The Land of Milk and Honey Reshapes the American Dream

What, to an immigrant, is the “American Dream?” This is the question at the center of The Land of Milk and Honey, a new partnership between Instagram and the New York-based writer, stylist and creative director Alexander-Julian Gibbson. The project, which honors the stories of immigrants and their families, presents a vibrant and timely meditation on the question of who is truly free in America. Through intimate photographs by Gibbson and interviews by Shakeil Greeley from The Imaginary School, The Land of Milk and Honey engages with communities from Nigeria, Mexico, Ethiopia, China, the Philippines, South Asia, Korea, Cuba, and Haiti. Below, in light of Independence Day, a few Americans reflect on what freedom means to them.

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Gabriela Trujillo

What does the American Dream mean to you?

The American dream means to be whatever I choose to be. To be able to earn and save my own money and have the freedom to do with it what I please. The American dream is the fact that my family came to the U.S. as political refugees [from Cuba] with nothing to our name, all living in a one-bedroom apartment, not knowing a word of English. Within a few years, my mom had her own beauty salon with her own clients, making her own schedule, and being free to do what she wanted with her life and time. That’s the American dream. An unheard-of luxury in many other places in the world.

Are you free in the United States of America?

Yes, I am free to say whatever I want. I’m free to openly criticize my government (which I often do). I’m free to post my opinions, I’m free to practice whatever religion I want and marry whoever I want, I’m free to own and sell property, I’m free to have children or not. I fully own the rights to my life and that is a privilege not granted to current residents of my homeland.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States?

I can criticize the U.S. for hours. Everything from the way they have handled international conflict to how they have created and funded militias around the world to advance their agendas. I hate the way the U.S. treats our indigenous population and how they never properly take accountability for the heinous treatment of Black Americans. I even disagree with the Cuban sanctions enforced by the U.S. because it has not hurt the Cuban government at all, (matter of fact Fidel Castro died with an estimated net worth of $900 million). These sanctions have only further hurt the Cuban people. I can go on forever. This country needs a lot of work but even with all that said, I still believe we are worlds ahead of other countries.

What would you like to see happen in the United States?

I would love for this country to heal and for all of us to come together as free people. I wish we could unite over our similarities instead of being divided by our differences. I would love to see this country put up museums and monuments for our fallen indigenous people, and do the same for our ancestors for our Black population, who lost their lives and were so badly treated. I wish for people to seek knowledge and truth outside of establishment media like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, which I believe have already been far too corrupted by our political parties and their agendas. I wish for us to be free from the two-party system altogether and on our way to a more inclusive and united people.

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Natalie Thames

What does the American Dream mean to you?

It’s overall freedom, which we still struggle to have. To be able to succeed and be equal among those of other races. To break the chain of a systematic image that we can not do as other races can do. To make sure my children and generations after me, become independent in a positive light. To show a black-owned businesses can strive and are as talented as others.

Are you free in the United States of America?

Depends on the day.

Are you patriotic towards the United States?

What is patriotic? If it is building relationships with different races under the U.S., then yes.

Are you patriotic towards Haiti?

Yes, to a certain degree. Our mainland has a lot of growing to do itself.

What is your favorite thing about the United States?

The different cultures. It is a giant melting pot.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States?

The killing & kidnapping of Black people. It doesn’t matter what country you are from, if you are my shade, it’s an automatic defense mechanism that occurs of not trusting our worth.

What would you like to see happen in the United States?

Growth. This new generation is definitely showing us it can be done.

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Jesus Bernal

What does it mean to be American?

Well, an honor, a pleasure, as you say in English, “I am very proud to be a citizen of this beautiful country.” Sorry, I’m Mexican. I can express myself sometimes in English, like Tex-Mex.

What are the values ​​of your country of origin?

There are many. Love of family, love of the land, love for growth, to become someone, to be someone important. Improve our lives and of our families that come after us.

What did the American dream mean to your parents?

They did not experience it. I arrived alone. I have no idea what they might have thought about this. It’s a very long story. But I do suppose they would have liked it, too. I am from a family from central Mexico, from Zacatecas. They were traveling, moving north and I was born in Nuevo Laredo which is a border—we’re Sister Cities: Laredo, Texas. Nuevo Laredo. In the case of my family, I suppose they came looking for the north. The north was the land of opportunity for everyone because there wasn’t, or there isn’t, much in Mexico. That’s the story told fast.

