by Miroslava Jovanovic, RAS – The International Serbian Organization (excerpt from the original work titled “The Heroic Circle of Serbian Sisters: A History”) Nadezhda Petrovich, internationally acclaimed as Serbia’s most famous female painter, first initiated the creation of a women’s philanthropic society. Along the way, she joined forces with Delfa Ivanich, a satirist, essayist, novelist, journalist, translator, and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia, and the first Serbian woman to receive the coveted Florence Nightingale Medal. They were soon joined by Mabel Grujich, an American archeol ..read more

by Sofia Stojic Pancevo, Serbia I have always struggled with the notion of straight lines. The chronology of history, for example, as a straight line. “Progress” as a straight line. Even my life, my maturation, my self-improvement, as a straight line. To me, immigration always seemed to be presented as a straight line; the line of your life trajectory is heading one way in the “old” country, and suddenly it diverges into a second in the direction of the “new” country. The new line seemingly moves forward towards an undefined but guaranteed better future – the only certainty that could justif ..read more

Joanne Tica interviewed Peter (Pete) Lalic on several occasions to learn more about his mother, Draga, a refugee, and immigrant to the United States.  The Obrad Lalic family settled in Gary, Indiana, where Pete and his siblings, Millie and Mike, grew up. They were active members of the Serbian Orthodox Church community in Gary. My mother wanted me to become a grocery store manager. In that job, I would stay safe and she could get fresh groceries. Memory of Draga Lalic by her son, Peter Lalic Q:  Tell me what you know about your mother’s youth. My mom, Draga Lalic, lived in a rural ..read more

by Carmen Garcia -Shushtari (Reprinted from The Everymom) I remember the exact moment my first son was placed in my arms after giving birth. I felt a flood of emotions, including unconditional love, fear, hope, and exhaustion. My emotional reflection was abruptly interrupted by a nurse kindly asking me, “Mama, how do you feel?” The only feeling I recall was immense panic at the thought that the “mama” the nurse was referring to was me and not my mom. My mom was in the room with me, but I was “the mama” now, and that thought terrified me. I am the daughter of a Mexican mothe ..read more

These are the immigration facts: Immigrants and immigration are good for our country, our communities, and our economy. Efforts to cut legal immigration – particularly in the recovery from the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic – will keep American families separated, hurt public health, and damage our economy as the country continues to recover from the pandemic. New arrivals to the U.S. help drive business creation, fuel innovation, fill essential workforce needs, and strengthen the middle class. Family-based immigration promotes family unity and integration, all core principles of ..read more

by Natasha Tripney (reprinted from Catapult.Co) “There’s nowhere in the world where I don’t have an accent. Nowhere where my voice fits.” My mother My mother’s small, parquet-floored apartment is noisy. It looks out over a busy intersection in Belgrade. When her balcony door is open, her living room fills with the blare of car horns being hammered by impatient drivers. As she chops onions in the kitchen, music bubbles up from the bar downstairs. It is the antithesis of tranquility, but she doesn’t mind one bit. She likes being in the heart of things, being surrounded by the thump and rumble o ..read more

Written by DUSHICA PROTIC; Edited by SANDRA RADOJA Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. Tennessee Williams It’s 55 years since we arrived in America, Serbian immigrants from Africa. My brother and I were little kids sitting on suitcases, while my Dad went into the hospital to see where we would sleep for the night. My father was 45, a seasoned doctor starting life all over as a student. Dad had taken this medical residency in Brooklyn, sight unseen, because it offered housing. This was1967; Medicare had been implemented; old people were flooding to doctors. Pre ..read more

by Dilek Cindoglu (reprinted from The Conversation, 4/26/2022) Russia’s war on Ukraine is, in many ways, a war on women. The fact that most women do not fight on the battlefield does not mean that their war experiences are less traumatic than male soldiers’ realities. Most of the 5 million Ukrainian refugees are women, children and the elderly, who left behind their husbands, sons and brothers to fight for their homeland. Even once Ukrainian women reach a place of refuge, they will face problems in finding decent work, which is actually an international legal term that desc ..read more

by Marian L Smith Note the following story, which is a perfect specimen of a peculiar quality of the American mind, one bearing no small relation to Independence Day: I have a friend who tells the story of her ancestor coming from one of the Slavic countries and he, of course, could speak no English. At Ellis Island when he was being processed and any question was asked, he would nod his head and smile. Since all he did was smile when they asked his name, the clerk wrote down ‘Smiley’ for his surname. That was the family surname from then on. Whenever I see one of these “name change” stories ..read more

by Maya Salam (reprinted from the New York Times) As a young girl, I emulated characters from shows like “Saved by the Bell” to act American. If only “Never Have I Ever” and“Ramy” had been around back then. Maya Salam Hanging upside down on the monkey bars of my elementary school playground in Missouri, I practiced a morsel of slang I found so intoxicatingly American, I had to have it for myself. I repeated the phrase, “Say what?” — an expression of shock I’d heard many times on TV — over and over to no one. I tried curling the end slyly into a question or dropping it in a deadpan. I tri ..read more