We Must Awaken

By Faye S. Wolfe

Just down the hill from Smith at the Academy of Music on July 29, SSW co-sponsored Ofrendras: Solidarity With Migrant Families. Ofrendras is Spanish for offerings, and, fittingly, the event was a fundraiser for the Southern Poverty Law Center, raising more than $10,000 for programs assisting detained immigrant families.

In her welcoming remarks, event organizer Jaycelle Basford-Pequet, M.S.W. ’10, quoted peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh’s belief that “we have to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.”

SSW student Natali Rauseo- Ricupero moderated a panel discussion, which included Maria del Mar Farina, M.S.W. ’98, Ph.D. ’15, an SSW adjunct professor and assistant director of field education. Del Mar Farina, who has done extensive research on American immigration policy, put recent, wrenching media images of children in detention centers within a historical context. Her remarks focused on the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which expanded the range of crimes considered deportable offenses, introduced fast-track deportation procedures, and has led to millions of deportations since.

She also emphasized the human toll of separating immigrant children from their parents, citing tragic stories of immigrant children lost in the fostercare system after separation from their parents and evidence that, in general, separation has long-lasting emotional effects. Other presenters shared their own stories of coming to the country as immigrants or working with immigrant families.

The second half of Ofrendras featured a stirring performance of excerpts from Diana Alvarez’s Quiero Volver: A Xicanx Ritual Opera, which explores themes of motherlessness, political consciousness and building community. A line from Alvarez’s song “Orphan Heart/Orphan Will” struck just the right note for the occasion: “I will build this whole family.”

(right to left) Maria del Mar Farina, M.S.W. '98, Ph.D. '15, participated in a panel discussion on immigration policy with social worker Dalila Hyry-Dermith; Jorge Renaud, senior policy analyst at Prison Policy Initiative; and Andrea Schmid (not pictrued), an organizer with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center.

Elizabeth Korelitz/Solaka Photography