“Hamsa is a documentary and educational platform with an audacious goal: motivate viewers to alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis. The short documentary highlights one family’s struggles after reaching Germany, and allows those watching to put a face to the global issues. Hamsa is a Syrian refugee and mother of three who migrated with her husband from …
Author: Ashley Cartagena
Syrian Refugee’s Viral Story Found Him a Home
“Mohsen’s story went viral after he was filmed being tripped up by a camerawoman as he fled police near the Hungarian border with Serbia last September. He was carrying his youngest son Zaid, then 7, in his arms at the time, and the two fell sprawling on the ground. Footage of the incident helped bring …
A New Documentary Takes us Inside Australia’s Refugee Detainment Camps
“Over the last few years, the Australian government has been leaning hard into an anti-refugee plan known as “the Pacific Solution.” Created to stop the arrival of boats filled with asylum seekers from countries like Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, the Pacific Solution is a program that reads like something out of Donald Trump’s playbook: …
What the Refugee Crisis tells us about Journalism
“Take any crisis that makes the headlines — the flow of refugees in the Middle East, Europe and the Horn of Africa; outbreaks of deadly or devastating viruses such as Ebola or Zika; drought emergencies in Ethiopiaand Malawi. Does journalism help to explain them? Or solve them? These questions were asked at the Polis conference of the London School of Economics on 21 April. The …
Refugee social media doesn’t always reflect reality
“The Guardian ran an interesting article about Gambian refugees, many of whom are disappointed to discover their lives aren’t much better in Europe than they were at home. One small detail about these struggling refugees that stuck out to me in the piece: Migrants, worried they will disappoint their families back home, don’t post about their struggles …
Working From Home – A Photo Essay
These migrant workers travel wherever they can find employment. Some just for a season before returning home, others from city to city or country to country constantly looking for work. The photojournalist Irving Villegas has been documenting the lives of seasonal workers in different countries Germany Asparagus season Every year about 270,000 workers come to …
Bouchra Khalili: The Mapping Journey Project
Bouchra Khalili: The Mapping Journey Project Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY April 9–August 28, 2016 This exhibition presents, in its entirety, Bouchra Khalili’s The Mapping Journey Project (2008–11), a series of videos that details the stories of eight individuals who have been forced by political and economic circumstances to travel illegally and whose …
The Deadly Journey From Libya’s Migrant Jails
From VICE News: “Desperate to escape conflict and poverty, thousands of migrants and refugees attempt the perilous journey to Europe each year, with many crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa in rubber dinghies and wooden boats. In the wake of the decommissioning of Mare Nostrum, a search and rescue operation run by Italy, the …
Caitlin Moran asks “What is a Refugee?”
Journalist and author Caitlin Moran recently took to her YouTube channel, Caitlin’s Moranifesto, to ask the questions “What is a Refugee?” and “Why should we be supporting them?” “Refugees,” Moran says, “are also preventing themselves from being weaponised in the future. How many people who can’t leave Syria and Afghanistan… will be coerced into joining Isis …
Light on the Sea
Light on the Sea: One Woman’s Story from the Front Lines of the Refugee Crisis This documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s refugee crisis as Neda, a Syrian American, helps refugees coming from boats into Lesbos, Greece. No media spin. No politics. Just people who want to live. Credits: Directed and …
Fashion Photographer Turns Refugee Crisis Into Offensive High-End Fashion Shoot
“Hungarian fashion photographer Norbert Baksa has come under fire for a refugee-themed fashion photo shoot he conceptualized and shot at the Hungarian border. “Der Migrant,” which features models wearing headscarves and designer duds before a backdrop of barbed wire fences, was released on the photographer’s personal website and Twitter account last week to predictably less-than-stellar reviews. …
Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora
The George Washington University Museum April 16–September 4, 2016 In this juried and invitational exhibition, forty-four artists share personal and universal stories of migration—from historic events that scattered communities across continents to today’s accounts of migrants and refugees adapting to a new homeland. Co-organized with the Studio Art Quilt Associates and with assistance from GW’s Diaspora …
What’s missing from coverage on migration? Migrants.
