Where Do You Feel Like an American?
For a city known to focus on the future at the expense of the past, New York is spending a good bit of time looking back this week.
Today, of course, marks the eighth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. (For a thoughtful piece on how we remember that day, see this post by Ryan Sager.)
Meanwhile, the city is also marking the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage into New York Harbor. That trip unleashed forces that would create, first, New Amsterdam, and then New York City.
These anniversaries are experienced collectively but also personally. For me, they’ve forced me to reflect on how I relate to being American in 2009. Quaint, right? Even hokey? Perhaps. But I also find this calibration a helpful bit of mental maintenance.
My favorite place to explore this topic is Queens, one of America’s most vibrant and diverse communities. In no other place do I feel more American than in this borough, a place that forces you to confront an electric mix of cultures, languages, sounds, smells and ideas like no other place I’ve ever been.
I’ve been working on a long-term photo project about Queens, in part because of this provocative mix. Below is a very brief sample from that series and my tiny contribution to this week of remembering.
Photograph by Josh Robinson
Photograph by Josh Robinson
Photograph by Josh Robinson
Photograph by Josh Robinson
Photograph by Josh Robinson
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
Those are great photos; my favorite is the one at the top. I don’t think I could pick a favorite NYC spot, there are too many. But the recent New Yorker article sure does make me want to visit (for the first time) Governor’s Island.
Fran, I made my first trip to Governors Island in July. I saw some art (http://trueslant.com/joshrobinson/2009/07/10/island-hopping/), some intriguing history and grabbed some great views of the harbor. I highly recommend it.
In response to another comment. See in context »I don’t often feel very American as I’m technically an immigrant, even after 20 years here. I guess at silly yet very American places like a baseball game or playing softball or when I drive through my own town and see historic markers — Captain Andre was captured about half a block from where our library stands, and our town has the second oldest church in the state, from 1699. I really feel the history here and that touches me deeply. I spoke today to a soldier in uniform and it doesn’t make me feel American but that sort of patriotism and service to country is, I think, a profoundly American thing.