Support the DREAMERS: Books on Migration

I remember the first time I met someone undocumented.  We were on the subway platform in Jamaica, Queens.  I was going home from my first job fresh out of college and she asked me if I spoke Spanish.  I answered her question and that led us into a deeper conversation.  She asked me, "¿tienes tus papeles?"  " Do you have your papers?" she asked.  I had never heard that term before.  I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY to Cuban immigrant parents who were never undocumented.

She explained after seeing my confusion.  She told me of the times INS stopped at her job and once she hid in a garbage can.  I still picture her in that can while an INS agent was searching for "aliens."  She was never found, she was able to tell me her story.  I wonder where she is now.

I really can't grasp that 800,000 people's lives will change because of Trump's DACA decision.  Are you in the same place?  Are you wondering how to talk about this with your kids?  I looked online for children's books on stories of undocumented immigration and I read this great blog post on Pragmatic Mom: Undocumented Immigrants in Children's Books.  Written in 2013 these books are relevant for our time and great for reading time and discussions on what's happening in our world. 

I decided to put a few books in the La Tiendita section of our website for those looking for books in Spanish as well as bilingual.

For the month of September, Booklandia is donating 10% of our profits to the Latinx Project's fundraiser: Latinx for Tejas.  Make a purchase of one of our subscription boxes or single books in La Tiendita.

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There are other ways you can defend DACA and the DREAMERS:

What you can do TODAY:

1. Release a Statement. Declare that rolling back DACA is immoral and will harm our communities and nation. 

2. Call on Congress. Drive calls to Congressional offices to do their job and pass a CLEAN Dream Act with no enforcement measures or trades for other things that would harm our communities. Tell Congress to pass the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017 immediately to protect immigrant youth and do not jeopardize other immigrants. Please do so by calling the following number: 888-542-8298 

3. Take to the streets! Join events, vigils, and other activities to support Dreamers. It is so important that our broad community stand united and show that this decision impacts all of us, and we will not stand for it. Go to www.DefendDACA.com to list an event you are organizing or find an event near you 
4. Go to "We Are Here to Stay"to participate in a 48-hour response plan with coordinated messaging in English and Spanish, sample tweets, hashtags, slogans and more. 

5. Call on your state and local officials to issue statements of support and resolutions to protect immigrant youth.  Here's a link to find out your elected officials contact information.

We are STRONGER TOGETHER!

un abrazo,

Maceo