To know LAEWG member Amy Friedman is to be in awe of her tireless energy—she manages on any given day to juggle her regular writing projects, swim farther than most people drive, and advocate for the many causes for which she holds a fierce and devoted passion. A phenom writing instructor and indefatigable activist, Amy supports a never-ending string of meaningful projects—but dang, this new one might top them all.
Amy is the force behind All-American Story, a multimedia project, featuring stories, artwork, and music created by American immigrants and first- and second-gen Americans appearing weekly on OurAllAmerican Story on Substack, on Instagram, and, beginning in April 2026, in live events—across the country. The project is audacious, timely, and deeply human—100% authentic, 100% Amy.
Follow the stories on Substack and on Instagram, and prepare to be moved.
I caught up with Amy to hear what she had to say regarding the intent and inspiration behind the project:
What inspired you to launch All-American Story, and how does it build on your earlier work as a writer and storytelling advocate?
Three inspirations. First, my desire to do something to push back against the current Administration’s prejudice, hatred, lies, cruelty, and obscene actions toward American immigrants and their families.
Second, I have worked for decades with teens who have been affected by detention, deportation, and incarceration, which means that dozens and dozens of young people I know and love are being targeted and harmed, their families terrorized.
Third, I’m Jewish, a second-gen immigrant from Eastern Europe. My paternal grandmother’s family all died in concentration camps, and my dad was a 19-year-old Jewish POW in Germany during World War II. Dad’s life was saved by one man, his commanding officer, a 25-year-old Methodist from rural Tennessee who had never even met a Jewish person until he was in the army yet stood up against a German commandant who demanded he “hand over the Jews.” (A man who on March 2, 2026, will receive a Medal of Honor.) I tell the full story in “The Origin Story,” posted on All-American Story, where I go into the details. My parents were my earliest teachers about the necessity of speaking truth to power.
And true stories can overpower lies.
I kept thinking of the gorgeous tapestry that is the U.S., a tapestry made up of courageous, hard-working seekers, strivers, and dreamers from everywhere around the world. I decided that one way to fight the heinous lies being spread about immigrants was to employ my skills as a memoirist, a ghostwriter, an editor, and a teacher and to bring true stories to light. I reached out to my friend Jessica Tuck—an actor and creator of Spark Off Rose, a popular long-running storytelling series, and one of the finest curators of stories I’ve ever known—to ask if she’d join in this vague idea of a venture. She said yes.
And we put our heads together, reached out to others with various areas of expertise, asking them to join us, and over six months gathered an all-volunteer team. Thankfully, I have many colleagues who are writers, editors, teachers, filmmakers, and social media experts who have willingly given their heads, hands, and hearts to this venture.
The project celebrates the wisdom and shared humanity of all Americans, especially immigrants and first- and second-generation Americans. How did you decide on that focus?
Interesting question. In the earliest days of our venture, an immigrant storyteller lambasted me for “lumping together” the stories of immigrants with first and second gens. At first I thought I ought to re-think the idea, that perhaps the project should be dedicated to immigrants only. But as stories kept coming across my bow—from people I know and from stories of family separations and the profound impact of the inhumane treatment of not only immigrants but their children, grandchildren, and extended family—the more I felt that revealing as many sides of these immigrants’ stories as possible would be enlightening. That the expanded lens matters.
You’ve spent decades helping people tell their stories—from teaching memoir at UCLA to editing youth anthologies. How has that work shaped your vision for All-American Story?
Writing, ghostwriting, teaching memoir, and working with youth to help them write personal essays and create memoir-like work is at the heart of everything I’m doing with All-American Story. I’ve learned as both a writer and a teacher that memoir and personal essay writing is healing and mind- and heart-opening, so whatever else happens with this project, the first group of people I’ve worked with has already proven to me that this project is worthwhile.
When I teach memoir, I always explain to students that as they work on their stories, they’ll discover things they didn’t know they knew; memories return, and beyond that, their understanding of things that happened in their lives takes on different, often deeper meaning. Also, artists, musicians, and filmmakers tell me the same thing happens in creating personal work, whatever the genre. Each creator makes discoveries as they dive in to recall and rediscover their own story.
I’ve learned as both a writer and a teacher that memoir and personal essay writing is healing and mind- and heart-opening
And for me, as for so many other Americans, the past year has been painful, sometimes terrifying, often disconcerting—I use that word though it’s definitely a euphemism. But working with dozens of people on their stories has been healing and uplifting and has helped me to feel and see some light.
What impact do you hope All-American Story will have on readers and the broader community?
