As a young girl growing up in Queens, N.Y., Colette Baptiste-Mombo said she felt largely insulated from the struggles of the civil rights movement playing out across much of the country in the 1960s. Her mother, an immigrant with English and Somali roots, and her father, a Bronx-born Jamaican American, were looking for the best opportunities for their children. But when her family moved into an all white neighborhood in the New Jersey suburbs in 1965, Colette and her family soon faced taunts, insults and eventually an attack that would become a defining moment in Colette's life.


This story is part of NPR's Where We Come From series, featuring stories from immigrant communities of color across generations in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month.

• See the full series at [ Ссылка ]

------------------------------------------------------

Follow NPR elsewhere, too:
• Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
• Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
• Facebook: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть