coming to america

Florence Nogues' eyes widened with surprise when she saw the 20-pound turkey Deborah and John Koua had prepared for their Thanksgiving dinner.

"My wife has never seen a turkey so big," explained Philip Nogues following the meal at the Kouas' Enos Park home.
The Nogueses and their four children - Diana, 22, Fernand, 16, Gael, 10, and Ariel, 6 - recently immigrated to the United States from their home in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

Ivorians typically don't eat much turkey, and when they do, it's in small portions.

"It's very rare to see the whole turkey. So, when it came out of the oven, I called them in to show (them) what it looked like before we started carving," said John Koua, an Ivory Coast native who has lived in Springfield for 21 years.

The Kouas, who have four children themselves, treated the Nogues family to a traditional Thanksgiving feast to mark the family's first American holiday.

Philip Nogues said he is thankful for such generosity. Without it, his family wouldn't be able to make the transition.

"I think we're lucky because if I didn't know somebody like John and his wife, we'd have no support," he said.

The Nogueses, who entered a visa lottery to come to the United States, arrived Oct. 12. They are still awaiting Social Security numbers, green cards and all the other necessary paperwork to be able to live and work stateside. The documents were supposed to arrive within four weeks. Without them, no one in the family can apply for jobs, receive health insurance or get a driver's license.

The Nogueses, who primarily speak French, are living in an apartment John Koua owns next door to his home on North Fifth Street.

John and Deborah Koua also enrolled the three younger children in Springfield public schools.

"There's no way people could do that completely on their own," Deborah Koua said.

Philip Nogues, who is nearly fluent in English, said greater educational opportunities for his children are what led his family to America. He decided to come to Springfield because his family is close friends with two of John Koua's brothers.

So far, he's been impressed with their reception.

"I think it's a very quiet city. It's friendly. It's not big like New York," Nogues said. "I think it's the smaller cities that have the deepest kind of life of the American people."

The biggest adjustment for the family has been Springfield's cold fall weather. In Ivory Coast, the average temperature is about 75 degrees year-round.

Despite the cold shock, the Nogues' children, who are learning English, seem to be thriving. Fernand attends Springfield High School, while Gael and Ariel go to McClernand Elementary School, which is in walking distance of their home.

Diana, the oldest, has already completed coursework for an accounting degree and would like to enroll in a certified public accountant program. She is taking night classes at Lincoln Land Community College.

The Nogueses said they wish there was some type of temporary permits that could allow them to set up their home while they await their paperwork, which they hope will arrive any day.

"Maybe next year, we'll be hosting (Thanksgiving) dinner," Philip Nogues said.

John Koua has no doubts his friends will succeed.

"They came because of the future of their children ... You have to admire them for taking a big step," he said. "This is a country with a lot of opportunity, and I know that they are talented people and they have an education. They will be fine."

have been restraining myself from responding to the various letters about immigration lately, not wanting to give credence to comments breeding from racism, but when the propaganda and misrepresentations end up in my mailbox in the form of a letter from the organization chaired by David White and Doug Heaton, I find I can remain silent no longer.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I can't help but think about how our ancestors were treated very differently when first coming to America. From a first-hand account by Edward Winslow, that can be found at www.pilgrims.net, here is a description of the hospitality enjoyed by the Pilgrims and Native Americans:

"Many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on the governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

I hope that during the holiday season as everyone in the area reflects on what they are thankful for -- including David White, Doug Heaton and others who claim membership in their organization, as well as all those who remain silent on the growing lies about our Hispanic neighbors, we all remember that our ancestors were welcomed in a much more hospitable and respectful manner to this great country of plenty.

Those loudest about the growing numbers of Hispanics in the Elgin area are most often those "far from want." I hope that the holiday season opens your hearts and minds to a more productive response to the need for comprehensive immigration reform coming from our elected officials in Washington, rather than blaming "fellow partakers of our plenty" and spreading hatred and racism in our community.

Coming to America
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For the reality television series starring Victoria Beckham, see Victoria Beckham: Coming to America.
Coming to America

Coming to America theatrical poster
Directed by John Landis
Produced by Leslie Belzberg
George Folsey Jr.
Mark Lipsky
Written by Story:
Eddie Murphy
Screenplay:
David Sheffield
Barry W. Blaustein
Starring Eddie Murphy
Arsenio Hall
Shari Headley
James Earl Jones
John Amos
Eriq La Salle
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) June 29, 1988
Running time 116 min.
Language English
Budget $28,000,000
IMDb profile
Coming to America is a 1988 comedy film directed by John Landis. The screenplay was written by David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein and Eddie Murphy, based on an idea and an original script by Art Buchwald. Murphy was joined by James Earl Jones, Arsenio Hall and Madge Sinclair in starring roles.[1]

Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Lawsuit
5 In popular culture
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Plot
Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy), the prince and heir to the throne of the fictitious African country Zamunda, is discontented with being pampered all his life. The final straw is when his parents (James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) present him with a bride-to-be he has never met before, trained to desire mindlessly obeying, his every command.