I hope more and more people will share their stories. I’m hoping we can collaborate with other organizations, including three that we’re already working with: AIC (American Immigration Council), AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association), and Tony Hernandez’s IAP (Immigration Archive Project). We are also talking with people involved with podcasts, theaters, and museums across the country.
On April 26, 2026, we’ll be having a reading and conversation about immigration at Culver City’s Wende Museum. And we plan to do more in-person events across the country over the course of the year and beyond.
The primary idea is to bring all Americans together, to flood the zone so that we drown out the lies being spread.
Something struck me the other day as I watched my Lab-mix, Riptide (aka Rip), tear a huge rip (true to his name) in one of my favorite tapestries, and I realized that was it: Tearing immigrants from the fabric of our country is ripping apart this beautiful tapestry of people from everywhere around the world living together, working together, loving each other, teaching each other, inspiring each other.
And that each of us must do all we can to repair the torn fabric.
Have any particular submissions or interactions surprised or deeply moved you? Can you share an example?
I would say that every single one has, at some point or another, surprised and moved me in different ways. Samina Ali’s “Muslims Have Always Been Part of This Story” taught me more about Muslims than I’d ever known. Anita Hollander’s “Share the World” reminded me that we must include music in the mix, and it makes me cry every time. Elie El Choufany’s piece about his childhood growing up during the civil war in Lebanon is so tender, it still makes me ache. And one of the young women who anonymously shared her story, “First-Generation Daughter” —which explores her undocumented family and the fears she’s enduring—haunts and moves me to work harder still. I hope her story will haunt everyone and lead them to supporting our immigrant families.
But honestly, I hope everyone will read and/or listen to every piece, because to me each one is a gem—and there are funny stories, and happy stories, and raucous stories, so I hope everyone will check them out each week as they drop on Wednesdays on Substack.
Projects that center personal narratives can be emotionally heavy. How do you take care of yourself while engaging deeply with other people’s stories of struggle and resilience?
Mostly what keeps me afloat is my wonderful husband and my dogs, four great kids and grandkids, and glorious friends. But key, too, is this: Every morning I swim from 6–7AM, swimming into the sunrise. Each morning, I choose one person to think about as I am swimming, and as the sun rises, I always feel this burst of hopefulness. Sometimes it’s gone by the time I’m home and dry, but it’s a good way to start the day.
Also, part of All-American Story was born at the pool. One pool, eight lanes, one hour. One day as I was swimming, I realized that my friends at the pool—in the seven other lanes—came from seven different countries: Norway, Korea, Mexico, Slovenia, Japan, Italy, and Spain. I was born in the States but lived for two decades in Canada. I thought: This is America. One pool, one hour, one city. One restaurant, one hair salon, one classroom, one book club, one block …
How do you see All-American Story evolving over the next year or five years? Are there formats, themes, or partnerships you’re eager to explore?
I’m not there yet, except that I know we will be doing more in-person events, and I hope that the people who submit work will come from everywhere. I’ve begun with people I know, or people who know people I know, so we’ve been focused more on stories coming from Los Angeles, Cleveland, and New York. I’m looking forward to expanding our scope.
And I’m wide open to partnerships….
If you could distill the core lesson or message you want audiences to walk away with from this project, what would it be?
Peoples’ stories are far more complex than most of us imagine them to be. And when people are honest, they discover that their hopes and dreams and joys and sorrows are far more alike than they are different from each other, no matter where they are from, no matter the color of their skin, their first language, their religion, their ethnicity, their gender.
Peoples’ stories are far more complex than most of us imagine them to be.
What sort of submissions are you looking for now? How do people share them? What is the review process like?
We are looking for all kinds of submissions—stories (up to 1,500 words), short radio-style plays (up to 500 words); music, art, dance, graphic memoirs. Details are on our website:
https://all-americanstory.com/share-your-story/
People who are interested in sharing their story but would prefer having someone ghostwrite it are welcome to reach out, and we’ll arrange an interview.
We producers read/listen/consider a submission and get back to the person within two weeks with any questions, concerns, and ideas for next steps.
For those seeking to be interviewed, the process may take a little longer, but we do the interview (in person or via Zoom or telephone), write a draft, and share the piece back and forth with the individual a few times until both the editor and the storytellers approve the piece.
We also ask that all stories be recorded; if the writer or interviewee does not wish to record their story, we will provide a reader.
Our email address for any questions is ou*****************@***il.com.
Subscription to All-American Story is free, although we are accepting donations to help fund our in-person events and tech support. New stories are shared every Wednesday.
Subscribe to All-American Story
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