Conversation with diane. On with please welcome diane and liz to the pratt library. [applause] hello. Good evening. Can you hear us . Hello. This does work. L hear u well, i just wanted to start the conversation off by having diane tell you you have probably know of her as an actress but maybe you dont know her back story. So, i wanted to ask her to give us the briefest of instructions about her story, just to sort of structure and who she is. Thank you. Thank you, liz, thank you, judy, and thank you pratt library, and thank you to all of you foring here today. Feel so honored that you guys came out to hear me speak. Ill try my best. My name is diane guerrero. My parents are colombian immigrants. Was born in new jersey but i was raised in boston. Boston. Anybody . No. Yay my parents came here with a visa in hopes i mean, this story changes sometimes between me and my dad. Sometimes they say we were just going to see how check out the states or my mother had hopes of staying and making a family here, and making her dreams come true, of course. And eventually their visa expired, and they wanted to try to figure out a way to become citizens. So that was their journey and their quest. So day were undocumented for as long as i can remember. And my childhood was shaped by that, by that fact. My parents were very honest with me. Ha as a young girl i knew what their status was and i knew very clearly what my status was. I was an american citizen and they werent. So, they i had something that they wanted very das platly and made it clear they needed that so we could stay together. So, i remember every prayer, every wish was that my parents got these papers they needed so that we could stay together. We managed to live our lives but it was certainly scary, and i know anybody who has been through this experience knows how intensities, and how interesting your life can become when youre living in the shadows. So, i grew up with this dream but i also had another dream. I had the dream of maybe one day becoming an entertainer, performer, an artist, and so when my parents my parents were deported because of their lack of documents. I decided to stay, and pursue my dream, which was to stay here and finish my education and try to live out my own dream in the country we love. Its corny, but i always put that in there. Yesterday i was like, making this video for this event, and i put that in there. I said in the country we love and then i winked because i felt embarrassed. And my friend was like, own it. It is a country you love so own it. So now im not winking. Im saying so it i can say in the country we love and pursue my dreams and form my own life. And then i so here we are. I think 14, 15 years passed, and i wasnt dealing with the huge cloud over my life, which was this whole issue of immigration, and i started seeing the topic come up a lot in the news, and people daytoday conversations. So the word immigration wouldd come up and my ears would like, start, ringing, and i would want to talk about it but i couldnt because i felt all sorts of stuff. I had a lot of issues with it because my parents were deported and i didnt want to really deal with that. But then i saw there was a need to use my voice in this way, and so i it started little by little. I wrote an oped just kind of feeling the waters out. I didnt think anybody would read the oped, of course. I thought im going to do this but no one is going to read it. So its all good. Ive lived my life by trying things out and telling myself that no one is ever going to see it. Nothing is ever going to come of it but im just going to try it. Right . And i tried, and people did read it, anded did get some sort of attention, and then i realized it was such an important issue that i had to talk about it, and i had to talk about it because i had been through this experience, and i knew that millions of people were going through the same thing, and our country needed voices like minimum, people who had been through it first hand and could share a human story, and kind of be part of the conversation. Then la la la, lots of stuff happened, and then i wrote this book. And now im here. So, was that too long . No. O. It was great. I think one of the really interesting things about the book is that ive worked a lot on stories about immigration in the last year, so one of the really interesting things is that we hear so much about the s journeys to america, from people all over the world, but we dont always hear what happens once theyre here. We dont always hear the voice of the child whose parents are deported. We dont hear how is it, if youre an iraqi girl and you arrive in baltimore, what happens after you get here . And so i think those voices are really important to be heard more. I wanted to ask diane to read a crucial moment in the book, her book, when i ill just set this up a little. She objects her parents were taken out of the house they were detained for a while in prison. So, she could go and visit them. So, she went to sort of say goodbye to her mom, and ill let you start from there. This is in the prison. Ay yes. Okay. Excuse me if i flub or anything. I have some learning disabilities. Its not funny but its true. Here we go. Know, not the best professional. Want to be an actor. Just always challenging myself. Here goes. Are you ready . Amelia asked. I stood and perspective posted so i could avoid mommys fate. As much as alonged to see her i didnt want to remember her like this. Not with her wrists chained up, not in an orange jump suit. The person behind bat barrier wasnt my mother. She was a stranger to me. With hardly a sound the group shuffled back down the corer to. Amelia held my hand while we walked. This isnt the end for you, diane, she said, as she tried t reassure me, put it felt like the end. At devastated as i was for my mom i was even more scared for myself. She and my dad were going home to family. I was stepping into a future i prayed would never come. Outside amelia peered out over the lot, trying to recall where she parked her camry. C a few hundred feet away from us near the prison side entrance, a white police van pulled up. Amelia and i exchanged a look. Seconds later, two guards herded some inmates out into the my mother was among them. Just as my mother was stepping into the paddy wagon, she turned around and caught a glimpse of me. She froze. I could tell she wanted to Say Something. To run to me. But before she could make a move, a guard rushed her into the van. Lets go he snapped. The engine rumbled on. From her seat in the rear, mommy twisted herself around so she could see me through the bars on the windows. She was