Johann Hunter

Storyteller

Johann Hunter is a resident, business owner, and chair of the Danvers Human Rights Committee. She is from Trinidad and Tobago.

Transcript

SHILPA: Hello, and thank you for joining me today. Can you start by telling me your name, a little bit about your connection to Danvers? How long have you been here?

JOHANN: Yes, so my name is Johann Hunter. My connection to Danvers is that I live and work in the community of the town through volunteering. 

SHILPA: Okay, what's your story of coming to America? What was that journey like?

JOHANN: So when I came to America, I was not yet five years old. So it was kind of a blurry, you know, memory. I remember coming on the plane with my family. I remember it being really cold coming from a hot climate. I recall seeing what I thought was snow from up on the plane and just like staring out the window the entire time and having stars in my eyes, just coming to this new place that I had heard so much about. 

SHILPA: What was it like when you first arrived? What surprised you the most? Who was there to help you?

JOHANN: I was with my aunt when I traveled, and when I arrived, I was greeted by the rest of the family who were already here.

I'm trying to think of things that surprised me because I was so young. I will say one thing I do remember, is that I had a hard time with the food. So when I first came to the US, I wasn't eating very much and my mom was actually pretty worried about me. She took me to the doctor because I wouldn't eat much of anything. 

My family had a day where they would always order Chinese food. In that moment, the first thing I remembered was my mom asking, “do you want duck sauce?” I could only think of Donald Duck, so I responded, “uh...” In my country, I'm from Trinidad and Tobago, people don't really eat out food that much. So I was just kind of confused about it [eating out], “What is this food? Where is this?”

I didn't eat much; I was surviving on peanut butter sandwiches for a long time. My mom took me to the doctor, she said “I don't know what to do with her. She doesn't eat. I've tried everything.” The doctor said, “She's getting protein. She's eating the wheat. She'll grow out of it. Don't stress yourself.” And he let me survive on peanut butter sandwiches for God knows how much longer that was. Peanut butter sandwiches and hot cocoa were my meal, you know. Over time, I grew accustomed to what everyone else was eating. And that is something [peanut butter sandwiches], you know, I enjoyed. Eventually, I started eating other things. But I do remember that memory very vividly, that is, there were a lot of things that I didn't eat.

SHILPA: What kind of food did you grow up eating before that?

JOHANN: Oh, yes. I grew up with a lot of homemade [food], you know, we had a lot of curries, a lot of stews, like dumplings, a lot of rice based dishes, I was just used to like home cooked hot foods. I actually joke about this all the time because my dad's side of the family lives in England and people, other people that go to England would be like, “Oh, do you know about this restaurant?” My family would pass out if they had to take me to a restaurant because when a guest comes, it's a big thing to make your best dish and to have your most celebrated item available for them.  You're not taking them to a restaurant. 

So yeah, it's a little bit opposite of American culture where people want to cater to you in the home. I literally had never been out to eat in England until I was an adult and married and coming back with my husband. Then I would go to a restaurant and then go see them, but they would never. Oh my God, they would never take me to a restaurant! That would be horrible for them.

SHILPA: What's your favorite comfort food? Something that you grew up with, and maybe reminds you of where you're from?

JOHANN: Oh, I normally go for roti, but it's a tie between roti and we have this other thing called polori that's like a dough that's made from ground chickpeas, flour and a lot of other spices. They deep fry it and then you dip it in a tamarind sauce or, a mango sauce. I mix them both too. 

Normally my comfort foods are more savory. I think that's another difference with American culture: there were a lot of snacks. I was used to more savory things so anytime anyone always came to visit me they would always bring me savory things that I like and that's what I enjoy to this day. I always joke, I'd rather have a small meal than a snack. 

SHILPA: How do you think your migration story has changed you?

JOHANN: That's a good question. I personally think by going back and forth, seeing people in my country, hearing the stories of my country, and always being surrounded by people either from my country or other similar countries, we always appreciated what we had. 

So as an adult, sometimes when I reflect, I think “Huh, we didn't really have a lot,” but we never really looked at it that way. We didn't know that we didn't have a lot. You know, I knew that there were people very well off, but I still never felt that I was really doing that bad because I knew what circumstances other people faced in my country. I knew how some people didn't have enough and I felt like we were very fortunate. We had a nice place to live. 

My parents worked a lot because that is the immigrant way. My mom had two jobs. My stepdad had one job and he was going to school at night. So they were very much on the go all the time. But that is the immigration story, right? That was the reason why opportunities were available to them and they were taking advantage of it. 

SHILPA: Can you share a story about something you are proud of in the Danvers community?

JOHANN: I will say one thing I'm really proud of is I know there was the incident with the drag queen reading series and there was some pushback to that. I follow all of these stories, even if I am multitasking or at work. It was so nice to see the crowds of people that came to support the individual who was reading. I thought that was amazing. I always think that for every loud person that is saying something negative, you know, there are five more people saying something positive. So even though we have a large town, 30 some odd, people in the town, [and it does feel like a small amount of people] that come to every meeting, it's nice to know that when it counts, those who want to say what they have to say will show up. 

SHILPA: This was the event at the library, a couple of years ago. It was a drag queen makeup event. 

JOHANN: Yes. That one. Yes.

SHILPA: All right. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self newly arriving in this country?

JOHANN: Don't be afraid. You know, be yourself, and everything will work itself out. I think the older you get the more you say “This is me and if you don't like it then, oh well.” As a young person you're very conscious of every little thing. When I went to elementary school, all of the immigrants, we all ate together because people made fun of our food It was the “Oh you eat this...” and “you eat that.” Those sort of things kind of make you feel, “Oh I don't fit in.” Where I am now, everybody has something, you know, even if people look like they're part of the global majority, people have their quirks and tics, and that's perfectly fine. There's so much diversity in so many different ways that we should all be proud of who we are. So I say, wear it loud, wear it proud, whatever it is, you know, eat your plantains and your roti and just be happy!

SHILPA: Is there anything else that you would like to share about your story?

JOHANN: One thing that I will say is, I feel the immigrant story is really integral to my success. I came from a working class household and it was very apparent to me that if I wanted to be successful, I needed to buckle down and put in a lot of time. I also kind of needed to be fearless you know? I wouldn't change anything because I don't know if I would be the same person I am today without those images.

I also feel that we need to remember that those who have immigrated here are coming here with strength and resilience to make this community stronger. For myself and my husband, we own four businesses and the economic impact of that is huge. If you go back, think about every single person, in the United States or even in this community, who has immigrated from somewhere, and their impact. What would we have if we removed that [impact]? I always joke, if there was no pizza, no sushi, no kebabs, what would be left of American cuisine? You know, everything that we have now identified as “American” has actually come from someplace else. So, you know, I just wanted to add that because I feel that we're here for a reason. We contribute and we're making it greater. 

SHILPA: That's wonderful, Johann! Thank you for sharing your story today.

JOHANN: Yes, thank you.