Akeem concocts a plan to travel to America to find a wife he can both love and respect. He and servant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) settle on Queens, New York, and after several scrapes, find an apartment and begin working at a local restaurant called McDowell's, a blatant copy of McDonald's, passing themselves off as students. When he first meets Akeem and Semmi, owner Mr. McDowell (John Amos) explains all the minute differences between his place and McDonald's, ending with the line, "They use the sesame seed bun. My buns have no seeds."

Akeem falls in love with Lisa (Shari Headley), the daughter of the restaurant's owner, Mr. McDowell. The rest of the film centers on Akeem's attempts to win Lisa's hand in marriage, while adjusting to life in America and dodging his royal duties and prerogatives.

[edit] Cast
Actor Role
Eddie Murphy Prince Akeem
Clarence
Randy Watson
Saul
Sanyu
Arsenio Hall Semmi
Morris
Reverend Brown
Last (ugly) woman in bar scene
James Earl Jones King Jaffe Joffer
John Amos Cleo McDowell
Madge Sinclair Queen Aoleon
Shari Headley Lisa McDowell
Paul Bates Oha
Eriq La Salle Darryl Jenks
Frankie Faison Landlord
Vanessa Bell Calloway Imani Izzi
Louie Anderson Maurice
Allison Dean Patrice McDowell
Jake Steinfeld Cab Driver
Calvin Lockhart Colonel Izzi
Michele Watley Bather
Cuba Gooding, Jr. Boy in Barber Shop
Ralph Bellamy Randolph Duke
Don Ameche Mortimer Duke
Samuel L. Jackson Hold Up Man at McDowell's
Clint Smith Sweets

[edit] Production
Because of the obvious name similarity, the film's producers had to obtain permission from McDonald's before using the name McDowell's. The scenes in McDowell's were actually filmed at a Wendy's restaurant located at 8507 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens.

Like many of Eddie Murphy's films, Coming to America features Murphy in several different roles, this time paired with Arsenio Hall, who also plays multiple roles. For example, Hall plays Reverend Brown, who introduces Randy Watson (Murphy) and his band Sexual Chocolate, who perform a hilarious rendition of Whitney Houston's song "Greatest Love of All" at the "Black Awareness Rally." In the barbershop scenes, Murphy and Hall (heavily made up) play the elderly barbers Clarence and Morris, who engage in a furious debate with Sweets about the boxing skills of Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano rather than attending to Akeem's hair. The barber scene is especially notable because Murphy plays both Akeem and Clarence simultaneously, effectively giving himself a haircut. Murphy also plays the old Jewish man in the barbershop who calls Akeem, "Kunta Kinte," referring to the Roots character made famous by LeVar Burton (trivia: John Amos played the adult Kunta Kinte later in the Roots series
).

Famed South African chorus, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, sings Mbube during the opening sequence (the song is known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight in America). The group has gone on to record several different versions of Mbube; however, the version heard in Coming to America has not been released on its soundtrack or on CD as of 2006.

John Landis' calling card/easter egg, See You Next Wednesday, appears on a science-fiction movie poster in the subway station after Lisa storms off the train and Akeem follows her.

Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche reprise their roles as the Duke brothers from another Landis / Murphy collaboration, Trading Places. Randolph and Mortimer Duke lost their enormous fortunes in that film because of Murphy's character. In this film, the two men are now homeless and living on the streets. Akeem gives them a paper bag filled with money, which they gratefully accept and exclaim "We're Back!" (while failing to notice that the generous Prince Akeem bears an uncanny resemblance to Billy Ray Valentine, the man who ruined them).

[edit] Lawsuit
The film was the subject of the Buchwald v. Paramount civil suit, filed by Art Buchwald in 1990 against the film's producers on the grounds that the film's idea was stolen from a 1982 script that Paramount had optioned from Buchwald. Buchwald won the breach of contract action and the court ordered money damages. The parties later settled the case before an appeal.

[edit] In popular culture
References to the movie in later pop culture:

One of the Zamunda scenes is recreated in the 1997 Busta Rhymes video Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See.
Soul Glo has entered the English and American vernacular as a name for any jheri curl product. Family Force 5 lead singer Solomon Olds also based his "gangsta" name Soul Glow Activatur on the fictional hair gel.
The song Coming to America, by Dipset rap duo S.A.S., contains the lyric "Now we're coming to America like Eddie Murphy".
In the track "Coming2America" on the Ludacris album "Word of Mouf", he alludes to a scene in Coming To America where Akeem is being bathed by topless female servants by extracting the line "The royal penis is clean, Your Highness." Snoop Dogg and R. Kelly repeated this on their single That's That. Additionally, the melody used for That's That is extrapolated from the background music during this scene.
In the Dave Chappelle skit "Haters Convention" one of the participants is mocked for his dress sense, with Chappelle referring to him as a "Sexual Chocolate Mother F-----". This is based on the Sexual Chocolate band led by Randy Watson in Coming to America.

[edit] References
^ Thane Rosenbaum wrote, "In 1995, the syndicated columnist Art Buchwald prevailed after a seven-year legal battle against Paramount Pictures, claiming that he had submitted the idea, and the original script, for the Eddie Murphy film, Coming to America, without ever being properly compensated or acknowledged for his efforts. The trial court eventually agreed with Buchwald, although the damage award that he received was considerably less than what he had sought, and even less than what he eventually had to pay out in legal fees. The Myth of Moral Justice, page 182.