T his picture shows on sailing down the Mississippi River, America's iconic river. We were actually just on a day cruise, we weren't actually traveling all the way to New Orleans at the end of the Mississippi, but this picture is representative of our lives in Minnesota in the 1980s. Living in Minnesota was out of loop of the South Asian diaspora, so we found ourselves regularly on road trips surrounded by white folks, finding our own "American dreams." My dad is a huge fan of the famed Minnesota Bob Dylan, and he always loved a road trip: it doesn't keep much more American than that.
Name
Jessica Namakkal
Origin
St. Paul, MN
Photo Location
Mississippi River
Destination
New Orleans, LA
Year
1985
Companions
Pictured here is my sister Sheela (in the pearls), and my dad Srinivasan (with the Busch beer). The hands holding the Coke cup belong to my maternal grandmother, Wanda Pearl Sarraillon. I believe my mom, Carol, was taking the picture, and my grandfather Louis was also with us.
