Responding to the Media's Impact on Immigrant Rights
Presenters
- Renata Borges Teodoro
Immigrants rights activist
Renata Teodoro immigrated to the United States at the age of six from Brazil. In 2006, she received the Abigail Adams Scholarship, a prestigious academic merit scholarship, but could not use it because of her immigration status. Renata became an active member of the Student Immigrant Movement leadership team in 2008 after getting involved in the in-state tuition campaign. Renata quickly took responsibility for organizing fundraising events, implementing new strategies to focus on the strengths of members. She joined the SIM staff in 2009 to focus on resource development and fundraising. In 2010, Renata became part of national movement for the Dream Act through the United We Dream Network. She was part of the leadership that planned and implemented national strategy. Renata continues her education at UMass Boston, working on a joint degree in psychology and human services.
- Kyle de Beausset
Migrant advocate
Kyle de Beausset was born and raised in Guatemala of U.S. citizen parents. He spent his early life on a shrimp farm and was educated in Guatemala City at an international school.
After Kyle was accepted into Harvard, he took time off to retrace the route of a Guatemalan migrant into the United States and almost lost his life to smugglers. The journey changed his life, and Kyle was reborn as a migrant advocate, a journalist and an organizer.
Kyle identifies as a migrant youth, and currently works to pass legislation in the United States that would benefit migrant youth, particularly the DREAM Act and in-state tuition in Massachusetts.
- Carlos Garcia
Community organizer
Carlos Garcia is a community organizer in Phoenix. For the past four years, he has worked to end human rights abuses and to educate the public about abuses by the sheriff’s office and those resulting from the 287(g) agreements and Arizona’s series of anti-migrant laws. Working with the PUENTE movement and the National Day Labor Organizing Network, he is using the example of Maricopa County to inform the country of the atrocities against migrants and to fight for migrant justice.
- Roberto Lovato
New America Media
Roberto Lovato is a writer and commentator for New America Media and a co-founder of Presente.org, the country's pre-eminent online Latino advocacy organization. Roberto designed and led the Basta Dobbs campaign, the successful effort to remove Lou Dobbs from CNN. He was also the chief business strategist for New America Media and was formerly executive director of CARECEN, which was the largest immigrant rights organization in the country. He led CARECEN’s 90-plus staff during the fight against California's Proposition 187, the start of the contemporary immigrant rights movement. Roberto has also worked on human rights issues in wartime El Salvador. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation and the Huffington Post. You can find him posting regularly on media, migration, politics and other issues at his blog, www.ofamerica.wordpress.com.
- Gloribell Mota
Community organizer
Gloribell Mota was born in the United States and comes from a family of immigrants. Her mother is from El Salvador and her father is from the Dominican Republic. Both her parents were the first in their families to immigrate to the United States. Throughout her career, Gloribell has been committed to social and economic justice. She served as executive director of the Mary Ellen McCormack Task Force in South Boston, where she provided direct services and advocated for residents of public housing. She has also served as the education coordinator for the State Tax Fairness Program at United for a Fair Economy, where she advocated for reversing cuts to essential services and worked to close corporate loopholes. In 2005, she was the organizing director for Boston's At-Large City Councilor, Felix Arroyo. In 2007, she ran a grassroots campaign for state representative in East Boston, recruiting more than 100 diverse volunteers. In 2008, she was the education and training director at the MA Democratic Party. Currently, she is the lead organizer for Neighbors United for a Better East Boston, an organization that is explicitly of and for low-income people, immigrants, people of color and allies that use issue and electoral organizing to build political power. Gloribell graduated from Bunker Hill Community College with an associate's degree in communication and a bachelor's degree in media arts from Emerson College.
- Mónica Novoa
Drop the I-Word
Mónica Novoa is coordinator of the Drop the I-Word public education campaign, a project of the Applied Research Center and ColorLines.com. The campaign is a platform for people nationwide to drop the dehumanizing, racist slur “illegals," and to ask that the media do the same. Ms. Novoa is a seasoned communications strategist and organizer and has implemented integrated marketing and public education campaigns across issues, including immigration, preventive health, technology and early literacy with the Matea Group in Washington, D.C., and Cause Communications and Ruder Finn Global in Los Angeles. She is passionate about using effective communications to advance worthy causes and to help communities transform and thrive. Ms. Novoa is on the board of Homies Unidos, an organization dedicated to gang prevention and intervention with families and youth in Los Angeles. She has a degree in English Literature from California State University at Northridge, where she also helped establish the nation’s first Central American Studies Program and research institute.
- When
- Friday, April 8, 11:00am - 12:30pm
- Where
- Harborview Ballroom 1
map (pdf) - Track
- Social Justice and Movement Building
This session will contrast the media’s impact on immigrants and immigration policy with the use of media and new media tools to advocate for immigrant rights. Presenters will share how they engage in the fight for immigrant rights, as well as the media’s impact on their efforts. We will explore how advocates hold media outlets, journalists, reporters and other public figures accountable as they fight racist stereotypes and harmful portrayals of immigrants in the media.
