Shattered American Dream
Shattered American Dream is Anta Gueye-James' autobiographical novel describing the journey of a young African woman who follows her love for the USA and moves there after high school in search for higher education and her own American Dream. Through her experience and learning the history of her adopted country, she unveils an image of her beloved that is strikingly different from that which had been mirrored to her in her youth. She discovers AmeriKKKa and her institutional racism and white supremacy. Her dream shatters in her hands as she journeys through nearly 24 years as an immigrant naturalized American. She ultimately decides to break up with her love, gather her family, and move back to Africa and away from racially unsafe America.
Why I wrote this book:
My first true crush was Lady Liberty and what she represented to me: the United States of America, land of the free and endless opportunities… or so I thought. Like many African youngsters before and since, I looked at the US as an Eldorado, a place where dreams came true. And I strived, and fought, and endured to make it there after high school to pursue higher education and unlock my very own American Dream. Except Lady Liberty would turn out to be something I hadn’t expected and wasn’t prepared for. The United States of America was not the land of the free when it came to me and my kind; the place of my dreams didn’t believe in my dream, it didn’t value me. It was founded on institutional racism and ran by white supremacy and privilege and had a way of serving me crumb compliments to make me feel included or accepted, when in fact the very essence of my black life did not matter to her. My American Dream started cracking the minute I began peeking under the veil of my beloved, and completely broke into pieces as I discovered the socle upon which she stood, carrying her torch… a torch… all she was missing was a hood. I wrote Shattered American Dream to recount the shocking journey many black immigrants like me go through moving to a country where they are suddenly minorities and go from just being Black to becoming Black. I wrote the book to name the struggle and continuous trauma faced by Black Americans within a country that decided that “We The People” doesn’t include them, despite said country having been built on their ancestors’ backs without compensation or reparations. I wrote the book so today’s youngsters who happen to still be enamored with the US, despite its veils having been lifted by things like mediatized police brutality and racist leadership, will be better prepared and inclined to research a bit more of the history and remain on the right side of it. Finally, I wrote Shattered American Dream so those who are on an antiracist journey can add to their knowledge-seeking quest by having the vantage point of a Woman, Black, Immigrant naturalized American, Muslim.