How does Obama's June 15th announcement impact a dreamer? I was brought to the U.S. from Brazil by my parents at the age of nine. Hoping to grant my two younger siblings and I a better life, my parents sought to obtain legal status here. Unfortunately, they were notified by several attorneys that [...]Read More
A Display of Unity
Today, the Obama Administration took an important step to minimize the negative impact of our current immigration system by providing relief to Dream Students. Those who qualify will have an opportunity to stay in our nation to study and work without fear of deportation. Evangelical Principles [...]Read More
Problems in Education
Reflections on a Broken System Education is one of the most discussed topics in the U.S. today. There is a growing awareness within the general public concerning the problematic nature of our country's public education system. Due to the failing nature of many public schools, a number of families, [...]Read More
Why I’m Wearing a Hoodie
Standing in Solidarity with friends of Trayvon Martin I was recently invited to the White House for a ceremony to commemorate the life and work of Mexican-American farmworker and civil rights leader, Cesar Chavez. In 1965, Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union began a boycott of table grapes to [...]Read More
John M. Perkins, Justice, and Immigration
Personal Reflections on Injustice, Then and Now I spent most of last week in Jackson, Mississippi, on a retreat with some good friends from the Christian Community Development Association, hosted by the John M. Perkins Foundation. Dr. Perkins, who is now 81 years old, is one of my heroes. Born into [...]Read More
Taking the Long View vs. the Fierce Urgency of Now
Lessons from Arizona Arizona won a significant victory yesterday when Russell Pearce, author of SB1070, lost in a first-ever recall election. It was not without great effort. I’m reflecting today on the lessons of the work and how we traveled from the darkness of SB1070 to the hope we feel [...]Read More
Our Journey Together
CCDA’s days of learning and witness on immigration reform When Kit Danley of Neighborhood Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona, toured the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati with fellow CCDA board member Mary Nelson during the 2009 CCDA conference, she couldn't shake a feeling of [...]Read More
A Beautiful View
Coming home to Vista Hermosa When they were teenagers, Suzanne Broetje and Laura Peréz moved with their families to a valley along the Snake River in southeastern Washington State. Their first experiences of the place couldn’t have been more different. Suzanne’s parents, Cheryl and Ralph [...]Read More