trying to tell me something but i couldnt figure out what it was. Then all at once i understood. I love you. She was mouthing. I love you. I love you. D i love you. I love you. She repeated the three words until the van turned from the lot and disappeared. I smiled. That was the only thing that i could be sure of, that my mother loved me. E sure of fuck anyone who tried to come between us. Thats my teenage years. Anyon the summer i lost my parents it was the strangest kind of heartache. No friend gathered to grieve over the departed. No flowers were sent. No Memorial Service was planned. And yet, the two people i cherished the most were gone. Not from the world itself but gone from me. Wed find a way to move forward to carry on, just not with the m promise of one anothers presence. Thank you. [applause] sorry if there were any children in the audience for the fword. One of the things i think is not well understood outside of the latino immigrant community is the extent of the divisions that the immigration experience has on families. Ti in my work as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun i spend six or eight months at Patterson High School in east baltimore and wrote a series about profiling three students, one of them was a latino boy, but again and again during the reporting experience, i heard particularly the boys, the undocumented boys who had made it across the border, he told stories about their mothers or fathers disappearing from them. Usually their parents didnt tell them they were going to leave honduras or el salvador. They left sometimes in the middle of the light or middle of the night or while they were at school and couldnt bear to say goodbye to their children so they just left. And in one case, one of the boys said he came home from school and realized his mother was gone, and everyone was crying, and he couldnt figure it out. In another case a boy told me that he knew his he was told his mother was going to just take a breath, to another town, but he knew michigan was terribly wrong and he ran with all his might to see her before she got on the bus, and he did just barely glimpse her leaving, and she was crying, and he was crying, and he didnt see her for eight years. That happens so often, i think, and when the kids are reunited you would think that, my gosh, this is the most wonderful thing in the world to be reunited with my mom i havent seen, but in fact its terribly difficultin because you dont really know them. Theyre really strangers to you. And many this is such a problem in the latino immigrant community that they have now the teachers have started developing curriculum that helps parents and their children who theyve been apart from for a long time, reunite, because until you reunite you really cant move on in many ways in your new country. So i think dianes story is a little bit different but its a twist on that same theme of having years and years apart and not being able to communicate in a real way, and having to sort of separate, and i think diane i would ask you to tell a little bit about that separation for you and what it did for you and your insides, and then how you came back around. All right. Well, yeah, its very difficult to when i went through that, that separation from your folks, because, like i said, my family unit for you, its like a death. But no one treats it as that because theyre alive. Obviously your parents are alive put your family unit has died. You move on or go back. Fa chose to move on and stay here and continue my life in the states. Mo in the way that i figured out, all i knew was that i needed my education and this is what my parents taught me, you need your education and if you work really hard, youll make something out of yourself and that is what i believed as a kid, growing up in the states. This was where i could do that. O i knew that i could do this here. I and i could be resourceful, and if i was savvy enough and determined enough that something could happen, could make something happen. But what i guess i didnt realize at that age was what the relationship was going to be with my folks. Ha for some reason i thought, okay, well figure that out, too. But i didnt realize was the huge strain that it had on us, and what it had on our emotional life and our psychological the psychological impact it would have on me. So, i wanted to talk about that in the book, that just the strained relationships and that the effects it has on a family to be separated like that. No one talks about the psychological and emotional damage because no one sees this as really when you hear it on the news and hear a politician talk about it you never hear it as an immigrant issue. Its all political. But its important to realize these are real people and real families and there are real effects, and i was lucky enough to sort of come back from that, but i was like is was in a very deep hole for a very long time. I didnt speak to my parents or didnt see them for maybe eight years because the pain was it was too much. Didnt know how to handle it. I would go back to colombia and visit them and i didnt know what to do because i was growing and they were growing, and i figured, those are my parents, theyll stay the same. But they grow, too. They change. Will stay th and your mother didnt give up. She kept calling and calling and calling, and you would, like a teenager would, just said, imm not going to deal with you. Yeah. There was a point where i didnt know how to handle it so i haden to separate myself, and i feel like sometimes in a way that sort of gave me legs to continue. I did the best i could. I didnt know how to i always look at you. Yeah, yeah, get it. I didnt really know how to be an adult and handle things correctly. So i just did the best i could, and sometimes shutting down was the only way i could move forward. And i think the way that dish mean, it took me 14, 15 just until a few years ago, my family relationship still, have to work at it every day. My mother was pissed at me yesterday for something. For me not being responsive enough or me not showing her the kind of emotion she wanted from me. So its work every day, and sometimes we i mean i think thats the only thing yeah, being apart but its the relationship that was so strained and that i wish i could get back. But you have to do the best you can. We were talking about technology and how that has been a part of has played a huge part in us kind of reconnecting, and obviously my work with Immigration Reform has helped mw mind and my heart sort of heal, so that i could accept my life and accept our relationship the way it is and just love it for c what it is, and continue thatt way and just you got just adjust to whatever life has given you and try to make the best out of that. Ju and thats what i tried to do with this work and i sort of have done this. So obviously so i could help others and share with others but alsold so i could help me and my family because we needed something. I needed like, in my fashion, i always i go big or go home so i had to do this so that i could try to salvage the relationship with my parents. I needed to open my heart toon this work so that could i also, you needed to repair the relationships until you could go on with your life in a productive way. