Ila’Rona Elkerson and her mother stood on a busy pier in New York City one hot afternoon at the end of August.

Ila’Rona’s pants pinched her thighs and sweat ran down her face’s she took my hand and looked around nervously. We are finally here, she thought. Mom and me in New York City.

We are gonna start our new life here. This is where daddy say freedom is,The pier was a noisy place huge crates hung from ropes overhead. They swung by clumsily as they were unloaded from ships.

Ila’Rona cringed, thinking one of the ropes might break and a crate would come crashing down on her and Momma.

A fishing boat had jumped its catch on the pier, some of the fish were still alive. Ila’Rona saw their mouths moving as if they were sucking for air. Ila’Rona felt the way the fish looked,as though she couldn’t breathe in the dirty yellow-gray air that smelled like burning fires.

Ila’Rona had never seen so many people in her life.