The Reality of The American Dream: Frog Commissary Workers

I have always been interested in the idea of the American dream. As an African Immigrant, I was raised on the idea of the American dream. Back home in Sierra Leone, West Africa, the “American Dream,” was advertised to us as the ideal way of life; something to aspire to and desire. As Africans, every one of us wanted our piece of the American dream. We wanted to live the life of peace, prosperity and wealth. We wanted the dream that was sold to us.

Now living in the U.S, I am living my piece of the American dream. From an immigrant’s perspective, it is easy to look at the imperfections of the American Dream and ignore it; because, after all, I made it to America. I made it to the one country that everyone is desiring to be in. However, I realized that, for a lot of natural born Americans, the idea of the “American dream” is not their reality. This was made clear to me when I worked as a cook/server for a catering company at the Franklin Institute museum in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people with interesting stories.

From their stories I learned that for a lot of Americans, the idea of the “American Dream” is “foreign” to them. According to them, “the American dream is a lie.” Many of them stated that they are just trying to survive and that they have given up hopes of ever achieving the dream.

Below are photos of some of my coworkers. The series is made up of chefs, line cooks, bakers, cashiers, dish washers and a stock clerk, and a lone photo of a mechanic.