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was a big deal when youh went to see your mom and repair that relationship after so long. Uhhuh. Like i said its repairing every day. She was really mat at me yesterday. Mad at me yesterday. I wanted you to talk about becoming an a an actress and if you thought the grit and perseverance you needed to get through the years without your parents had then helped you become an actress . That you were willing to sort of stick it out through a lot of auditions that didnt work out or long times between work. Yeah. This kind of work is very up and down. Et mean, i still, like, every day i get a call, trying to figure out my life and what my next move is, because its gig by gig. Its not a sure thing. Gi this business is not a showerng. Thing not a sure thing. Knew that. The reason i didnt want to take the chance in the beginning, what i was scared of was because i didnt have that foundation or that base that i know that you need to pursue anything. You need that support from yours family members but, yeah, i think youre right. I feel like at the time that tied pursue what i wanted to do, i had to say i just had to say, as if. Ive already been through so much. What people are going to say no to me . Whatever. Say no to me. Wh i already lost my parents and lost the one thing that meant the world to me. So i felt like it totally just present me for the amount of tht rejections i got, and you just i grew up. I grew up, but i think that everything that i went through in high school and after that, like, everything like, going to college was huge miracle for me. I didnt even know how it happened and i still dont know. But doing that and then, like, doing the thing is got to do, and having the support in my community i got, i dont know how it happened but i know that i was in need, and i needed to be resourceful, i needed to be respectful. I needed to when i say respectful, meaning keep my place, you know, be grateful to others who are helping me and that all served me. Its all served me. And i dont think you need to good through Something Like this to carry that with you, being resourceful, being respectful, being whats the other r . I need another r. Ill remember. Boom, girl, you got it, resilience. Thats a good one. Im like, whats the other one n do all the time . Yes, resilient. Knew i had to do those. So it really has served me. So, during so, from the time that your parents left to fairly recently, actually, the fact that your parents were had undocumented and had been deported, you kept a complete secret, even from people you were pretty close to in your lives. And so i wondered what the transition was like, sort of suddenly baring all of this. Well can i think that well, for a long time i feel like my immediate friends knew like the kids i grew up with knew some of them knew what happened to me, and i dont know. Sometimes it felt like it held me back. First of all im a very happy person, a very outgoing person, so i felt like if i ever told the story people would look at me differently. Was ashamed also. In this culture, your taught or from the images you see on tv or the sort of rhetoric you hear from people is just like if youre an immigrant, youre a bad person. If youre deported, then you are failure. So i was ashamed and didnt wan to share that and didnt want people to look at me differently. And then once things started escalating, like the topic started coming up more and more dish feel like its come up now, obviously more than ever,re which is why i was compelled to talk about it. But it was like an explosionon when i would hear like i said, i would hear somebody talk about and it i would want to Say Something or Say Something really bold and people would be like, where did that come from . Im like, what . No, nothing, i didnt know you are passionate about that. Nation of immigrants. No biggy. And so when i basically shared that with people and the way i did, i felt that the response was very it was cool. It was really open and people were accepting, and i learned that day that if you just theres no shame in your story. Theres no shame where you come from or who you are. And you need to use that. So, if you find yourself in a place where youre unhappy and you want to youre unhappy with the Current System or something is not right and youre, im not into the raids happening now there should be a path for citizenship. Dont really understand the immigration system. It seems a little foggy. I feel like the majority of this people in the country dont understand it. And then you decide to be a part of a solution or trying to find a solution, and then so i felt it was just worth it to share my story at that point. There are a lot of things going on in immigration right now, and one of the things i we discussed earlier was i felt that social media has really changed immigration in this country. If you think back 100 years agor people came to the United States and they got off the boat and that was it. They didnt talk to their family accept through letters, and those letters took a long time getting here and back. Today, the new immigrants i speak with, like the refugees who left iraq or theyve left any country, really, are still so connected through facebook and twitter and texting and its really free to be in touch with your friends. Its rea so, they never in a way its a wonderful confident wonderful comfort for though be able to talk to relatives itch talked to a syrian family who the mother was left behind in turkey with one of the children, and the rest of the family is here, and they skype at dinnerer every night, so they have dinner together over skype. But they cant unite. Which is a wonderful thing in one sense, in another way it can be horribly debilitating because you can never sort of reallyon leave your country behind. So, for instance, i would profile i profiled an iraqi girl who left her fiancee back in baghdad, and for the first year and a half she was here, she was constantly Facebook Messaging