Nuestras Raices

The idea and life experience of “there and back” will be explored through family history and the perspective of a mother, daughter, and granddaughter, all with different experiences and relationships to the privilege that is U.S. citizenship. The privilege of having U.S. citizenship will be explored, including how the extraction of natural resources, capital, and labor from the global south has been one of the two major contributing factors to the financial success of the United States, alongside chattel slavery. We have all migrated, whether it was our ancestors who live inside of us who crossed borders or ourselves who reached places they could never access. We will conclude with a discussion on the current state of immigration here in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Featured Speaker: Alejandra Bonilla
Alejandra is Mexican-American born and raised in Ohlone land, San Jose, California. She received a BA in anthropology, international relations, and Latin American studies at Brandeis University and double minored in legal and women’s and gender studies. She hopes to attend law school in the near future. Ale has volunteered with The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII) were she interpreted for asylum meetings/interviews and supported with the application process, volunteered and organized with grassroots Movimiento Cosecha, supported the 2019 caravan at the San Ysidro border, and researched Haitian immigration into Chile working with local community members in Valparaiso.

For more information, please contact karina.moreno@metrostate.edu