Writers for Migrant Justice NYC

POETRY PROJECT: NYC WRITERS FOR MIGRANT JUSTICE, SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

STUDENTS, STAFF SPEAK AT ‘WRITERS FOR MIGRANT JUSTICE’

 

NYC Writers for Migrant Justice Dispatch
The Poetry Project, Weds., Sept. 4, 2019

I’m an immigrant. I am othered frequently, repeatedly, in varying degrees. But in my thirty five years living in these not so United States, the assault on immigrants and the undocumented has been unprecedented. So blatant, misinformed, hateful. I feel such immense anger, fear, and frustration. These feelings persist, of course, but a salve was participating in the NYC Writers for Migrant Justice reading at The Poetry Project on September 4, 2019. Hosted by Javier Zamora and José Olivarez, the night provided a platform for a full roster of concerned and angry poets, including Terrance Hayes, Mahogany L. Browne, and Rigoberto González. We not only voiced our concerns and railed against the current vile administration, but we offered insights and glimpses into the lives of marginalized people. The community came out in droves, raising funds for Immigrant Families Together, an organization that fights and provides support for detained migrants. The packed church exemplified solidarity: everyone in that room was rallying for human rights, believing in the collective voice of reason and dissent. We sung. We raged. We howled.  -Joseph O. Legaspi

 

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Organizers: Javier Zamora and José Olivarez, Latinx in Publishing, Poetry Project

Venue: The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church

Readers: Alexis Aceves Garcia, Daniel Alarcón, Desiree C. Bailey, Mahogany L. Browne, Wo Chan, Megan Fernandes, Ariel Francisco, Rigoberto González, Jan-Henry Gray, Ellen Hagan, Terrance Hayes, Marwa Helal, Zakia Henderson-Brown, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Rindon Johnson, Vivian Lee, Joseph O. Legaspi, Esther Lin, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Sheila Maldonado, David Tomas Martinez, Yesenia Montilla, José Olivarez, RA Villanueva, and Javier Zamora

 

POETRY PROJECT: NYC WRITERS FOR MIGRANT JUSTICE, September 4, 2019