Interview with “We Are America” project coordinator on WBAI, New York
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from http://archive.wbai.org/, Tuesday July 13, 2010
Center for Community Change Press Conference, July 7, 2010 – Launch of “We Are America” Stories project. Opening remarks by Mary Lassen, managing director at CCC; speeches by Ana Sol Gutierrez and Saif Khan, participants in the project, as well as Colin Rogero, director of Revolution Media. See press release below video.
For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 08, 2010
Contact: Germonique R. Ulmer, 202.339.9331; [email protected]
‘We Are America’ National Media Campaign Highlights Diverse and Human Side of Immigration
Immigrants across America share their experiences in professional video spots
Washington-Today, the Center for Community Change launched a major media campaign at the National Press Club called the “We Are America” story project, which is designed to show the diversity and compelling human faces of real immigrants while countering the opposition’s narrative.
“This project is about the voices of those who are traditionally left out of national discussions – especially those debates which take place here in the nation’s capital,” said Mary Lassen, managing director of the Center for Community Change. “Too often we debate change through the prism of abstraction and pure political gamesmanship.”
Through professionally produced videos, as well as audio, photo and written stories from immigrants from across the country, the project seeks to recapture the debate from those politicians and anti immigrant activist who seek to demonize the immigrant community.
Three exclusive personal narrative videos were shown at the event, two of which now appear on the campaign website www.weareamericastories.org. The first featured a young woman from Arizona whose mother faces deportation; the second a political leader who strives for other immigrants to have the same opportunities that her family had; the third a veteran who took his oath of citizenship just days before being deployed to Iraq.
Ana Sol Gutierrez, the first Salvadoran Maryland House delegate is the first Latina elected to statewide office in Maryland and Saif Khan, an Iraq War veteran also spoke at the event.
“When I became a citizen and chose a life of public service, I realized that many people, especially new immigrants, were cut off from those same opportunities,” said Ana Sol Gutierrez. She went on to classify the “hateful rhetoric of the nativist voices” as “completely un-American.”
Saif Khan, whose originally from India, spoke of the great honor of becoming a U.S. citizen, but lamented the fact that “other immigrants haven’t had the same opportunities that my family and I had.”
Their stories and others will be featured at www.WeAreAmericaStories.org.
Colin Rogero, director of Revolution Media, outlined the professional production company’s vision and involvement in the project. “It’s not often in this business that you get to be part of a project that you really believe in – but that’s the case with “We Are America,” Rogero said.
The campaign website will continue to feature fresh stories every week with powerful personal narratives of new immigrants from across the country. These stories, as well as complete video coverage of the press conference, can be found at: www.WeAreAmericaStories.org
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Since 1968, the Center for Community Change has strengthened the leadership, voice and power of low-income communities and communities of color nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow. www.communitychange.org.