Blog
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Bio: Barni Axmed Qaasim
July 19, 2012
Barni Axmed Qaasim came to Phoenix, Arizona when she was 3 years old from Mogadishu, Somalia. She is a product of Love & Migration because her family has roots in Somalia, England, Ireland, Scotland and Yemen. "I grew up in Phoenix and felt deeply hurt when I saw a white supremacist attack being launched on people who I grew up with. I think of my family members who have been forced to migrate out of Somalia & Yemen because of war, famine and poverty. Their trek across harsh terrain to Europe and the trek across the Sonoran Desert is the same struggle -and the causes are the same: poverty, political corruption and transnational corporations." Barni is a documentary filmmaker and volunteer for Puente and the Somali Association of Arizona. She is dedicated to capturing images and sounds that shine a light on the efficacy and strength of communities that are left out of or are misrepresented by mainstream media. "It is my hope that my work honors the sophisticated oration and poetry tradition of my Somali culture."
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Bio: Gloria Esteva
July 19, 2012
Gloria Esteva was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. While she was there she was already working with her community, specifically defending worker’s rights. She came to the United States to support her grandson, who became sick with leukemia after a petroleum leak in his native state of Veracruz. She moved with him to San Francisco, where she spent the next four years taking care of him and writing about his life. She considers herself a community organizer who tries to talk to people in ways and language that they understand. She says that as she has gotten to know the people of the United States, she has realized that there are many who believe in justice, and that them and everyone in the country should think about the contributions that immigrants have made to their personal lives, and realize that “we deserve dignity and respect.” She is on the bus with her daughter because she is tired of living in the shadows, and wants her community to know that she organizes and lives without fear despite not having immigration documents.
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Undocubus Set to Travel to Democratic National Convention
July 09, 2012
While most pro-immigrant activists are focusing on educating people about President Obama's new immigration policy regarding DREAM Act students, which promises to stop the deportations of some undocumented youth, the local human-rights group Puente is advocating a halt to all immigration deportations.
"[We're] challenging either places that have passed similar legislation [as Arizona's Senate Bill 1070] or [have anti-immigrant] sheriffs, or places that there is current [immigrant-community] struggle," says Puente organizer Carlos Garcia.
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