I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib

If only they just knew what it’s like growing up here.

I grew up my whole life not being able to tell my story. Having grown up in a very diverse part of Los Angeles, around immigrants and plenty of cultures, Malaka used her drawings as a way to course correct and portray immigrants in a different way saying, “I drew a cartoon about my mom in Manila and it was different from the news. With all that was going on in 2016, hearing all the ugly rhetoric in the news about immigrants in the US, Malaka began posting her cartoons on Instagram. That’s where her cartoons/drawings got their start. She would print her zines at her Tito’s office in Historic Filipino town, distributing them at Tower Records and concerts. Malaka spent her youth in Cerritos, California creating zines and drawing. These moments set the scene and provide an understanding of her growth, coming of age and feeling comfortable in herself. Moments of her life are captured beautifully in drawings and words with details like growing up a child of immigrants, her Filipino and Egyptian culture and food, family tree, pop culture influences, balance of life between cultures/traditions/religions, trips to visit her father, college in New York, microaggressions, finding love and an identity all her own. I Was Their American Dream, the premiere graphic memoir by writer and editor Malaka Gharib is a journey through her life, growing up in America, and finding her identity.

I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib