In the final installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Inc. (HBA), tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “Speaking as myself, as a person who fought, as a person who knocked on doors and push so that President Biden and his administration can be in power, can be in place, because we had hope that saving the soul of America would include making sure that little girls and boys coming, knocking, asking for protection will be heard and will be given protection. So I am frustrated, I am pissed off and we demand accountability.” 

Listen in as Guerline shares her feelings on witnessing the treatment of Haitian migrants at the U.S./ Mexico border, the hurt and outrage that was felt when the images of Haitian migrants came to light, and how anti-blackness within the immigration system is a root cause that must be addressed. 

About, Guerline Jozef: https://bit.ly/3Itw3C9

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans

In the seventh installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Bilal Askaryar, Communications Coordinator, #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “Afghans are used to being forgotten, used to being the number one story in the news for a week, two weeks, a month, and then not ever being talked about again. And so one thing that we've learned is that when the moment hits, you seize it! We need to make sure that we're building the capacity among our leaders now so that when there is another moment, we are able to get into the right spaces and demand that we're at the table.” 

Listen in as Bilial talks about the mental preparation he had to undergo to speak at the National Immigrant Integration Conference about the humanitarian crisis caused by the U.S. military’s sudden withdrawal in August 2020, and the powerful message he was able to give to the audience. 

About, Bilal Askarya: https://bit.ly/3KLfrrA

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans

In the sixth installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Jonathan Jayes-Green (they/them), Vice President of Programs at Marguerite Casey Foundation, tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva,“I know that some folks might not be as happy with us, like the fact that we, as a movement over the years, with the language that we use, through the strategies that we pursued, through the narratives that we've told, have picked winners and losers — have picked the good and the bad immigrants. Have painted a story of undocumented young people as myself as more worthy of protection than my parents and other folks who might not be as young, who might not have the same clean and perfect narrative of who we are.” 

In this episode, Jonathan talks about their lived experience as an organizer at the intersections of immigration and racial justice, and the very real consequences that come from not centering the most marginalized communities in liberation work. 

*Recorded after the National Immigrant Integration Conference

About, Jonathan Jayes-Green: https://bit.ly/3IrLCu2

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans 

In the fifth installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021,  Jeff Chang, Senior Advisor at Race Forward, Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “It's been really important for a lot of folks, many who are at this conference, to be able to encourage folks to really understand how anti-Blackness works in the context of immigration reform. And so I think the idea of solidarity is something that needs to really be put into practice.” 

Jeff also talks about the process of working with the brilliant minds brought together for Race Forward’s Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy, and how he envisions narrative work leading to impactful long-term wins. 

About, Jeff Chang: https://bit.ly/3ArvCpg

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans

In the fourth installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva,“ I had to create a lexicon with our communities – that if you say the words enough people start to say it too. We can reset the conversation because we're going to create our own dictionary, we're going to create our own conversation and these are the conversations that we're going to have that centers the experience and the pain that Asian immigrants had to go through.”

Listen in as Jo-Ann talks about the outrage she’s feeling from last year’s anti-Asian attacks and how she’s turned that anger into activism, calling for immediate action, and building solidarity across the coalitions she works with.  

About, Jo-Ann Yoo: https://bit.ly/3AssAB8

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis 

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans

In the third installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Shiu-Ming Cheer (she/her), Deputy Director of Programs & Campaigns at the California Immigrant Policy Center tells Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “This is the first time at the conference that there has been an AAPI-specific plenary, and I think in large part it was in response to the rise in anti-Asian violence over the last two years during COVID. And so it's interesting that it does take these moments of extremity when issues are highlighted much more in the public sphere and violence against Asians has been on the news pretty regularly for this topic to even seep into the consciousness of more immigrant rights organizations”. 

In this episode, Shiu-Ming expands on her thoughts about how racial justice, white supremacy, and colonization all came together in a firestorm of events in 2021, and how the “extreme violence” has led to a collective awakening within the immigrant rights movement. 

About, Shiu-Ming Cheer: https://bit.ly/35emwR8

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis 

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans

In the second installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2021, Angelica Salas, Executive Director at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights tells  Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “What I notice is that immigration and immigrant rights become the one thing that can be sacrificed at the end of a long battle towards progressive justice. And I'm tired of it because I think that it's so important that we engage in a conversation, and an action, and that we have real results that allow our immigrant families to live whole in this country."

Listen in as Angelica passionately talks about her frustrations with the topic of immigration continuously placed at the “bottom of the totem pole” and how “build back better” will mean addressing systemic racism within the United States’ immigration laws. 

About, Angelica Salas: https://bit.ly/3tM6nwt

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans 

In this first installment of Reflections: A Race Forward Podcast, recorded at the National Immigrant Rights Conference 2021, Nicole Melaku, Executive Director, National Partnership For New Americans tells  Race Forward’s Hendel Leiva, “Seven years ago, there were a lot of folks who were still squeamish about talking about immigrant integration beyond typical terms of workforce or English. And so here we are seven years later, where we unapologetically address the need to bring about real reform for millions of people across the country.”

Nicole expands on this point as she talks about the exponential growth of the National Immigrant Integration Conference over the last ten years, and shares her thoughts on the importance of boldly “leaning in” to push policymakers to enact urgent reform for immigrant communities nationwide.

About, Nicole Melauku: https://bit.ly/3FTcFgj

Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva & Cheryl Cato Blakemore 

Associate Producer: Kendy Solis 

Produced in collaboration with the National Partnership For New Americans