From The Guardian: “A study of media coverage, released today, looked at how migrant voices and experiences were framed in the run-up to last year’s election and came up with findings that, even if not entirely new, cast yet more light on a subject of continuing public interest. As its title implies, Victims and Villains* …
Songs of the Syrian Refugees
“With his brow furrowed in concentration, Abu Abdullah rhythmically strums his oud, exploring the core of a melancholic melody. Mohamad Isa Almaziodi’s robust and melismatic voice soars above, full of emotional ornamentation – sighing and repeating, rising and falling – until he runs out of breath and the phrase is forced to finish. In his …
Migrant Voices: On the Journey North
From the LA Times: “The Vatican has said that Pope Francis’ journey through Mexico, which takes him from the southern state of Chiapas to the northern border with Texas, symbolically traces the route of migrants trying to reach the United States. Five Central American migrants attempting that journey reflect on their faith and the pope’s …
The Lotus Flower (2016)
From the Director, Jamie Noel: “With special thanks to Maya Konforti and all of our other friends who contributed to this film. This week, a huge portion of the Jungle refugee camp in Calais is due to be bulldozed. We can not sit back at let this happen… This film highlights everything we stand to lose …
Twelve-year-old Calais refugee: ‘I want to go to England’
“Inside one of the aid tents set up inside the migrant camp known as the ‘jungle’ 12 year old Sultana Adam helps her mother to hand out bags of food for the estimated 3000 residents. Sultana fled her home in Jalalabad four months ago and walked for a month to make it to Calais and …
Fire at Sea (2015)
“Fire at Sea, a harrowing documentary about Europe’s refugee crisis, has clinched the Golden Bear top prize from a jury led by Meryl Streep at the Berlin film festival. The movie by Italian director Gianfranco Rosi offers an unflinching look at life on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, where thousands of asylum seekers from Africa …
Greece’s Cemetery for Unknown Migrant Dead
From Reuters: “The marble plaques in this makeshift cemetery on the Greek island of Lesbos mark the graves of unknown refugees and migrants. Many of the those buried here were from the Middle East — all of them drowned in the Mediterranean trying to get to Europe’s shores. Their headstones bear no names … mute …
Ai Weiwei Reveals Berlin Installation via Instagram
From an article by Lauren Said-Moorhouse for CNN Style: “Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has covered a Berlin landmark with thousands of refugee life jackets for his latest installation. The striking display is the activist’s latest attempt to highlight the scale of migrants taking to the seas every day. Ai’s team began wrapping 14,000 discarded life …
Animation: Immigration Impact on the UK
From the National Institute of Economic and Social Research: “Opinion polls have shown for some time that the public sees immigration as one of the most important issues facing Britain (Ipsos Mori, 2015). At the same time, public understanding of evidence on the economic impacts of immigration is poor and strongly influenced by the media. …
Refugee Family Test
Refugee Action, an organization that “helps refugees who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes […] get the basic support they need to live again with dignity,” recently launched an online interactive test to show how policy is impacting families trying to reunite after arriving in the U.K. Click below on the image to take the …
Journeys: How travelling fruit, ideas and buildings rearrange our environment
Although immigration is a dominant topic in contemporary culture, its discussion is often limited to the human experience, such as the crossing of borders and issues about national identity. The Journeys exhibition at the CCA takes a different perspective: how movements impact on the environment. Examples range from the coconut that can drift freely on …
The value of immigrants to the UK economy: Sophie Barrett-Brown
Corporate Governance Report interviews international migration expert Sophie Barrett-Brown on the value of immigrants to UK corporations. Immigrants to the UK have received a rush of negative press, confounded by low public support. But how valuable are immigrants to UK corporations, and how easy are they to employ? Corporate Governance Report interviews Sophie Barrett-Brown from …
How Capitalism Expels Refugees: Saskia Sassen
Abby Martin interviews Professor Saskia Sassen about the undiscussed facts behind the 60 million refugees worldwide. Saskia Sassen is a sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She is Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. Her most recent …
Hotline aids families of border crossers
“There are 2,771 crosses, so 2,771 human remains since 2000,” says Cristen Vernon Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Missing Migrant Hotline coordinator for Derechos Humanos. That number, she says, only accounts for a fraction of those who have died along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. More than 6,330 people have died along the southwest border with Mexico …
Ingrid Butler’s ‘Migration’
It was hard for Ingrid Butler not to feel helpless whenever she heard or read about the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Syria, trying to make their way across the Mediterranean Sea to hoped-for safety. Butler lived along the Amalfi coast decades ago; she still feels a deep connection to the area. “It got …
Banksy uses Steve Jobs to highlight Refugee Crisis
“Banksy has revealed a new artwork, sprayed on a wall in the Calais refugee camp called “the Jungle,” intended to address negative attitudes towards the thousands of people living there. […] In a rare state accompanyting the work, Banksy said:“We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources, but Steve Jobs …
Entre Nos (2010)
“Entre Nos is a bio/true story about a woman’s struggle to survive in New York City with her two children after being abandoned by her husband. The main character, Mariana, totes her two children from the country and culture of Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New York. Her life is devastatingly turned …
