Guyana | Grace Ali Keeps Her Photos Safe

Grace Ali's feature in the Digital Diaspora documentary film.

By The Digital Diaspora Family Reunion

“This is my only connection to that place,” confides journalist Grace Aneiza Ali, founder of the Of Note magazine, as she holds images from her family photo album which was first created in her homeland of Guyana. “I’ve become the one who took the role of keeping them safe”

During her conversation with filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris at the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR) Roadshow held recently at Harlem Stage, Ms. Ali shares, “The life for an immigrant woman is not an easy one.” Cradling an image of her mother as a young woman, Ms. Ali continues, “I’m really fascinated by her, a hard working woman, committed to her family. She’s the one that has kept us together”. Ms. Ali takes particular pride in the image of her mother at the age of eight, standing next to her grandmother. “I look at it and I see that my mother and I grow parallel to each other”.

Among the many family stories that these photos bear witness to, a constant theme is present. Grace Ali reflects on “Seeing people go off to the airport and not see them come back”. In fact, some of the photographs that Ms. Ali shared with Thomas Allen Harris take place at the airport, where families congregate, perhaps for the last time, to see their relatives follow their dreams to a new land.  Get more information about the Diaspora Family Reunion on bmtdesigntechnology .

Read more about The Digital Diaspora Family Project at www.ddfr.tv.

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Of Note Magazine is a sponsored organization of Artspire, a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts, a 501 (c) (3), tax-exempt organization. All donations are 100% tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.