him. Dozens of times every day. She is finally broken off with him but that sense that, i canw really go on with my life here. So its a wonderful thing to have to be able to be in touch with your parents so quickly,tb but it also can be a detriment. You were talking about how you always feel that theres a that people feel you should drop everything when they call. Yeah. You certainly tissue mean, the way our culture some of our culture is that the family is everything. Right . Our parents are everything. And you have this responsibility, especially if you have this opportunity, this great opportunity to be here in the United States, to sort of provide or to be attentive and to be there. Look, i wish that bug bit me because i dont want to talk to anybody. I wish that wasnt funny. If i skype with my mom during dinner every night she would love it. Unfortunately im way too american for that. Im like, im going to watch tv. But now there has to be a balance, right . I still feel that responsibility, which is i wake up screaming sometimes. Oh, my god i have so much on my mind and i want to do so much, want to do so much for my family, but theres just there has to bee a moment where your baseball and say, okay, have to live for me. I have to do what i have to too and take care of myself in order to help others, and i did that sort of along my journey in different ways. I didnt have a balance, so i just shut people out and said im going after my dreams, you know. And im not going to let anyone stop me, including my family. But of course that didnt make my happy. It made my incredibly depressed. So you just have to find a balance. Another thing i would say about technology is that how easity is to share information, and information like what is going on in the world, or what kind of movement we want, or were kind of what is troubling our society and things like that, and we can share information so much faster and thats a good thing, especially authorize the la do especially for the Latino Community who now is getting most of their information their news online. F theres a lot more people that can have an opinion. A lot more people that can write articles. Who are just using their voices. So in that sense, i think its really good. Would you just talk well come full circle and talk a little built about where you see Immigration Reform going and what your hope is for theyo future. Obviously theres some vast difference of opinion among the president ial candidates so maybe you can talk about how you thinb we could get through this. Sure. Well, i think obviously having this conversation right now is a step forward. I think that we need to have well, first and for most, we need immigrant reform along with the groups and organization eyes working with. We need Immigration Reform. We think that the immigration system is outdated, as you see, a lot of people are affectedat every year, every day, and nothing is being done, and this is we have had this systemar for a very long time. The visa system is outdated, and of course the way we handle family separation is not a good thing. I feel like there are a lot more people getting involved and actually talking about this issue. I think that still like i still think a lot of people dont know what were dealing with. I dont know where the future of Immigration Reform is going. Dont see it happening. I wish it could happen sometime soon. Wish deportations would stop. I wish we could have aan friendlier conversation about immigrants and what they mean to this country. I hope that we can change the culture and which we talk about immigration and undocumented people. And see all the contributions that those immigrant communities make. I feel their needs to be a clear and fair path to citizenship, and i feel like the people that are here already deserve to contribute to this country legally. I dont think any immigrant or undocumented family that i have ever talked to is here saying, i dont want any documents. Dont want to become a citizen. I feel like everyone who i talk to, and i know it from first hand because i know how much my parents love this country. I know how hard they fought to find a path to become citizens, to become documented. So, there needs to be more talk about reform and less talk about division and kicking out and building walls and all this thing. Im not advocating for people to come over, and i think that its silly to think that everyone in the world wants to be here because thats not true. I just think that there needs to be some sort of just a plan for the people who are already here, and who have made lives here. I think we can have some questions now if we want if people want to ask. Theres a microphone, and i ask that you go to that. [inaudible conversations] heard by everyone. Hi. So, my question is kind of about your experience because you are a lot to say and has been a lot for womens television in some ways and so, those are great platforms and i know theres a whole storyline about being daunted. I was wondering if you had any input on that and if you have any input on the show of women who might be facing similar situations in prison. Thank you so much. And first im so proud to be on both on two shows that are so social and who comment on what is happening socially. I think thats why we have come to love both shows so much because they sort of share what is really happening in the world, and sharing stories that we have not really heard. Part of what i said, when i said about changing the culture, i feel Like Television shows and entertainment have ahe cul responsibility to bring forth the issues so we can talk about them. Thats why it was such a huge deal when jane had that storyline and then type in immigrationreform. It was a tiny little thing and a quick mention and reached so many people. I think that you see the power of what shows like this have, and the huge responsibility that us in the Entertainment System not System Industry excuse me in the Entertainment Industry have to use our platform to raise these issues so we can talk about them, so that we can get involved and so that we can know the power of our voices and the power of our actions and participation. We c i hope that more shows can take a look at shows like orange is the new black and jane and take from that. Were doing it slowly but im certainly being part of those shows motivated me to be more active and say, it made my feel like i had a voice, too, and how i should use it. Being around so many women who care about so many things and actually doing something aboutom it. Even the smallest way by just typing something that you care about, or going into