Review of In America (2002)
“”In America” is not literally autobiographical (the real Frankie was Sheridan’s brother, who died at 10), but it is intensely personal. It’s not the typical story of turn-of-the-century immigrants facing prejudice and struggle, but a modern story, set in the 1980s and involving new sets of problems, such as racism and the drug addiction in …
Latino Immigration into US: Leo Chavez
Leo Chavez, UCI professor of anthropology and Chicano/Latino studies, has been researching immigration for more than 25 years. He has written a book on the ways immigrants are represented in the media and popular discourse in the U.S. Video by Kerrin Piche Serna, University Communications. Video: Leo Chavez: Why Immigration Reform Is So Difficult: Latinos as …
Enlightenment in Diasporisation: Zygmunt Bauman
THE PAST OF CENTRAL EUROPE IS THE FUTURE OF EUROPE, AN INTERVIEW WITH ZYGMUNT BAUMAN Excerpt: Every process has its discontents, and diasporization is no exception. Denmark or the Netherlands, until recently symbols of openness and hospitality, turned into pioneers of barring immigration and reintroduced boundary control. And yet such resistance to diasporization may …
Crossroads in Iranian Cinema: Professor Hamid Naficy
Hamid Naficy of Northwestern University is a leading authority of Iranian cinema His most recent four-volume series, A Social History of Iranian Cinema. Covers the Iranian cinema from late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first cinema. Hamid Naficy has published extensively about theories of exile and displacement, exilic and diaspora cinema and media, and Iranian …
Objects Through Time
Objects Through Time Migration Heritage Centre, Australia Online since 2010 “Objects through Time traces the history of migration of people, technology and ideas to our shores through a collection significant objects, spanning a 60,000 year time frame. It begins with the first migrants, the Aboriginal people who discovered and settled Australia, the Macassan and European …
America and Australia Rooms
America and Australia Rooms Institute of Migration, Finland Permanent Collection “America Room: What made people to move across the Atlantic Ocean? What was it like to travel a hundred years ago? What was life like in the new home country? What is Finnish American identity today? Completely renewed exhibition about Finns in America shows off the …
Exhibitions Through 2013
A collection of exhibitions which took place through 2013: The Terminal Live Art Project Mixed Flows in Southern Europe (March 2013) Migration Art Expo Tate London : Migrations (January-August 2012) SHIFT: dialogues of migration in contemporary art (April 2011) They Seek a City: Chicago and the art of Migration (March-June 2013) Belgian migration museum shows how one hop onto …
The Routes of Migration
The Routes of Migration Online since 2007 DOMID “The website “Routes of Migration” retraces paths of immigrants and emigrants on a map of present-day North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). In doing so, it marks different “places of memory” in NRW, a province which has been uniquely shaped by migration. The website was developed in 2007, through the …
Adopting Britain: 70 Years of Migration
Adopting Britain: 70 Years of Migration Southbank Centre, London April–September 2015 “In this exhibition we explore ways in which, in the midst of Islamophobia and hostility towards immigration, people have reached out to communities that are stitched into the fabric of our country. We highlight stories from British recruitment campaigns in the Caribbean in the …
State of Exception at Arizona State University
State of Exception Arizona State University May-August 2015 From the Undocumented Migration Project: “For Jason De Leon, the story of undocumented migrant workers’ treacherous trek northward from Mexico through Arizona is a complex, layered contemporary narrative best told by what isn’t said, and what is left behind. For the past four years, De Leon (photo …
On Their Own: British Child Migrants
Museum of Childhood October 2015–June 2016 London From their website: “An exhibition telling the heart-breaking true stories of Britain’s child migrants who were sent to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries between 1869 and 1970. An estimated 100,000 British children were sent overseas by migration schemes, which were run by a partnership of charities, religious …
Mass Migration Guided by Social Media
From The Irish Times: “Through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary, hundreds of thousands of migrants making for western Europe now rely on smartphones and social media to avoid police, find “safe” people smugglers and accommodation, and follow the latest news as governments grope for answers to a deepening crisis. “They make contact and share …
#MigrationMeans
Lets hear what #MigrationMeans to you! An IOM global social media campaign
Humans of New York Refugee Stories
As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees pour into Europe in search of a safe haven from the ongoing civil war, Humans of New York is relocating to the midst of the crisis.Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind HONY, wrote on Facebook on Friday that he would spend the next 10 days or so traveling through …
Migration in the UK and Politics (Infographic)
From the creator, Eduard Buturuga-Pascu: “Just before 2014 started, the media, encouraged by the PM started to spread disinformation about Romanians and Bulgarians immigrants, suggesting a ‘flow’ or a ‘wave’ is imminent. I’m trying to suggest that this is not true, and although immigration has to be sorted out, Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants will not …
A Migrant’s Tale
From the artist’s website: “In 2008 I was carrying out fieldwork among a group of Egyptian immigrants in Milano, Italy, as part of my MA dissertation. There was a strong visual component to this research, and I took many photographs that I kept showing to my subjects and friends. With one of them, Osama el-Sayed, I …
Europe’s Migrant Crisis (Infographic)
Roald Seeliger presents a moving and unconventional infographic describing Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis.
