R WE AMERICAN PART 1? - CREATIVE DIRECTED AND STYLED BY ME

Growing up we’d be raised around our traditions and usually as kids do, we don’t really care to listen to any of that and push it away; we think it’s corny and weird. We just wanted to be accepted in this new country and world we’re in and have our own lives different from our parents. But I think the older we get kind of go back to the roots and start to finally connect with it. We understand maybe our parents weren’t tryna force it on us but more so that we hold on to it and don’t forget where we came from.

As a first generation Pakistani American I grew up very differently than my immigrant parents. This goes for anyone that’s a first gen. We grow up around a life where it feels like there’s two parts of us and we’re trying so hard to connect to both. Our parents came to this country so we could live an amazing life here. For the longest time i remember when they would say “You’re American.. be proud!” So then how come when I try to be American… it doesn’t really feel like I belong?

Everyone knows the turmoil that’s been going on in this country and honestly around the world.. people being taken away from their families, arrested, etc. they’ve tried to push us away but I think it’s only made us much closer to each other; the more they’ve pushed us away from being welcome in this country, its also made us grab onto our roots so tightly as a sense of “lemme protect this part of me.” Humans want to belong somewhere and we belong here as much everyone else does. Whether you’re Filipino American, Mexican American, African American, Indian American… this is our home too. And we gonna express it how we want. We aren’t just kids from immigrant parents.

This is Part 1 of “R WE AMERICAN”
Portraying a group of beautiful South Asian women who are from NY who feel connected to both sides of them. You see elements of both countries and areas cultures’ in their clothing, the activities, and overall energy.