working with an organization and lendina your time or trying to motivate others to fight for something, to fight mr. Something they believe in i think is really cool. Thank you. Thank you. Ou. Hello. Hello, i am alfredo and im a little starstruck right now. I just finished watch thing third season of orange is the new black last week. Im looking forward to the fourth season. So are my coworkers by the way. Im glad to be here in front of you and i just purchased your book, so i cant wait to read it. Thank you. I want to go back to your story, your personal story. Parents were deported. That means everything, and to come home and not see your parents, i cant imagine that. Was there any system in place to support you or that you are aware of any support you may have chose not to access that type of support . T . Yeah, no. There were none. When the whole thing happened and i talk about this all the time we waited. Waited to see if someone would come or i would get a call or even in school, no one ever came and it was sort of i mean, sure as hell didnt i didnt want to go and i was afraid. I didnt go to the police. Didnt contact nobody say im here by myself. I sort of just we sort of made the decision i would stay with friends, but i didnt know of any programs. Didnt know of any organizations that could help me. I think that part of me getting involved like this, writing this book and sitting here with you, is because im trying to reach those who are going through the same thing or who know someone who is going through the same thing. A child left behind, to sort of motivate them to tell them andug say, there are organizations out there, and there are web sites out there, and there is literature out there that you can read in educate yourself. I talk about how that is sort oa one of the things i am sad that we were so scared and we weres living in such fear we didnt go out there and educate ourselves really in what our options were and our rights were and what we could do and who who we can seek for help. So, i think right now, im doing my best to express that and say there are places out there that you can go to. There are organizations out there that are willing to help, will ago educate you and you should definitely take advantage so youre not staying at home in fear. Youre trying to help your situation and help your family out. Like programs go ahead. D. What i was going to say, one of the really horrifying moments in the book is the fact that i. C. E. Came in and took her parents and never thought or never followed up and said, theres a child living in this house. So whats going to happen to that child . They just took the parents and left. So if you think about a family that is not as resourceful as you and your i mean, your parents took made sure there was somebody there, even from prison, made sure there was somebody there for her, but the idea that the federal government would basically tick ana eightyearolds parentsway and then not follow through to make sure that eightyearold had foster care or the system failed you. Failed her. Wanted to just congratulate you on being resilient. You reflect on the latino immigrants in baltimore i work with and proud to call my family and friends. Muchas gracias. Good evening. I work for a comprehensive immigrant Resource Center here in baltimore. And i just wanted to thank you because we rely a lot on the ilrcs resources, the red card for life giving in december during the deportation priorities. And as a person that works we immigrants and particularly immigration law, i was curiouswh and maybe like a little have you tried going through the process of petitioning for your parents to come back ore are your parents interested in coming back . If youre in the process ofco doing that, how much of a headache has it been and can you speak a little bit more becausec i know in your book you messengered a little bit about what a headache that process is for all the people that say, geh in line, do it correctly. How long it takes. I dont think a lot of people are that aware of how much it is. Well, first i have to say, definitely i love it. I feel like were all a little bit of family. I get you. Were so close, i know. I have to say that, yes, they want to come back and, i want them back. Right now im going through that process, and it is very, very difficult. Back i mean, the amount ofpaperwork that goes in it, and they haveet to remember all these things and its difficult, and, yes, we want to i want them to i just want them to be able to visit. Think thats my goal. I dont even my expectations are pretty low. But even that is really difficult. It is really hard. Ill never stop trying because i love them and want them to see me grow and i want them to see my family when i when that happens. But its happening. Every day i miss my mother. I want to go to home goods with her. Want to go to the grocery store, things like that. And i can go and do that when guy to colombia but its not the same to know that she is in my home, that she is in this country in my country. Which i also consider her a part of. So it is very difficult to process, and but thank god for the immigration Resource Center which who i volunteer with. They have been so helpful and organizations like that provide like your Organization Provides all the information i need so that it dont do any mistakes and any missteps because anyone will tell you that has been through the process, any single mistake can just you have to just start from the beginning and whatever that beginning is, and there are so many road blocks. There is no clear path and there is no back of the line. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you again for coming here today. I am a teacher here in the city. I teach Baltimore City college. I see some city alum. Im also an adviser for your Student Organization which is students organizing in multitie cultural open society thank you. Shes in it. So, what i wanted to hear about was how could the School System have better supported you . What do you think school should be doing . This is happening in our communities our students are being affected. What is the role that you see in schools in this and how can we be there for our students . Well, first of all, when i was growing up, i had no sort of education when it came to n immigration, and our immigration system, and just learning about it or having it be part of the curriculum would be very helpful. Think that new programs need to be in place, like the program that you were talking about earlier, which is they the reunification curriculum. Are so helpful. I think having an open conversation about and it