One Immigrant’s Story
From The America Media Podcast: “J.P., an undocumented immigrant for most of her life, speaks about why her family moved from South Korea to the United States, the challenges she faced as an undocumented immigrant and how gaining temporary legal status changed her life. She also discusses immigration reform legislation, the subject of this week’s editorial in America.”
Street Stories: Saravuth Inn (2012)
Saravuth Inn was born in Cambodia and now plays chess for a living in Union Square. This short documentary is about how he got there and who he left behind…”
NYPL Community Oral History Project
“The New York Public Library’s Community Oral History Project is an initiative taking place at NYPL branches that aims to document, preserve, and celebrate the rich history of the city’s unique neighborhoods by collecting the stories of people who have experienced it firsthand.” Featuring stories from members of many communities in NYC including Harlem, Greenwich …
‘The Road’ by Nerina Pallot
From the musician: “When Director Damian Weilers came to me with the idea of using The Road as a soundtrack to the plight of those displaced in Calais, I knew that this could be a platform to focus attention on an issue we both felt was important. To me, this isn’t a political issue – …
Home to Me: Immigrant Stories
“Home to Me: Immigrant Stories from NC” is a multimedia series from the NC Justice Center’s Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project based on the belief that stories told by immigrants, in their own words, have the power to change our assumptions about who immigrants are and deepen our understanding of the migration experience.
Shelbyville Multimedia: New Neighbors Give Thanks
“Shelbyville Multimedia introduces you to the cast of Welcome to Shelbyville, a handful of straight-talking people in rural Tennessee who are taking immigration into their own hands – by welcoming newcomers. Developed by Active Voice, Shelbyville Multimedia is a platform to promote community-building and harmony between native-born Americans, immigrants and refugees nationwide. Many of its …
Stories from a Vanished Homeland
A Border Crosses
by Paul Kramer, The New Yorker. “The whole point of setting the border between Mexico and the United States at the deepest channel of the Rio Grande was that the river was not supposed to move. That was the thinking in 1848, when, following Mexico’s defeat by the United States and surrender of its vast …
My Detainment Story
MY DETAINMENT STORY OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP FEELING SAFE IN MY OWN COUNTRY AND HATE BORDER AGENTS* Earlier this month, OTM producer Sarah Abdurrahman, her family, and her friends were detained for hours by US Customs and Border Protection on their way home from Canada. Everyone being held was a US citizen, and …
The Overnighters (2014)
A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial “overnighters” program, allowing down-and-out workers a …
This is Why People Migrate
Immigrants, migrants and refugees are often in the news — but why do people get up and leave their homes in the first place? AJ+ host Dena Takruri explains the root causes behind migration around the world.
The New Americans (2004)
The New Americans is a seven-hour American documentary that was originally broadcast on American television over three nights on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in late March 2004.
