributions as a teacher and promoter of classical performing arts. Her immigration story began in her home country of India, and found her way to the United States following her marriage to her husband. Her experience in America was one of both culture shock while also learning of how accepting Americans were of other new and previously not well known cultures. Through the curiosity presented by these Americans she was able to introduce them and teach them dances from her home country, and make a living from what she has a strong passion in.

The second individual was Eugene Irikannu, a native of Nigeria and a member of the Igbo ethnic group, as well as finance manager for the Houston Arts Alliance. He came to the United States in 1997 and moved to Houston for family and community. His immigration story had to do a lot with luck, given that the same day his visa status had expired and was due to leave for Nigeria, he received a phone call saying that he had been selected the winner of the Green Card lottery. Another key aspect that he shared as part of his immigration story was the importance of a good education and for the children of immigrants to keep their culture alive through them, while teaching them values and understanding. To ensure that his children know their mother culture and appreciate their current home, he sends them to Nigeria every summer to live with their grandparents.

The third individual was Michael Cordúa; a Nicaraguan-born American restaurateur, entrepreneur, owner of Cordúa Restaurants and award-winning, self-taught chef. Michael is the owner and executive chef of six restaurants in the Houston, Texas area. He was the first to introduce Houston to Latin American cuisine that was not Mexican. His immigration story began when he came to the United States to pursue a college degree. He graduated with a degree in economics and finance from Texas A&M University in 1980. It was during this time in college that he began to find a certain passion for cooking, when cooking for his friends and roommates. With political upheaval occurring in Nicaragua during this time, Cordúa chose to stay in the United States and worked for a Houston shipping firm, sailing and working as a cook, until it was liquidated in the late 1980s. It is during this period that he would truly teach himself how to cook, with the main reason being that he missed the foods from home.

The event ended with a performance by two of the individuals. Eugene’s son sang a sweet and beautiful Nigerian song on the importance of education. Rathna gave an inspiring and show stopping rendition of a traditional Indian song and dance, called Legend of the Bluebonnets, that left everyone in the room marveled.

What the audience took away from this event was that the immigrant story is different for each individual. Each has their own paths, struggles, opportunities, goals, and achievements. More importantly, every immigrant (like other regular individuals or American citizens) has something to give to this country that makes a lasting impact, whether it be in the form of creating businesses or working hard to make a living, or sharing their gifts in the form of dance, music, food and more. The immigrant story is in fact not only their story, but it’s a story of all of us… one where we all play a part in making a mark on this world for a better life for the generations to come.