teaching your students and also like i said, when changing the language and the culture, its like knowing that we dont that no person, no one person is illegal. That we need to change that type of language and also know that immigrants and even people here who are undocumented, make up part of what america is, and what this country is. So, in stories like mine, thattr many people share, sharing those and being open about stories like this, and knowing that is t part of our american story, that just because my parents were undocumented, just because im the daughter of undocumented people, doesnt make me lessth american than anyone else. So i think that way well start having better conversations about and it maybe more solutions and maybe involving people so that they could be more civically engaged. The important of voting, the importance of participating pard being active in your community so wore electing officials that meet our needs. And i dont say that our needs as Latino Community or undocumented community, but from everywhere. Syria, iraq, i say all of us. But also american citizens because its important for the entire country, for this issue to be addressed, for Immigration Reform. Its important for the entire country. I think its really interesting that what i have seen as an education reporter that more and more for instance at Patterson High School, the last four valedictorians have been immigrants. And if you look at the top of the class in many high schools across the state, theyre immigrants. Thank you. Teach those kiddies. Thank you. My name is jasmin and i am trembling so much. Its okay. I love it. My question is, as a young latin activist i want to know what advice would you give to young latino activists like myself . Well, one advice one thing i have to remind myself every day is that never to give up. I know it sounds cheesy but you have to know that your work matters and your effort matters, and i think that in order to be part of the solution we cant stop we need to continue to work, even though we get so disappointed so much. You see dapa being held up in the courts and thats very frustrating but what we can do is continue motivating ands but sharing information, continue to be empathetic, and know that if we give up, thats the same as, like, 100 people giving up. Think about obstructionists, and people who in the past have obstructed any sort of bill being passed, any sort of bill for Immigration Reform or any other bill you have seen where people have fought so hard to help pass, and only a few people have made enough noise to say, no, we dont want this, and those few people are speaking for the entire country and that happens from lack of participation and lack ofppens r motivation and endurance. I say we have to keep at it, and never stop because if imagine if we all use our voices and if we all continue to be part of this movement or any movement, imagine all that we can get done and all that we can do. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is nancy. First of all, youre really beautiful. Thank you so much. Thank you. I put on some lipstick for you guys. I actually have three questions. Go ahead. The first question is, since were in an Election Year id like to know if your supporting any candidates. Re second question trump. Im kidding. My gosh. Shouldnt even say that . Jest. Second question is, are you passionate dish know youre very passionate about immigration but are you passionate about any other social issues or womens issues . Id like to know. And third question would be, what of your favorite shows. Im a game of thrones fan. Im getting to game of thrones. Its on my queue. I started year othersing and then had to do something and i got distracted. So the first question is, right now the work im doing is just to make sure that people are voting and that people are participating. Im not i dont think i want to not not like anybody carep what i say bum identity. No yet sure and well, am surt but im not going say who im voting for. Ill keep that private until i can blast it. Vote for this person right now i think my role and that i picked up in the beginning was just im going to focus on participation and getting people civically engagen and thats the most important. Its like vote whatever youre going to vote. For nor anyone, but trump. But but vote for someone, and get involved. Vote for and then second question are you passionate about any other oh, my gosh, im passionate about everything, girl. So many things. Am a feminist, like, through and threw, humanist. I love animals. I the other day i was bugging out about the sharks. Im like overfishing. I think right now im passionate about the criminalization of our people and trying to put a stop to that. I hate guns. Theres so many things i want t get involved in, and all these causes that i care about. And in the future i hope to participate more. Think right now im starting with immigration but i like to live in a way where i think everything is thinking about intersectionallity and knowing that one thing isnt separateut from another. So, my lgbt brothers and sisters, their woes or my woes and i hope my woes are theirs. Like to think of it like that. And the third question is . Well, okay, right now, im watching i just finished wath vinyl. But i am watching all sorts of stuff. Holiday house of card , orange is the new black and im going to get into sopranos next and then game of thrones. Because of netflix you better show up now you can watch all sorts of stuff you missed. Live binging and watching things all at once. Its great. Thank you. Thank you so much. Hi. How are you . R im well, thanks. How are you . I want to start by saying your about to go to the hair salon and request that. Its going to be a lot of hair, but im ready and able to get your life. This is all my life right now. So i appreciate everything youre doing and telling your story. I love it. So interesting and its reallyel cool to see you here after watching you on orange is the new black and also jane the virgin. I have a serious question. Was schooling through your instagram feed and i noticed you posted a picture of taylor mars. Who is area favorite sailor excuse . Earlier when i asked my boyfriend right here who this favorite was, he said sailor earth and i had to quickly slap him and say theres no no way. Theres no exactly. No sailor earth but if you coulw be any sailor scout or who is your favorite sailor scout in general . Okay. Well, so, now i guess the cat is out of the big. Im binging sailor map sailor moon right now. I loved the show when i was a kid and sometime it get annoyed when she turns into sailor