There has been some disparaging rhetoric on immigration and the immigrant throughout the years. We have all heard the various statements from presidential candidate Donald Trump painting certain immigrants as merely criminals. These divisive statements can be very damaging. It causes there to be a negative connotation to the topic of immigration.

Because of what people have heard or read, it is very important to have material available that combat these negative ideologies. "¡HOLA AMERICA!: Guts, Grit, Grind and Further Traits in the Successful American Immigrant" by Livingstone and Tiffani Knowles is one of those books. This father/daughter duo have challenged the negative generalizations of the immigrant by highlighting the stories of various individuals from differing countries who have migrated to America and become successful. Their passion to shed light on this topic is evident throughout the pages, and it became even more evident in their voices during our interview.

The book is in response to Ann Coulter’s book "Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole," who according to the preface of "¡HOLA AMERICA!," “writes incendiary remarks about America importing primitive cultures centuries behind the West in their regard for women and children” and “also believes that America’s immigrants from developing nations bring with them criminal cultures." During our interview, the authors state, “this book is not only a counterpoint to her argument that attempt to paint a negative brush on immigrants from certain parts of the world," but “it’s just the other side of the story using a creative approach, because obviously her book was non-fiction commentary, and very flagrantly written, so our book is a kinder approach to the other side. It tells the story of alive human beings, not statistics."

We believe immigrants are true examples of the moxie, grit, and determination that defined this country and made America the greatest nation in the history of humanity.

The immigrant story is an incredible and unique story. Livingstone and Tiffany Knowles understand the importance of telling these immigrant stories through their book, because according to Livingstone, “the immigrant needs to be encouraged. We are doing great things and it needs to be known." His perspective is that if you’re only hearing negative things about the immigrant, you’re going to start believing it and be fearful. Tiffany sees the relatability in each story. She says, “the stories that were told you can identify, because every person has a story. Their stories contain universal principles. When you hear about how this family migrated from Nigeria, and huddled together in a small Coney Island apartment, and that togetherness help them branch out, to which one of the persons head this multi-media company now, that togetherness is a universal human value."

The book is sectioned by various traits: Guts, Grind, Gregariousness, Fearlessness, and many others. These various traits make up the immigrant, and it was important to the authors they highlight that. Tiffany recalls the story of a young man who grew up around immigrants. She shared that “at one point he wanted to be one, because he saw how serious they were, and how much they identified with their culture, and it gave them more pride in their work, school and academics. There’s just something about their culture that made them want to achieve more." She mentions that “by looking at these individual traits, you’ll find something that you can be able to adopt and apply in your own character."

The extraordinary aspects of this book are not only suspended in the stories, but in how these stories were told. Interwoven in each story is the undeniable reference of God and Faith. The authors stated that each individual gives credit to God, because they wouldn’t have been able to make it either way. I read the book, and as an immigrant, I found myself on an emotional journey with each story. I was motivated and found a little of myself within each story. This book is not only for the immigrant, but for everybody. All the authors ask is for you to “suspend your judgment and read some stories. Get to know each character, because you’re getting good stories that make you feel good, so that you can live good!” This book is a must read, so pick it up here.

A few quotes from the book:

The immigrant is flexible, understanding that when a pasture is worn down and eaten up, they must go in search of greener one.

Guts is the courage that every immigrant needs to leave the life that have and start a brand new one.

The immigrant resist the impulses to squander present resources like time and money to secure that dream.