"Who Is The Immigrant?" is a question I've been asking myself lately, realizing certain changes made in our personal lives not so long ago and without having expected it, I received an answer during our recent trip to Vatican city.
After having explored almost all of the "must-see" sites in Vatican city and being ready to leave the city-state, a sculpture in a corner of the St. Peter's square came into my sight. Curious as I am, I felt the urge to observe it more up close and was hit with the realization of how current and ongoing the stories of migrants and refugees are.
"Angels Unawares" - is the title of the sculpture by Timothy Schmalz - was placed to remember the World Day of Migrants & Refugees (WDMR), because of the vulnerability of this group. It doesn't matter where one comes from in what century, people are leaving behind their homes and family because of war, social injustices, violence, persecutions, for better living conditions, etc. often with little to nothing and usually under perilous circumstances.
Looking at the sculpture, it's evident that the artist tried to include every type of refugee and/or migrant from whichever region in whatever circumstance and utilized every angle to tell the story as it's still occurring nowadays and not a "thing of the past".
Coming back to the question Who Is The Immigrant? the artist Irie Souljah tried to give an answer with the song with the same name. Here he sings about everyone's the same under the same sun and that there's no need for discrimination and segregation. We shouldn't speak of being "illegal" because we're all born free men and that we should help each other out of hardship and create equal opportunities for each other.
Before signing off, I would like to reflect on how we're all in one way or another affected by a migrant's or refugees' story: whether we're the migrant or refugee ourselves, or had to say goodbye to loved ones or by our ancestors who had to flee or were ripped away from their home town or had to move because of circumstances. What's your take on it? I would like to read about it in the comments below or better yet in your very own APART post 🤓.
Chasse into the backstage! 💃
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