We had an amazing night of storytelling in Boston this past Friday. Entitled “Immigrant Stories of Work and Labor,” the free event drew over fifty people to The Urbano Project‘s gorgeous space in Jamaica Plain. The group started off the evening as strangers and, through shared stories in simultaneous Spanish and English, came together around the power of storytelling.
I’m so grateful for the wonderful community that spoke at our Bilingual “Storyslam”–and for those who came out to listen. My main takeaway: Building relationships and celebrating culture are essential to fostering our very humanity.
Our intention was to center around the experience of immigrants as contributors to the cultural, social, and economic fabric of the United States.
I invite you all to watch and witness their bravery and beauty of our eloquent speakers in the video below.
Go to minute 8.45 to see Dalia Llera share the story of her transition from Cuba to Miami, from the sound of crickets and frogs singing her to sleep to the sounds of air conditioners, fans, and sprinklers.
Dania Flores joins us (in Spanish) at 0.41.10 to share her journey as a photographer escaping political violence in Guatemala to the US.
Dania Flores, Bilingual StorySlam, Immigrant Stories of Work and Labor
Finally, at 1.07.00 Cristina Silva takes us through the slew of jobs that got her finally, to a place when finally, “things were better.”
Cristina Silva, Bilingual StorySlam, Immigrant Stories of Work and Labor
Thank you to MY JOB author Suzanne Skees for rekindling our connections through our book and community-building project. By highlighting the lives of fifteen book-narrators from around the world, sharing their struggles and success in their own words, we strengthen and deepen the invisible connections between us all.
If you have the chance to, wander over to The Urbano Project in Boston, they are currently showing hosting Librerîa Donceles – a Spanish-language used bookstore project by Pablo Helguera through the end of the month.
Video and photo credit, The Urbano Project.