moon because it takes 30 seconds. Its worth it. Im going through every episode. The relationship that sailor moon has with tuxedo mask. H tuxo relationship woes. Hash tag. So, i think i would be ii mean, the thing is i posted mars but then i was watching and she is so angry. I think i have to be a mixed i think my i think im sailor moon. I got to say just looking at her personality traits, i think im sailor moon. Im actually sailor mon so that not going work out for us. You can be sailor mercury in thy background no, no, no. Sailor moon. We can both be sailor moon. We cant but thank you. I dont have any questions putz just like to make two statements. Once a week i tutor others part of the public schools, hispanic students, young, seven or eight years ol who are behind onispai reading, and right now im working with jesus and he has come along will. The thing that impresses me most is the strength of the family unit. Anar not a lot there. Theyre poor no doubt, very Little English is spoken at home, yet once a week i get a book out of the library ask and give it to him to work on at home and he works with his mother and she doesnt speak a word of english. Hes doing much bet but the caring of the father and the father and strength of family is impressive and i hes going to be okay. The second thing is, you wouldnt say anything but i will. Im a republican. Im embarrassed every dave by my partys nominee. Im mortified. I hear you. Honestly, im willing i think its important to acknowledge that not all republican agree with donald trump and his policies and what he wants to do, and i know that. If you look at years long, long time ago, there were definitely some, like, cool republicans. Abraham lincoln was a republican. He was cool. But i understand you, and i actually thats important and thank you for being here and listening to me. Know im sure we disagree onuc some things but im sure we can have a conversation. See, i think like, in general, i think americans want Immigration Reform and want to see a functioning immigration system. Think thats the most importanta thing, a functioning immigration system which right now we dont have. Thank you, sir. Hi. I have a question but i guess ill just start with i wanted to say thank you for bringing up the fact in your book that when you are undocumented, youre still paying taxes and a lot of stuff isnt necessarily put out there about the fact that youre undocumented but youre working and youre still paying into the Social Security system ande youre never going to get anything back, and if the immigrants are putting that money in there, for it to be gone, all deported, just want to have billions out of it that wouldnt necessarily be there, and i think its really important knowing that my parents are in that similar situation. Dont say your last name. Just kidding. But so i guess, like, i wanted to say thank you regarding that because i feel like even with our stories, so similar with eventually my parents having to leave as well, but im sorry. So i know how hard it is for you to get up here. I know how hard it is for you, too, and thank you for being here. Are you okay . My question is, if you have any insight as to why obama is the main person that has deported so many people out of all the president s. Its kind of like an oxymoron and i dont get it. I hear you. I hear you. And why you would be upset about that. Are you okay . Can i hug you . Thats weird, right . No. Ill sit down, too. Thats weird. I feel you, girl. And sometimes i get i wonder why and i get asked that question a lot, and i think that the only way to think about it is that our president and any president , even though they do have power, its all a team, right . Congress has to be on the same side, the house has to be on the same side, the senate has to be on the same side it sucks. I downtown right second has deported a lot of our families, and but it is not just him. Right . I think that he did try to pass a bill years ago that wasnt that was stopped by the house, and that was really bad for all of us, and for ultimately the administration having to make those really tough decisions. To make participation is s important. And we can turn that into action. I dont have all the answers. I am sure president obama didnt have the answers either. It is a difficult thing and that is why it is so important that Immigration Reform, whoever we elect we express how important that is, and definitely those going through this situation. Kids who are undocumented folks and communities, also american citizens and people who are not so close to the issue. I know what you are feeling, i get it. That is why you have to be involved more than ever. Your parents are immigrants. They repatriated voluntarily when i was in college. Without me knowing it i want to ask about some of the milestones in your journey to reconcile your relationship conceptually with your parents, the responsibility there and youre being bicultural. Of the opportunity they have, and how your Creative Work influenced the way the reconciled who you are in light of your parents and all that stuff. It is a battle every day. I look at myself and the title of my book is my family divided. In a lot of ways it is me divided, my life divided. It has been a lot of struggle to figure out who i am and who i want to be, am i a latino woman, an american, where do i belong . By accepting my story, accepting what happened, not in the way of i am totally cool with it, accepting knowing that it happened, taking it in, taking some action, some of the work i am doing now. I have to remember i will always have my culture and what my what i learned from my parents, the colombian culture my parents instilled in me and the American Culture i got by living here. I am an american all the time and a latina all the time. There is no separation. We need to tell ourselves there is no separation, you just you hear that all the time and that is part of this culture. Part of america, what america is, you are no less than anyone is. By accepting your self you will be able to help others and build this country to its fullest potential or make it the best it can be. I guess we would say that. Any parent spoke to me as an immigrants daughter, have you found any other work that spoke to the inform the way your role as a daughter, your experience that you connected with a lot and and experience works, books, movies you related to. I love the work Rosario Dawson is doing, i look up to her. She is a 0, part of this movement with me and her work over the years in Civic Engagement and participation has been wonderful and she has been so outspoken and very bold. I