Who thrives in the United States?

Everyone. Whoever wants to work. The ones who don’t expect things to be handed to them.

Who dies in the United States?

Everyone. The question is very, very broad to talk about. We are all going to die, in what way? It depends on how we walk, what we do, the way we get there, the way we move, and the way we live. That, more than anything. If we behave well, we will be old and we will die late.

Are you a patriot towards the United States?

Sure. Although I didn’t go to any war, I did enlist when I turned 18 because I was sure I wanted to go, but they didn’t call me.

Are you a patriot towards Mexico?

Of course, yes. And very proud, too. You carry both of them in your heart. The two flags fit in your heart. I have plenty of room in my heart for both.

What would you like to see happen in the United States?

May there be peace, may there be no drugs, may there be no racism, not only in the United States, throughout the world. I would like that. We have everything to live happily, to live in peace, to grow, to succeed, but if there is no peace, if there is no tranquility, you cannot enjoy all the beautiful things we have.

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Jason Serafino-Agar 

What is an American?

I think an American is someone who’s decided to stay or be here in the United States. I also think that the term itself, American, is much broader, but people in the United States have decided that we’re the only ones in America, even though there’s North America and South America. We’ve decided to take the term and think it’s just about us. 

What are the values of the Philippines and Lebanon?

I was raised in the United States. At the same time, my family is from Lebanon where the values were very much around entrepreneurship, business, making opportunities happen, and also the Philippines where the values were to work hard, to be accountable, and to provide for one’s family.

What does the American Dream mean to you?

The American dream, in its many shapes, is really an idea of opportunity and the idea that it’s possible for one person to have greater control or agency in shaping their life, and in exercising choice in their life. 

What did the American Dream mean to your parents?

I think it meant different things. For my mom, I think the American dream meant creating something for herself that was wildly different than what her parents had wanted for her, but was unique for her and felt right. I think for my dad, the American dream meant coming and having what looked like where the benefits of this country and this lifestyle and working hard and then providing those opportunities to his children, whether that was skiing, doing things that his father never had a chance to do, or it was helping us go to college, or it was having a house and having the Beamer, the BMW, and doing what a lot of the other people did.

Are you patriotic towards the United States?

No, I don’t think I am patriotic toward the United States. If the United States is doing something that really is of benefit to other people, versus self-interest for businesses, multinational corporations, and a very few rich people, then that would be different. I don’t see that happening very often. I think the United States has a long way to go to implement and to test its experiment in democracy. Am I patriotic toward the United States? Not particularly.

Are you patriotic towards the Philippines and Lebanon?

I have empathy for the people there, to a certain extent. I have more because I’ve been to the Philippines multiple times. I’ve not been back to Lebanon, but I also don’t like seeing what’s happened because I do feel a connection with people there. Am I patriotic towards my country of origin? Again, it’s not so much about the country. It’s about people, the connection that I feel, and the humanity that I feel with them, so empathy.

What is your favorite thing about the United States?

My favorite thing about the United States is the courage, and the idealism, and the organizing, and the sticking around and fighting to define what the United States will be. That’s happened over the years and it’s continued to happen and the progress that’s being made. I think this is a huge experiment in people coming together and attempting to figure out how to live. There’s a spirit of possibility and confidence, I think, as part of the culture here in the United States.

What is your least favorite thing about the United States?

My least favorite thing about the United States is the level of trauma that we have here and the lack of awareness about it. That’s also an opportunity as well because what’s happening in the United States I see and many others see as really a continuation of the trauma that Europeans experienced and acted out upon each other, and then acted out upon people of African descent through slavery and forced servitude, and then justifications for treating people, some people better than others, particularly black and brown people, or the last few wars people of Asian descent. All those narratives and all those stories and all those justifications are floating around, and they’re out there, and there’s this soup of trauma. It’s not yet been really understood and recognized.

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Continue exploring The Land of Milk and Honey at @thelandofmilkandhoney.