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (2007)
Forest fires burn in Sumatra; a smoke covers Kuala Lumpur. Grifters beat an immigrant day laborer and leave him on the streets. Rawang, a young man, finds him, carries him home, cares for him, and sleeps next to him. In a loft above lives a waitress. She sometimes provides care and attention. More violence seems …
Doc Review: Shenandoah (2012)
A Review by Sumita Chakravarty: David Turnley’s powerful and moving documentary, Shenandoah, tells the story of a small, coal mining Pennsylvania town of that name in which an illegal Mexican immigrant was attacked and killed by a group of white teenagers in 2008. An exploration of the uneasy admixture of fear and hate with patriotism …
Immigration History: France
This video is from France’s Musee de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, located in the 12 arrondissement, next to the Bois de Vincennes. It tells the story of immigration in France through the lens of historiography, corroborated by over 350 archival documents that can be found in the museum’s collection. The video project consists of seven sections, …
Interactive learning resource: Language of Belonging (2010)
Language of Belonging is a multi-platform education resource based on the ground breaking Indigenous animation Wadu Matyidi. Designed specifically for Primary-aged students, this diverse learning program explores Adnyamathanha language, culture, stories and traditions, encouraging students to develop their own portfolio and cultural understanding. This is an interactive game, based on the Wadu Matyidi animation, exploring the language and …
Where We Came From and Where We Went, State by State
The New York Times charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900 with a variety of interactive data visualizations. Click HERE to see how each state has changed.
The Journey
Syrian refugee Hashem Alsouki risks his life crossing the Mediterranean, his sights set on Sweden – and freedom for his family. In the darkness far out to sea, Hashem Alsouki can’t see his neighbours but he can hear them scream. It’s partly his fault. They are two African women – perhaps from Somalia, but now …
The Global Struggle to Respond to the Worst Refugee Crisis in Generations
Eleven million people were uprooted by violence last year, most propelled by conflict in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Conflict and extreme poverty have also pushed tens of thousands out of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Here’s a look at the international response to what has become the worst migration crisis since World War …
Migration Museums
Migration museums cover human migration in the past, present and future. The current trend in the development of migration museums, named differently worldwide, is an interesting phenomenon, as it may contribute to the creation of a new and multiple identity, at an individual and collective level. The United States with Ellis Island, Australia, Canada, and more recently several European countries — e.g. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and …
Migration Museums Directory
Explore museums that feature exhibits on migration before visiting. Australia Immigration Museum Migration Museum, Adelaide Migration Museum New South Wales Migration Heritage Centre Argentina Museo Nacional de la Inmigración (See also: Hotel de Inmigrantes) Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero Belgium The Red Star Line Museum Brazil Memorial do Imigrante Canada Pier 21 Immigrants to …
A digital globe and 200,000 years of human migration
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum suffered the devastation of Hurricane Sandy firsthand. Now, more than two years after the storm struck New York City (and many other places), the building is celebrating its comeback with a new name: Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Under this rejuvenated image, the museum will tell the story of …
Featured Exhibits
100 Stories of Migration – To learn morevisit their website. Pop-up Migration Museum, in close collaboration with the Glasgow Museums and Glasgow Museums Open Museum service. For more info, clickhere. Series of ads produced by the Migration Museum of South Australia, in 2010, entitled ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives’. Header Image Source: University of Leicester
Jacob Lawrence: One-Way Ticket
Exhibition at MoMA: One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Works April 3–September 7, 2015 In 1941, Jacob Lawrence, then just 23 years old, completed a series of 60 small tempera paintings with text captions about the Great Migration, the multi-decade mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North …
List of Films on Migration
LIST OF FILMS ON MIGRATION The Undocumented In the middle Farmingville I learn America The State of Arizona Your day is my Night Eternity and a day The Cloud Capped Star The Golden Thread The Name of a River Toni Dogville Ali: Fear eats the soul Black Girl Lilya 4-ever I don’t want to sleep …
Gael García Bernal on the Human Drama Behind Anonymous Migrant Dead
“During this scene, you hear me say in the voice-over a line that came to me that day: “This is the oldest story, the very first book. The one that begins with an adventure. In it, we all play the main characters. We carry our hopes and virtues as our baggage … while never forgetting …
Top 10 Films on Immigration
Immigration is one of the more complicated issues facing Americans these days and sadly we don’t see or hear about it very often. Below is a list of 10 great films that explore immigration. Some are more serious documentaries while others are narratives that incorporate some of the more human and historic issues of immigration. …
