WWDTogether_Immigration

We invited you to share artwork and stories of immigration. No matter where we live – the USA, the UK, India, Australia, Mexico, everywhere – we all have a family member or friend (or we ourselves) immigrated from one place to another in the distant or recent past. Some of us chose to move. Some of us were forced to. No matter the time or the conditions, our immigration stories are a big part of who we are. Continue to share your stories with accompanying artwork on Instagram with the hashtag #WWDTogether_immigration.

This is my grandmother, Christina. In 1965, she and her three small children left their Greek village to start a new life in Oakland. Her husband had already been living in California for six months and secured two factory jobs for her. She peeled potatoes and sharpened pencils for 16 hours a day, then came home and baked fresh bread for her family. She never learned English or how to drive a car. But she did what she set out to do, working to the bone to give her children opportunity she never knew for herself. Today, she is in her mid nineties, living in that same house in Oakland. She dyes her own hair, cooks her own meals and bakes her own bread; tough as life made her to be, nothing could hold her back or slow her down. #wwdtogether_immigration #womenwhodraw #art #portrait

A post shared by Nicole Varvitsiotes (@nicolevarvitsiotes) on

#WWDTogether_Immigration By the end of 2015, 65.3 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. Only in the Central American region, where I live, cases increased from 20,900 people in 2012 to 109,800 people in the end of 2015. ——- Al final de 2015, 65,3 millones se desplazaron forzosamente en todo el mundo a consecuencia de la persecución, los conflictos, la violencia generalizada o las violaciones de derechos humanos. Solo en la región Centroamericana, en donde yo vivo, los casos incrementaron de 20,900 personas en 2012 a 109,800 personas en el cierre de 2015. #WWD #immigration #immigrant #resist #WWDTogether #humanrights #refugees #migrant #migration #picame #illustree #illustration #illustrator #ilustradora Source: Global Trends, The UN Refugee Agency, 2016.

A post shared by Monica Andino (@monicaandino) on

This my great-grandmother, Matilda ?. She immigrated from Italy to the US around 1912, while the First World War was gearing up and Italy was warring to colonize many countries. Her and her family were able to build a new life here, and it's largely thanks to her family that I have the opportunities that I do now, four generations in. It was challenging to assimilate into American culture for Italian-Americans in those times, as it is for many immigrants today. What it means to be "American" has always been in a constant state of flux and that complicated and multifaceted fluidity is woven into our history. But those struggles aside, they were still allowed the right to come here and build a better life, and to live the "American Dream". It is against our country's foundation to close our borders on anyone because of their religious beliefs and fear of change. We should be busy working to move forward in understanding what it means to be American, not moving backward and fearfully inward. #noban #nowall #wwdtogether_immigration

A post shared by Gabrielle Free Muller (@gabriellefmuller) on

For #wwdtogether_immigration this month I wanted to draw my 2 times great grandmother Frida Charlotta Sjostrom. ?? . . Frida emigrated to the U.S. In 1891 from #Sweden. Probably seeking open space, affordable farmland, jobs, or freedom from religious oppression she joined the millions of immigrants who shaped the history of the American Midwest. This drawing is based on a photo I have of Frida in traditional Swedish clothing when she visited her homeland in 1924. I loved learning about her and connecting my personal story to the history of my country. If you can't see the connection to immigration today, you are picking and choosing what you want to be true! ????? Thanks for this project @thewomenwhodraw #nobannowall #weareallimmigrants #aclu✊?#refugeeswelcome #resist #resistfear #nohatenofear #immigrantswelcome

A post shared by @erinddreis on

Further thoughts on immigration for @thewomenwhodraw "Being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has his family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood." Wrote Milan Kundera in one of my favorite books, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. As I am reflecting on what it means to be an immigrant, I am reminded of this passage. When making the choice of leaving your homeland, whether it be a forced or voluntarily choice, you are renouncing the given comfort of knowingness, the security of a language and a sense of self. You are a new born again, in all its fragility. But there is also so much strength in walking that tightrope. An immigrant is a giver by default. We lay bare our hopes and dreams, our quivering hearts, our selves to the judging eyes of our new compatriots. We rise up and meet the challenge of constant scrutiny face on (literally); we have to be above and better than any criteria that apply to the natives of the land we sat foot on, otherwise risking exclusion. We are tested in countless ways, from the grueling paper and money hammer of the immigration system to the daily interactions at the supermarket: are we the "right" kind of people, do we have too much accent, too little cultural similarities, do we "assimilate" well, are we "trying enough", what do we "bring"… Nevertheless, we give. We give the gift of trust to the new land, we give the benefit of the doubt to the person who made an insensitive off-handed remark, we give ourselves the necessary confidence in our ability to succeed despite the odds. We give in order to defeat fear. We give the unknown a chance. An immigrant is someone vulnerable because we are removed from our original surroundings, but do not underestimate the incredible courage it takes to show the world what your heart is made of. #illustration #immigrantstories #immigration #proudimmigrant #wwdtogether_immigration #wwd #gouache #watercolor #pattesdemouche #instagrammies #mystory #thoughts #nyc #nobannowall #resistwithlove

