The Journey Begins

Becoming American, One Step At a Time

Constantino Diaz-Duran is a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University. He is chronicling his walk from New York to Los Angeles to celebrate his eligibility for American citizenship. Below he explains why. Follow Constantino’s progress.

I came to this country a decade ago from Guatemala, full of aspirations – none greater than being able to someday call myself an American. It has been a blessing to reside legally in this great country, but now I am eligible for citizenship. I will no longer be a visitor, but will take a solemn oath to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I will promise to “absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity” to the place where I was born. And I will even swear “that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law.”

Becoming an American citizen is about more than gaining the right to vote or a blue passport. By taking the Oath of Allegiance, I will be joining a nation, a community. I will become the “fellow citizen” of more than 300 million people who have gained that title either by being born here or – like myself – through naturalization.

Before I do this, I want to gain a better understanding of what it will mean to finally be an “American.” I also want to mark this occasion in a big way, as a defining, transformative milestone in my life. There will ultimately be paperwork involved, yes, but this is no jaunt to the DMV.

I am to become an American!

There are preparations, rituals and celebrations involved with joining a religious faith, marrying someone, or graduating from school, but besides the powerful oath of allegiance I will take with pride, there are few established traditions for attaining citizenship. Bookstores aren’t crammed with naturalization etiquette manuals or planning magazines; I doubt Macy’s would have a form for me to register.


So I thought long and hard about the proper way to commemorate becoming American in a meaningful way. I could cram for the citizenship test (quick, name one author of the Federalist Papers) or create with the assistance of Netfllix a self-prescribed “All You Ever Needed to Know to Be American” film festival (which 10 movies would you include?). Or I could enter a hot dog-eating contest, or attend the Fourth of July parade in a small Missouri town.

Those would all be worthy endeavors, but in the end, I concluded that if I am to be an American, I should first take a hike – not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. I have been living for many years in New York, a city I love, but I yearn to see my adopted country, to get to know it in all its majestic diversity.

And so, on July 4th I will set off from New York to California, hoping to walk some 4,300 miles over approximately eight months.


I want to see the spacious skies, the amber waves of grain and the purple mountain majesties. But even more importantly, I want to meet Americans of as many different backgrounds, ages and lifestyles as I can. I want to ask them what it means to them to call themselves “American.” I want to talk to the people who live here but haven’t attained citizenship, to learn about their aspirations and why this nation remains a beacon upon a hill to so many around the world.

I look forward to exploring what makes us a nation, what keeps these United States united. I want to find out what a 10th-generation New Englander has in common with a first-generation Latino in California, and what a descendant of African slaves shares with a granddaughter of Vietnamese refugees. Benjamin Franklin once said that his country is “where liberty dwells,” and I suspect that in his timeless wisdom lies part of the answer as to the connective tissue binding us together.

My journey will be daunting. I am “two with nature,” as Woody Allen once put it, so undoubtedly there will be difficult moments when I might wish I’d opted for the Americana film festival on my couch instead. But in the end, I am hoping to gain a rich portrait of this great country that will stay with me for a lifetime.

I will be documenting my journey as I go along, sharing the wisdom and perspective of people I come across. I hope to see you along the way.

Be a part of Constantino’s journey.

Follow Constantino on Facebook and Twitter.

See Constantino’s entire route.

*Photo by Constantino Diaz-Duran.


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