PRI: The World interview

The radio broadcast of my interview with PRI The World aired yesterday. If you would like to hear it just click on the link below. (Hopefully it will work...I don't always have luck with Blogger's linking tool). The article features two other extraordinary and lovely ladies going through a similar experience: Giselle Stern-Hernandez and Emily Cruz.

They basically did a very good job portraying the lives of American citizens dealing with deportation and separation. A few characterizations were flawed but with the complexities inherent in the U.S. immigration system this is to be expected.

So, give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Just copy and paste the following address in you browser..that should get you to the interview.


http://www.theworld.org/2011/09/deportees-wives-club/

A worker's permit is not the holy grail

In light of all the celebrating regarding Obama's proclamation that the government will be reviewing all current deportation cases and granting worker's permits to qualifying immigrants I wanted to take some time to explain what it means to have a worker's permit. I feel this will be helpful information to the thousands of immigrants who will--hopefully--gain a workers permit over the next few month as a result of this new policy. There are certain things a worker's permit entitles an immigrant to; and certain things it doesn't. I don't want to rain on anybody's
parade but I feel it is better to be armed with knowledge rather than just optimism.

My husband has had a worker's permit for years while he has fought his case in the U.S. immigration judicial system. It was granted to him as part of the fees he had to pay to file his appeals. Now, because he cannot be deported and we no longer have any legal avenues left to fight his deportation, he has to apply for a worker's permit every year that he resides in the U.S. This is quite costly and is currently over $400.00 a year. The government reserves the right to increase these fees at anytime. Most years that Khalid has filed for a worker's permit the fee has gone up.

According to the DHS officer who handles Khalid's case, an immigrant who has a worker's permit shows up as having the same status as a citizen in the government's e-verify system. Theoretically speaking that seems to be a positive situation. However, whenever Khalid has applied for another job--unless it's a retail position--the employer always asks if he is a U.S. citizen. Khalid tells the truth and says no. Then comes the inevitable questions..and to make a long story short he is never called back for an interview.

Luckily, my husband already has a stable job as an electrical technician and they are well aware of his immigration status. However, he is not fairly compensated for his electrical knowledge or degree and could get paid a substantial sum more if he could find another job in electrical engineering. In order to make ends meet he has to work two jobs: one as an electrical tech and another in a retail store.

To make a long story short a worker's permit oftentimes only allows an immigrant to procure a very low wage job. It is, in no way, akin to having a green card. Most employers nowadays only want to hire a green card holder, or a citizen. Activists cannot rest until our immigrant friends and family are given an adjustment of status. Anything else is essentially a waste of our time.

Honoring America's deportees

So here it is, a Facebook group called Honoring America's deportees which has been formed to enlist people into some pro-immigrant activism. Thanks to some word of mouth I have a good group forming.

I have added a description of the first project we will be involved in, which is a quilt with the names of 24 immigrants deported from America's shores. I will be uploading a picture of a sketch of the design of the quilt which incorporates traditional , crazy and patchwork quilting.

For further information, please check the link below. If you want to participate, have suggestions or just want to vicariously observe, please join the group. The more the merrier!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=143274455699956

"Other people's baggage"

The title of this post was borrowed from a phrase written on a blog maintained by a good friend of mine. Her name is Giselle Stern Hernandez and her husband was deported to Mexico back in 2000. A few months later she left her homeland in the United States to join him.

Giselle is a multi-talented artist who travels across the States and Mexico to perform a monologue piece she created about her exiled experience and the consequences of her husband's deportation. I highly recommend her blog and will include a link.

After reading a particular post on Giselle's blog: The Deportees Wife entitled "When Dialogue is Pointless." I was particularly struck by a specific phrase that Giselle wrote. The phrase was "other people's baggage" It was written in response to how some people miscontrue the fundamental message of her monologue, or make uneducated judgments about Giselle, her personality and lifestyle--in addition to forming opinions about her husband. This oftentimes happens even before they attend her show and is based upon sound bites and posters.

I am often confronted by "other people's baggage" when I engage in dialogue with individuals about my husband's immigration problems. I never know exactly how people think about our story, unless they are completely forthright --and that seldom happens. I often get exclamations of empathy and "I can't believe this is happening in America." Oftentimes I feel people within my inner circle are sympathetic to a point--but only because Khalid is someone they know or have heard about--and because he is my husband. Otherwise, this sympathy does not extend to other immigrants with similar circumstances.

People come with "baggage". I come with "baggage." This is a fundamental truth about human behavior. Many things can contribute to the accumulation of baggage including history, media and personal experiences. We, as educators and activists, can never know what kind of baggage the people with whom we engage in dialogue are carrying. Some people are so burdened by their own baggage that they will never make the effort to understand our stories. Luckily, some will. These are the people who put down their baggage long enough to pick up somebody else's.