Around the Globe: Intersection of Journalism and Migration
A collection of articles that highlight the intersection of journalism and migration. AUSTRALIA The Dream Boat Nov 15, 2013 [The New York Times] Joel Van Houdt: “Once You Are in the Boat There is No Way Back” Dec 9, 2014 Australia’s Shipwrecked Refugee Policy Mar 2013 [The Monthly] EUROPE Europe’s huddled masses Aug 16th 2014 …
Migration and the media – guide for journalism students
Migration is a complex issue, the range of views is huge and strong positions are often taken – not surprising considering that discussion can involve ethnicity, religion, nationality, jobs, sex, food, personal habits, education, taxes, housing, dress, language, health and much, much more. How the print, broadcast and electronic media report these discussions is crucial. …
The Migrant Files
A database on the more than 28,000 migrants who died on their way to Europe since 2000. Winner of the Datajournalism Awards. Navigate through 2858 events, 72 territories, 14 detention centers and the13742 migrants for which some data is available. ABOUT THE PROJECT The Migrants’ Files project was launched in August 2013 by a group …
“Illegal,” “undocumented,” “unauthorized”: Issue frames and perceptions of immigrants
Source: Journalist’s Resource “Illegal” — the label used by many to describe immigrants who lack official documents — is more and more frequently being swapped out for terms like “undocumented” or “unauthorized.” In April 2013, the Associated Press pledged to purge “illegal” in its style book, reserving the term only as a descriptor for actions, …
The Forgotten Lives of Refugees
Christopher Dickey talks to António Guterres, the United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees, about the world’s desperate, dispirited, and displaced. If there is one faint hope for major improvements in the lives of refugees at present, it lies in communications technologies. Even in the camps, cellphones now allow people not only to communicate but also …
Comparative Pilot Study on Media Coverage of Migration
Can mainstream media be assumed to reflect in a constructive manner upon one of society’s most salient issues – migration? If so, will migration coverage be able to provide a pertinent representation of the particular preoccupations and circumstances that come into play in each country? Moreover, do election campaigns influence media treatment of this sensitive, …
Democracy in the Age of New Media: A Report on the Media and the Immigration Debate
Source: Brookings The U.S. media have hindered effective policy making on immigration for decades, and their impact has been increasing in recent years as a result of an ongoing evolution in the media industry. Deeply ingrained practices in American journalism have produced a narrative that conditions the public to associate immigration with illegality, crisis, controversy …
Humanity In The News: An Italian Case Study On How To Tell The Migrant Story
This article was written by Aidan White and originally published at The Ethical Journalism Network on 09 June, 2014. One of the toughest tests of ethical journalism in Europe is the tragic story of migration involving thousands of poverty-stricken men, women and children from Africa and the Middle East – many of them fugitives from war …
Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges
At this briefing, hosted by the International Organization for Migration and the Migration Policy Institute, speakers discuss the critical issues surrounding women’s labour migration in the Asia-Pacific region and the related opportunities and challenges. The event marks the launch of the IOM-MPI Issue in Brief, Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges, …
Better Work for Immigrants
Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union This is the second panel from the day-long conference, “Better Work for Immigrants: Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union,” held in Brussels and organized by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Europe in collaboration with the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Commission. The …
Istanbul Bookstore Caters To Syrian Refugees In Need Of A Good Read
After four years of war, Syrians are everywhere in Istanbul — on street corners, squatting in abandoned buildings. But a new venture run by Syrian and Turkish book lovers aims to be a cultural oasis for Arabic readers, and, along the way, give Turks a fuller picture of the Syrians, Iraqis and Libyans increasingly filling …
Bachata Takeover: From the Bronx to the World
“While bachata may have originated in the Dominican Republic, its growth in popularity over the past 10 years is not rooted with in the shores of the small Caribbean nation but in the outer boroughs of New York City. It was here that the now-legendary bachata group Aventura formed. Aventura would go on to change the …
“Hello, my name is Yusor Abu-Salha.”
In May 2014, Yusor Abu-Salha (R)–one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting in Chapel Hill–recorded a StoryCorps interview with Mussarut Jabeen (L), who was her 3rd grade teacher. In fact, all three of the victims–Yusor, her husband, Deah Barakat, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha–attended Jabeen’s school. Mussarut Jabeen returned recently to talk about Yusor’s death. …
Pidgin, patois, slang, dialect, creole — English has more forms than you might expect
There are probably as many terms for different kinds of English vernacular as there are vernaculars themselves: pidgin, patois, slang, creole dialect and so on. [From Public Radio International] CLICK HERE to listen.
