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African Immigration to the United States
 The Seattle Public Library chose The Beautiful Things the Heaven Bears for its Seattle Reads selection for 2008. Set in Washington, DC, the book tells the story of Sepha Stephanos, an Ethiopian immigrant, who runs a small corner grocery store, and his friends, Joseph, from the Congo, and Kenneth, from Kenya. All share nostalgia for their home countries; none has come close to achieving the American dream. When a white academic and her biracial daughter move into the neighborhood and befriend Sepha, tensions build and it becomes clear they are not welcome in the gentrifying neighborhood. The novel explores themes of race and class relations, what it means to lose family and country, what it takes to create a new home, and what it means to be an immigrant in America.
To explore books about the African immigrant experience at the University of Washington Libraries try using the following subject headings in the library catalog:
To learn about the experiences of immigrants from specific countries, search on that group, Sudanese - United States, for example.
Additional Resources:
The Library Subject Pages on African Studies and Sub-Saharan African History have several useful links to resources for research in this area.
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