And there will be others who may not "get it now" but through maturity and additional knowledge may "get it later." Unfortunately, some people will "get it" only when they or a loved one experience the deportation of someone close to them. This is the time when people like Giselle and I need to put down our baggage; and pick up somebody else's.

http://thedeporteeswife.wordpress.com/

Immigrant rights activism

As a result of connecting with other U.S. citizens whose significant other has been deported or detained, I have decided that I need to do something productive. There are far too many of us going through this tragedy. This needless suffering must come to an end! There are various ideas floating in my head, and I’m sure you have ideas too. We need to communicate with each other and brainstorm like crazy—and come up with ways to educate the public.

One idea I’ve been pondering involves borrowing an idea from our AIDS activist friends and creating a quilt that depicts the names of loved ones who have been deported or under deportation proceedings. This idea involves getting together a significant number of interested individuals willing to help create the quilt. Ideally, each person would agree to create a square of their loved one—or someone they know. Individuals who do not personally know anyone deported will still be welcome to participate. We can assign them a name. There is certainly not a shortage of people being deported and families being separated-- and the numbers increase every year.

Preferably, each quilt square would be created with materials that are durable. We want this quilt to be a testament to our determination to end these deportations—so it must be created to endure for decades. The idea is to send this quilt, upon completion, to various galleries and functions across the country to help raise awareness.

I have years of experience in needlework, sewing and designing so I am capable and willing to help coordinate the effort. If anyone else has similar experience, motivation or just passion please let me know. This group, unlike the contemporary functioning of our government-- will be a democratically organized community.
However, you don’t have to be an artist, designer or even be creative to make a quilt square. All that is needed is a willingness to learn and be spontaneous. I can help anyone who needs advice and can even design specific motifs. I’m sure there will be others willing to assist as well.

I do sincerely believe that art can change social consciousness. Art activists the world over are working diligently to help improve their communities. Right this minute there are thousands of activists, artists and performers who have congregated in Detroit to forge a different world. Change is not only possible, it is necessary.
Change begins with an idea—activists take those ideas and make them a reality. Let us be the immigrant rights activists who change the world for the better. If you are interested please contact me.

I can be reached on Facebook under the name Beth Brotherton, Hamilton College or at e-mail: silverwing6700@yahoo.com If you know of anyone else who may be interested please feel free to forward this message. Please, if you have any additional ideas let me know. I want to help forge a strong and unified community so we can help each other.

Art as immigration reform activism

I Want You... Out of the country --at gunpoint!

Art has always been an important and integral part of my life. I can not remember a time when I haven't been inspired by a color, a story, or a particular image on t.v. or housed within the sanctified pages of a picture book. Beautiful things have never failed to capture my imagination.

When I was younger, I was under the impression that art had to be aesthetically pleasing, refined and pleasant to gaze at. It wasn't until I went to Buffalo State College in 1996 that my viewpoints changed slightly. I was majoring in Art Education and took a class with Professor Mary Wyrick. She was an inspiring teacher and challenged my notion that art had to be beautiful. Instead, she made me see that art was about expressing ideas-- first and foremost. A piece of artwork was able to transcend time and place and speak to people on multiple levels all at once. The artist, with a mere flick of a brush could express the same nuance that would take the writer volumes.

Although I realized that art was about ideas, I was still painfully ignorant about the power of art and its ability to challenge ingrained ideas and social mores. Until recently, I had never acknowledged this power. I took a class at Hamilton College last Fall semester entitled Feminist Visual Culture. Through viewing works by artists such as: Judy Chicago, Ghada Amer, Ana Mendieta, Cindy Sherman, Shirin Neshat, and Carolee Schneemann, I realized that art had the power, over time, to create subtle shifts in social consciousness.

Feminist art is not about being "pretty", "conforming" or "safe". Instead, much of it is meant to be "challenging", "controversial" and "activist". This is what makes it dynamic and a catalyst for social and political change. People can become complacent, comfortable and desensitized to their environment: even if that environment is stagnant, corrupt and unhealthy. It takes a shock to the system to get them to wake up.

With that goal in mind, I have started to design a series of art pieces centered around immigration reform. Eventually I will have enough works to show in an exhibit. The two pieces at the top of this page are part of this series. I cannot think of anything more controversial than using the iconic images of Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty to illustrate the irony and discrimination of contemporary U.S. immigration policies.

I hope my writings and artwork will inspire a change in someone's thinking regarding immigrants rights and the need for immigration reform-- and as a result-- changes will be made . This hope gives me power and optimism and sustains me throughout this whole ordeal. Without this hope there is nothing.