have seen a lot of her work and been inspired. There are so many. I get articles from students who are studying to be immigration lawyers, people who are working to make a difference and i am so inspired by them. I would say that. Thank you so much. We heard a lot of stories tonight. Why mainstream television, what should the next big story be the covers these topics we talk about . The next shows being produced should always it always cover social issues and some of the things we are going through. The work we are doing should be reflecting our current society. The next show should be maybe my story. Who knows . I want to create something i could inform the public about what is going on, say what i want to say and involve what i care about and everything we create should have in essence the core, i want to Say Something, change something, every show should do that whether it is comedy or drama, that is what art is. Thank you. Thank you so much for a very stimulating, informative conversation, thank you to the audience for your participation. The bookshop is here this evening and diane will be signing copies of her book at the desk back here. Thank you again. [applause] [inaudible conversations] here is a look at some books being published this week. President ial biographer Jean Edward Smith recalls the tenure of americas 43rd president in bush. In bobby kennedy, journalist larry tie looks at the life and career of former senator and attorney general. In kick, biographer paula burns remembers the life of kathleen kennedy, john f. Kennedys younger sister. Northwestern University History professor caitlin fitz describes the relationship between the United States and latin america in the 18th and 19th centuries in our sister republics. Tampa bay times reporter Craig Pittman looks at how florida influences the rest of the United States in oh florida. Look for these titles in bookstores in the coming weekend watch for authors in the near future on booktv. Now on booktv we want to introduce you to bill thomas, publisher of doubleday books. What kind of book does doubleday publish . Approximately 50 books a year, half are nonfiction and half are fiction. We publish a lot of literary novels. On the nonfiction side we publish a lot of history, narrative nonfiction, politics and science. Host how long has it been in business . Guest 1897. Host founded by . Guest someone named mister doubleday. Host we are previewing the books. What do we have . Guest three are of note to your viewers. In august we are publishing Jeffrey Toobins book about patty hearst, her kidnapping, what she did while she was in the Liberation Army and her dramatic trial. Jeff toobin is a new yorker staff writer and cnn Legal Correspondent and author of several bestsellers. Also the book on the o. J. Simpson case which was made into a television series. What is so fantastic about this book from my perspective, we are living through this tumultuous time but in the early 1970s it felt the country was having a nervous breakdown. There were 1500 terrorist bombings every year during this period. Nixon was being impeached, economic malaise. In the midst of this sensational crime happened, the heiress to a Great Fortune was kidnapped, declared she was now to be known as tonya in the cn Liberation Army. There were amazing twists and turns. The Largest Police shootout in American History took place in los angeles where everyone except Patricia Hearst and two comrades were killed. Something that happened the first time on Live National television because the minicamp had just been invented and then we get to the trial within credit twists and turns, symbolic story of a nation falling apart but also the cost of political radicalism. He is a fabulous writer. In september, candace wrote two bestsellers, destiny of the republic about the assassination of one of the most gifted men ever elected to the presidency, james garfield, river of doubt, how the auto roosevelt discovered a river in the amazon and almost died. She is good at narratives about famous individuals and periods in their life and she is telling a story i knew had happened, a young man always believed he was destined to be Prime Minister of england and had complete faith in his own greatness, had to do something incredible, put himself in danger in india in the army in sudan as a war correspondent, went to south africa, against the british army, he was corresponded, went on an armored train which is a stupid way on the hillside. And the son of the aristocracy they made great propaganda out of this, he escaped by himself and made his way into enemy territory. Eventually made his way through many adventures to get to neutral territory, realists in the british army, comes back, fights many battles and freeze the prisoner of war camp and goes on, one of the most gifted narrative historians writing today. The third book coming out in october by a two time finalist for the pulitzer prize, Franklin Roosevelt and benjamin franklin, has written a book about a signal moment in American History during the korean war. A faceoff between president truman and the popular doug Taylor Douglas macarthur during the period when mccarthyism was coming to the 4. The chinese had overrun korea and macarthur wanted to use Nuclear Weapons to stem the flow and truman disagreed and they had a titanic power struggle. This is just as dangerous as the cuban missile crisis but not as well known but cement the idea that civilians have control of the military. As unpopular as truman was, macarthur pushed back, behind the scenes in congress, republican dominated at the time. Great narrative historians does all the research, grounded in Textual Research and brought to life by a tremendous writer. Host you will see all three authors on booktv this fall. Bill thomas is editor and publisher of doubleday. You are watching booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers was on prime time tonight we kick off the evening at 6 45 eastern with the author of valiant ambition, george washington, Benedict Arnold and the fate of the american revolution. At 8 00 take a tour of the largest africanamerican hisry and literature collection in the midwest. At 8 45, former astronaut buzz aldrin discusses his latest book, no dream is too high. And at 10 00 on afterwards, rise of the rocket girls, the women who propelled us from missiles to the moon to mars. We finish a prime time programming at 11 00 with an interview from this years book expo america with activist and educator bill ayres, author of demand the impossible. It all happens tonight on cspan2s tv
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