A Sri Lankan Girl Living in Lebanon Isn’t Really a Citizen of Either Country
Rainey is 13, her hair is tied back in a long ponytail. One of her favorite foods is tabbouleh, served on top of rice. She was born in Lebanon and she has grown up here, which explains her love of tabbouleh, a Lebanese salad made with parsley and bulgur wheat. But the Lebanese would never eat …
First Days Story Project
At American Experience, we believe that stories have the power to inform, inspire, empower, and even heal. We also believe that history is personal and often profound. Inspired by the Academy Award®-nominated film Last Days in Vietnam, which chronicles the harrowing final hours of the Vietnam War, we joined forced with StoryCorps to create the First …
Black Lives Matter in Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Migration Series’ at MoMA
The painter’s groundbreaking works trace the journey of African Americans out of the Jim Crow South. Jacob Lawrence was a painter, but he was also a storyteller of the first order. In his 1941 masterwork, “Migration Series,” Lawrence (1917-2000) unspools one of the foundational narratives of the modern United States: the journey undertaken by some …
Migrating Lives – Vidas Migratorias
“Migrating Lives/Vidas Migratorias features handmade books filled with personal stories of migration, many of them by unaccompanied minors who have arrived in the United States over the past 18 months from Central America. The books were created by students from Sherwood High School in collaboration with Beatriz del Olmo Fiddleman, the museum’s Community Artist in …
On Migration, Identity, and Borders
Gerald Machona is a Zimbabwean born visual artist, whose work engages with issues of migration, deeply investigating the social terrains where identity, space, social hierarchies and memory are constantly being re-constructed and negotiated. Ndiri Barman. “In my work, I have appropriated this masquerade performance strategies, one of which is masking, to negotiate my personal experience …
State of Exception: An Art Exhibition
Objects left behind by undocumented migrants on their journey into the United States, including backpacks, water bottles, and border restrains, form the basis of this exhibition looking at the human experience of crossing the U.S./Mexico border. Viewers are asked to consider the complexities of the found objects through video and images created on location along …
Lampedusa Review
a brave excursion into the dark waters of mass migration Anders Lustgarten’s drama boldly contrasts the lives of a fisherman retrieving the bodies of refugees drowned at sea and a Chinese-British woman who collects debts for a payday loan company British theatre is full of plays about domestic politics. What makes Anders Lustgarten exceptional is …
No Human Being is Illegal
“Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . The enormous disparity between the eloquent promise of the Statue of Liberty and the ongoing attacks against immigrants is enormous. Immigration to the United States varies broadly—who comes, why, from where, and when is emphasized in posters that speak …
The Oakland Museum of California’s Who is Oakland? Exhibit
“Oakland is a city in flux. As people from San Francisco and elsewhere migrate to Oakland in hordes, the physical and social architecture seems to be reconfiguring in real time. Amid such a transformation, divisive questions of ownership, authenticity, and belonging are at the fore of community conversation.” “Artist Favianna Rodriguez, who is known for …
Platanos Y Collard Greens
Written by David Lamb, directed by Summer Hill Seven and currently staged by Doni Comas, Platanos Y Collard Greens debuted to sold-out audiences on June 27th, 2003 at a small theater on Manhattan’s west side. That fall Platanos also began its collegiate tour, opening October 8th 2003 to a standing room only crowd at the …
Left Coast: California Political Art
Detail from “And The Earth Did Not Swallow Them,” mural (2015). CUNY Graduate Center: ‘The title is lifted from Tomas Rivera’s book entitled Ey No Se Lo Trago La Tierra”. The book tells the tale of an immigrant farm working family in the 1950’s United States.’ Fred Alvarado, Suaro Cervantes, Marina Perez- Wong, Max Allbee. …
Undocumented Apparel Series
Julio Salgado’s ‘Undocu-Queers’ poster series provides the name, face, and story of a person at the intersection of two much-commoditized demographics, that of queer and undocumented. The series, which has shown at galleries across the country, is a way for disenfranchised people to tell their own stories before someone else, ally or otherwise, co-opts them. …
Barbed Wire Stories
Inside Witness is a comic drawn and narrated by Stephen and Clio Reese Sady. The setting is a family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico, a place where migrant families are housed while awaiting approval for humanitarian relief claims. The comics combine an eyewitness perspective of a courtroom with the voices of the families. Many families, …