On March 2, 2021, join Guilford for an event to kick off the Greensboro International Storytelling Festival: Stories for Peace and Justice, an initiative presented by Guilford's Peace and Conflict Studies Department. Since 2019, this festival has been supported by the James Fleming Lecture Series, the Guilford College Center for Principled Problem Solving and Excellence in Teaching, FaithAction International Greensboro, and Elon University. The goal of the festival is to build cultures of peace through storytelling to enhance global citizenship and social justice in local communities. 

Dr. William D. Lopez, the festival speaker, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the author of the book, Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid. The child of a Mexican immigrant mother, William’s community-based research uses mixed methods to investigate the impacts of immigration raids while centering the voices of community members who survive and thrive under targeted government surveillance and removal efforts. William teaches about the impacts of immigration enforcement and police violence on individuals, families, and communities. He has collaborated extensively with community organizations to make his country a safer, more just place for those of all immigration statuses.

In his talk, “Family and Community in an Era of Heightened Immigration Enforcement,” William will discuss how immigration enforcement strongly affects the health of mixed-status immigrant communities. It's not only deportation that is harmful, he says, but also the arrests, surveillance, and detention that precede it. William will also discuss how his work and research resulted in his book. By considering the lives of three undocumented mothers whose family providers were removed after a home raid, his presentation explores how immigration enforcement harms mental and physical health, separates families, and causes a fear of deportation that prevents community members from using the social services in their communities that they need to stay happy, healthy, and whole.

Partners:

• Guilford College Peace and Conflict Studies
• Guilford College Conflict Resolution Resource Center
• Guilford College Center for Principled Problem Solving and Excellence in Teaching
• Guilford College International Studies
• FaithAction International Greensboro
• Elon University:
  • Department of World Languages and Cultures, Latin American Studies Interdisciplinary Minor Program, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, El Centro
  • Juan Leal Ugalde, Elon University Assistant Professor of Spanish Department of World Languages and Cultures
  • Pablo Celis-Castillo, Elon University Assistant Professor of Spanish Coordinator, Latin American Studies Program Department of World Languages and Cultures