In Search of Sanctuary: Stories of Migration, Hardships and Hope

Shining a light on the often invisible and incredibly complex experience of migration, the established scholars of this panel examine migration through human-centered lenses by documenting the difficult reasons people move away from an old home and the realities they must face upon arrival in their new one. Sin Padres, Ni Papeles details Stephanie L. Canizales’ academic study about how undocumented Central American and Mexican teens in LA navigate unthinkable material and emotional hardship, find the agency and hope that is required to survive, and discover what it means to be successful as they come of age in the United States. Shifting the focus to Northern California, Cruz Medina’s Sanctuary is a case study following the community of Indigenous Guatemalan Maya people in a Spanish-speaking church in the East Bay, many of whom sought refuge in the United States but were instead met with the dehumanizing and exclusionary rhetoric of US political leaders, militarized immigration enforcement, false promises of empowerment through literacy, and further displacement from gentrification. Journalist Jeanne Carstensen turns an investigative eye to the devastating 2015 shipwreck that resulted in the loss of hundreds of refugee lives during the biggest refugee crisis since World War II in A Greek Tragedy, which includes recollections of the refugees’ lives prior to leaving their home as well as the courageous rescue efforts of the Greek islanders and volunteers who rushed to help, even as their government and the EU failed to act. Moderated by award-winning author and journalist Frances Dinkelspiel.