It took sneaking out of school for a coffee date, countless phone calls, a year of opening just one love letter a day, getting two families to agree to have a wedding in the middle of a war, waiting out the ban on Muslims entering the US, three trips from the US to Yemen, four years of waiting for paperwork, and, finally, suing the US Embassy. At last, Wafaa Almaktari and her husband Moutaz are doing what they always wanted: living an ordinary life together.
I Am An American Live is a production of the award-winning nonprofit The Immigrant Story. The stories were presented live at The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR on Saturday, May 11, 2024. This series of events is part of the programming by the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition, with the aim of drawing attention to the historic xenophobia experienced by the Asian American community in Oregon and across the U.S.
This free event is made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell. Additional funds for Programming have been provided by the City of Beaverton and OnPoint Community Credit Union.