On September 30, 2014, I attended “Crossing the BLVD,” a multimedia production based on the book Crossing The BLVD: strangers, neighbors, aliens in a new America, published in 2003. The show was an audio and multimedia one-woman production, performed by Judith Sloan, a co-author of the book along with her husband, Warren. The School of General Studies and The Writing Minor at Stockton College sponsored this event.

Sloan took a humorous approach on tackling the problem of discrimination against immigrants. She embodied different voices to share the stories of an array of many different people. Sloan argued that without immigration from other countries, many of us would not be here, as most of us are tied to somewhere other than the United States. She discussed many topics, varying from jobs that immigrants took, to why they had to move from where they originally lived. Sloan said, “These people leave the lives they have built to come to America to push a broom and take less desirable jobs.”

After her performance, Sloan reflected on her motivation for writing this book. She and her husband live in Queens, New York, a less desirable living area, and they began to realize that nearly all of the buildings in her neighborhood were run down and aged. As more and more immigrants began moving there, they began fixing up the buildings and turning them into homes, shops, restaurants, and other businesses. This was beneficial for the economy because these businesses were bringing money and income into the area, and also provided jobs. It made the area more desirable and eventually began to drive the housing prices in the area up, forcing the immigrants to relocate because they could no longer afford to live there, as discussed by Sloan. Overall, this performance was amazing and captured many aspects of immigration from the history to the economic value. We are all neighbors and should treat each other accordingly.