A post shared by Nina Summer (@pattesdemouche) on

#WWDTogether_WomensMarch

Each month we invite you to be part of a collaborative project. Using the #WWDTogether hashtag on instagram, we’ll share drawings we do together around a single theme. At the end of each month, we’ll select some drawings to feature here on this page.

This month we’ll be making artwork documenting the 2017 Women’s March on January 21 all around the USA. If you are outside of the USA or can’t make it to a march join us by creating something around women’s rights and solidarity.

To be part of this project, all you have to do is post your drawing to instagram with the hashtag #WWDTogether_WomensMarch

#womensmarch #sanfrancisco #penandink #sketchbook #wwdtogether_womensmarch #womensmarchbayarea

A photo posted by dianeolivierdraws (@dianeolivierdraws) on

Feeling so energized and inspired today. Want to make it last. ??✨ #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Katie Turner (@katiecturner) on

Nobody is free until we are ALL free! #WhyIMarch#feminism #WomensMarch #WWDTogether_WomensMarch

A photo posted by Ann Uland (@nymaulth) on

My ? and support goes out to everyone marching today. #WWDTogether_WomensMarch ✌?✌️✌?✌??✨

A video posted by Katie Perez (@hikatiepea) on

Love trumps hate. #wwdtogether #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Crystal English Sacca (@crystale) on

Let's go ladies! #whyimarch #wwdtogether_womensmarch #womensmarch #pussygrabsback

A photo posted by Carolyn Figel (@carolynfigel) on

see you soon ??#womensmarch #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Elena Megalos (@emegalos) on

For all the ladies marching today. Be safe. ?

A photo posted by Patrice Horvath Design (@patricehorvath) on

made a fun shirt to wear to the march tomorrow!! see you all there! ? #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Cassie Ross (@treesalive) on

See you TOMORROW at the #womenmarch in NYC! #imarchfor #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Maya Ish Shalom (@maya_ishshalom) on

Stay safe and strong out there tomorrow ladies! ??????✌???

A photo posted by Carly (@clementinestudio) on

♥️

A photo posted by Katty Huertas (@kattyhuertas) on

✨WOMEN RISE UP✨Illustrating for @refinery29 and @womensmarch #womensmarch #WMWart

A photo posted by Louisa Cannell (@weezyvc) on

On Saturday the 21st of January thousands and thousands of women around America will march in unison, protesting an incoming government that threatens basic human rights and engages in sexism, misogyny, racism and hate mongering. In the words of the Women's March organisers: 'The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted and demonised many of us … immigrants of all statuses, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared .. We stand together, recognising that defending the most marginalised among us is defending all of us.' www.womensmarch.com @womensmarch @thewomenwhodraw #pussyhat #womensmarchonwashington #womensmarch #nastywomen #dumptrump #pussygrabsback #WWDTogether #wwdtogether_womensmarch #thefutureisfemale #womensmarchwednesday #wmwart

A photo posted by Alice Lindstrom (@alicemlindstrom) on

#wwdtogether_womensmarch #womensmarch

A photo posted by Alexandra Lakin (@alexandralakin.studio) on

We all needed THAT. After months of listening to lies and insults and feeling nothing but rage, disgust, and fear we finally had our say. For the first time since the election night I saw people smiling again. We didn't seem to mind the pouring rain, the cold, all of the disruptions to the normal life that an event like this brings to a city. The streets were closed, bus service was disrupted—we were all rolling with it, happy that the buses going downtown to the march were too full to take on new passengers. I realize that the new government is cynical and delusional enough not to be moved a hair—not in their emotions nor in their policies—in response to millions of people taking to the streets in the US and the worldwide, but WE needed this march to feel human again. #inaugurationprotest #resistance #womensmarchonwashington #livesketching #urbansketching #resistance #wwdtogether_womensmarch

A photo posted by Rita Sabler (@ritasabler) on