"Refugee children have lost their homes, but we cannot allow them to lose their future."
Yesterday, I celebrated World Refugee Day with the CIRI community in Bridgeport and loved seeing so many of the children and their parents who have worked with CWP and our professional development work in Bridgeport Public Schools. CWP's programs have served over 100 immigrant and refugee young people as they acclimate to the United States through finding them books to read, classes to take, support for their stories, and opportunities to share their experiences with American-born educators and peers. At the event, I got to see Lambert perform once again and, as per usual, have Chadrac run up to me requesting a selfie (he's mastered the Crandall face better than I have).
June 20th was World Refugee Day and I was thrilled to hear from Claudia Connor, a friend, mentor, colleague and director of the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants that two families are arriving to southern Connecticut this month, even though the United States has politically demonized refugees and immigrants as a result of (you tell me) and for the first time since WWII, other nations in the Western World have taken in more families fleeing from war, prosecution and famine than we have. As I drive to and from work, talk with friends and relatives, see our grocery stores, malls and houses, reflect on my travel, and the travels of others, I can see why. America is a hurting nation and its people are suffering severely. Although a nation built on liberty and justice for all, its seems quite transparent why we should turn our backs on the disparities of the rest of the world. Life is like a mirror, and what you see in your reflection is subjective - if the reflection you see is one of humanity, empathy and purpose, then applause. We are the ones that must face ourselves everyday.
I remain loyal to what I wrote in 2017: The Tired. The Poor. The Hungry. Resources Important to Me. I'm appreciative, too, for Sarah J. Donovan who wrote, "Give me your tired, your poor," - a review of books by young people on stories relevant to them.
70.8 million individuals have been forced from their homes worldwide because of natural disasters, human disasters, war, and famine. 25.9 million with the title refugee and 3.5 million going through a vetted process for the chance to be given asylum (it's like hitting the lottery and nearly impossible. Perhaps that's why the children we work with are so driven and why statistics are showing they are exceeding American-born students in 4-year colleges. I suppose many of us need to revisit what our ancestors who immigrated to this country faced several generations before us, and gain a better understanding of all they accomplished to bring us to where we are today.
There's only so much I can do in my life and career. I know that I can't change international policies or the vitriol and hatred of others. I can only take what frustrates me most and work to make a better world. What I can do is offer support, help and resources for the families and children who have relocated to regions near me by networking with incredible individuals like Claudia Connor, designing professional development to support teachers who work with the driven, scared, but passionate young people through designs such as Ubuntu Academy that offers opportunities to counter summer literacy loss and to build vocabulary, reading skills, and writing. Abu Bility and I did the math yesterday and we are on year 6 of this work at Fairfield University and we both can attest that educators across the United States want to learn more about what we're doing...they want to help. They report their students want to help, too. Since 2014, over 100 refugee-background kids have interacted with, learned alongside, and benefited 90 educators who have also come to our campus to write their lives, histories, and dreams.
Being a person for others is what attracted me to a career at Fairfield University and it is what I hold onto as a mid-life adult who is graying and feeling chagrined by the spite of others. My life has been made a billion times better through my work with refugee and immigrant communities in Louisville, Syracuse, and Connecticut. I've learned more from working with these children and families than I did through a bachelor's degree, 2.5 Masters degrees (I left Breadloaf to do a doctorate and needed only two more courses) and my doctorate degree.
We're just blips on the radar and we have a choice each and every day to live as we do. I know that my work is not popular these days and my fellow Americans love to share their dislike through emails and critiques (and I'm always amazed at the wrath). But the work I do is me, and I will go to my grave fighting for human kindness for those most in need. That is Ubuntu. That is love. I have chosen not to succumb to fear. Why? Well, my house, my heart, and my career are evidence enough.
Ubuntu Matters.
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