Sunday, January 24, 2021

Naturalization Ceremonies May Look A Bit Different But They Still Mean So Much For Those Becoming US

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Amanda Gorman Reads 'The Hill We Climb'

 
 

When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

'Never been more optimistic': speeches, songs and celebrations cap Biden's inauguration day – as it happened
Read more
And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
This effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust,
for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared it at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked, ‘How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?’ now we assert, ‘How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?’

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:
A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the west.
We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country,
our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, January 22, 2021

President Joseph Biden Inaugural Address Highlights

 

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Citizenship Winter Class 04

 


Fall Citizenship Zoom Class is Tue and Thu 7:00-8:30 pm PDT
For one-on-one interviews 6:00-7:00 pm--email Teacher Jennifer jgagliar@musd.org

Zoom: ID: 597 738 4168, Password: 226317 
Direct Link to the Winter Citizenship Zoom Class 

N-400
Civics
Integration
  • N-400 Quiz A-4 pdf
  • A Third Citizenship Quiz in Honor of Native American Heritage Month (2018) pdf 
Extra Credit
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris

 
  


 
 


Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Citizenship Winter Class 03

 


Fall Citizenship Zoom Class is Tue and Thu 7:00-8:30 pm PDT
For one-on-one interviews 6:00-7:00 pm--email Teacher Jennifer jgagliar@musd.org

Zoom: ID: 597 738 4168, Password: 226317 
Direct Link to the Winter Citizenship Zoom Class 

N-400
Civics
Integration
  • N-400 Quiz A-3 pdf
  • Colonial Quiz pdf
Extra Credit
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, January 18, 2021

Citizenship Resources for Martin Luther King, Jr Day

updated 01-18-2021



uscitizenpod: Three Questions for MLK Day
Three Citizenship Questions for MLK Day focused on the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Read/listen to the whole quiz below.

14 USCIS Questions in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This quiz matches 14 USCIS civics questions with speeches and events from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who worked for equality for all Americans and for all those who thirst for peace and justice throughout the world mp3 and pdf



Interview with Krestos Negasi (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) on MLK Day mp3 and pdf



A Quick Interview Based on the N-400r of Juah Sarwee from Fish Town, Liberia plus 10qs about US Geography and Symbols (2017) pdf  

 A Citizenship Interview Quiz for Paulette Poujol-Oriol (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) (2018) pdf

Kahoot: Citizenship Questions in Honor of Martin Luther King, Dr Day! 

 Learning Chocolate: Martin Luther King Jr Day

MLK Day Special mp3

 uscitizenpod: US Citizenship Resources for African-American History Month
During the month of February, we explore the connection between the USCIS History and Civics questions and African American History. We also include Citizenship, Immigration, and Gov't Resources in African Languages! 





VOA Learning English: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
    Posted by at No comments:

    Sunday, January 17, 2021

    Drive-up US citizenship ceremonies ease backlog

     


    It's long been a joyous and patriotic event when someone takes the oath to become a U.S. citizen, like a high school graduation for new Americans. 
    Now, it's like a visit to a fast-food restaurant.
    Thousands of people have become U.S. citizens in drive-up ceremonies under the social-distancing rules that govern life amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
    "At first, I was disappointed, because I thought, 'Oh, I'm not going to be able to have the picture in front of the emblem and the flag and all of that.' But then I thought, 'How great is it that they're making this opportunity available that I don't have to wait?' So actually, it was fine," Anita Rosenberger said after affirming the oath of citizenship during a drive-up ceremony in Detroit.
    The 60-year-old Rosenberger came to the U.S. from England as a child in 1968.
    She was among a few dozen who became new Americans on a recent afternoon inside the parking garage of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services complex in the city.
    Cars inched along until arriving in front of a face shield-wearing U.S. District Judge Laurie J. Michelson (MEYE'-kehl-sehn), who recited the oath of citizenship to new citizen candidates situated in their cars, trucks and vans.
    "This is a new experience, like we have done it in the building with a group of people. And this is a different feeling. But I'm very happy that they're handling it safely," said Bahar Khan, who witnessed his friend Khadiza Akter Suma of Bangladesh become a citizen.
    The drive-up ceremonies are helping to ease a backlog. 
    But they haven't dampened enthusiasm. 
    People tell The Associated Press they are thrilled with their new status after already long waits that were prolonged further by the outbreak. 
    Many more are waiting to become citizens -- and new voters. 
    "I wanted to become a citizen partly just to get involved in the whole voting process. I've been here a long time. And I thought, 'You know what? I meant to do it for a long time.' And finally, it's like, 'This is the year to do it,'" said Margaret Arnold, originally from Scotland, who affirmed the oath in Detroit.
    But they could be held up by a budget crisis that could soon largely shut down USCIS.

    Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
    Posted by at No comments:
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)