Join us in conversation with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of “The Undocumented Americans.” At a time when the fabled American Dream is turning into a nightmare for so many, Ms. Cornejo Villavicencio's searing debut is an incandescent and fearless indictment against the dark systemic forces of racism and immigration injustice.
Part memoir, part journalism, part testimonio, “The Undocumented Americans” looks well beyond the flash points at the border or the activism of the Dreamers and allows the individuals profiled to be seen more fully and felt more compassionately as vibrant, complex, and dignified human beings. In her relentlessly probing voice, Ms. Cornejo Villavicencio combines sensitive reporting with her own experiences as an undocumented writer to show the love, magic, heartbreak, insanity, and vulgarity that infuse the day-to-day lives of housekeepers in Miami; Ground Zero cleanup workers in New York City; day laborers in Staten Island; families facing deportation in Ohio and Connecticut; and immigrants in Flint, Michigan who struggle to access lifesaving clean water.
The series “Reimagining Citizenship” features scholars, writers, and artists whose work interrogates the limits and possibilities of legal, social, and cultural belonging. Through book talks, roundtables, and presentations, we consider how multidisciplinary, multispecies approaches to the study of migration open up new understandings of citizenship, borders, and social transformation. Organized through Cornell University’s Migrations Global Grand Challenge. Student panelists for this discussion include Julia Jun, Don Izekor, and Stella Linardi
This event is co-sponsored by: Cornell Law School, Cornell Dean of Students Office, Dream Team, the Department of Romance Studies, and AltBreaks.
