My City Was a Sparkling Jewel

Using a trauma-informed approach to gathering stories, this unique collection of 19 stories illuminates the range of challenges and successes met by the latest generation of displaced peoples from Afghanistan.

When American troops pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban returned to power, the lives of families were radically disrupted. Large, loving, vibrant families that had gone about their daily lives were suddenly separated, and many youth were forced to flee.

The storytellers, ages fifteen to twenty, come from various ethnic groups: Pashtun, Hazara, Tajik, and Pashai. While the future of Afghanistan and its youth in the United States is still uncertain, these first-person stories illuminate the harrowing contours of the unjust displacement these young people experienced. Their narratives bear witness to the early days of their resettlement.

Green Card Voices and its partners from Afghanistan carefully collected first-person accounts of the diverse journeys of nineteen young men and eleven young women on their path to resettling in Minnesota. These stories were gathered at the speed of trust using a mix of handwritten essays and oral storytelling in English, Dari, Farsi, and Pashto. My City Was a Sparkling Jewel: Voices of Newcomer Youth from Afghanistan shares the challenges faced, opportunities grasped, and dreams these youth had, and still have, for themselves, and for the families and friends they left behind.