Michael H. Feldman '67 Social Justice Day

List of 17 items.

• How Climate Change Can Drive Immigration

  When climate change displaces a community, or even threatens the survival of an entire nation, what are the people supposed to do? In this workshop, we will explore what defines climate migration, as well as how and why climate migrants differ from refugees. We will then analyze global case studies and collaboratively brainstorm potential solutions to this issue.
  
  (Afternoon workshop only)
  
  Presenters – Beibei ’28, Justin ’28, Gavin ’26, Anna ’27, Daisy ’26, Akash ’28 | Sustainability Committee

• Supporting Immigrant Learners at Project Literacy

  Learn how Project Literacy at Watertown Library supports immigrant and multilingual community members through English classes, citizenship preparation, tutoring, and family programs. This session will also introduce key resources that support immigrant families, including Family Preparedness Planning, Watertown’s Rapid Response Network, LUCE, MIRA, and the ACLU, and highlight ways students can help strengthen their communities.
  
  (Morning workshop only)
  
  Presenters – Janet Saied & Erin Ward | Project Literacy of Watertown Library

• Build Something That Builds YOU

  Africano is rooted in Juliet’s lived experience as an immigrant parent building community from the ground up. Through storytelling that weaves together humor, honesty, and moments of unexpected possibility, Juliet shares a powerful message with young people about self-leadership, resilience, cultural identity, and discovering purpose through passion and discipline. The experience continues with Dorothy, who will guide participants in an interactive drumming session that invites exploration, creativity, flexibility, and joy. Participants are encouraged to fully engage, feel free to dance, sing, and move with the rhythm as we build connection and community together.
  
  Presenters – Juliet Najjumba & Dorothy K. Mugabi | Africano Waltham

• Caminante — Immigration, Identity, and the Paths We Walk

  Immigration is often debated as a distant political issue, but at its core, it is a lived human experience. Inspired by the idea of Caminante, that we make the path by walking, this interactive workshop invites you to explore how identity, geography, and power shape who gets access to opportunity and belonging. Through storytelling, reflection, and open dialogue, we will look at visible and invisible identities, question what "merit" really means, and examine how privilege and inequity show up in our own lives and schools. We aren't here to find easy answers. Instead, this session will challenge you to shift your perspective, reflect on your own path, and consider how you can act with empathy and responsibility to build a more just community. (Note: Here is the Teaching While White podcast with Jenna Chandler-Ward, where I discuss my story and engage in a conversation about neutrality and bias.)
  
  Presenter – William Yepes M.Ed. Ed. Admin. Ph.D. Candidate | World Language Chair & Spanish teacher, Shady Hill School

• Coalitions & Campaign Strategy in Action

  This workshop explores this year’s immigration advocacy work, the coalition behind it, and the campaign currently underway. In light of potential shifts due to federal action, we will also focus on strategies for community response, including civil disobedience, mutual aid, and nonviolent protest. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the moment and practical tools for collective action.
  
  Presenter – Dan Hoffer | Political and Legislative Director, SEIU Local 509

• Growing Together at Waltham

  Family School Step inside the world of the Waltham Family School, where immigrant families turn challenges into strength and learning becomes a shared adventure. Since 2003, this unique program has helped over 600 immigrant families, teaching parents English, preparing kids for Kindergarten, and building leaders in the community. In this workshop, discover how families learn together, share their knowledge, and create a brighter future through education and resilience.
  
  Presenter – Jackie Herrera | Program Director, Waltham Family School

• Imagining Borders: Visual and Historical Perspectives

  In this Social Justice Day workshop, we will look at a variety of images to construct a definition of “borders” that expands beyond geography and territoriality. Then, we will delve into the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act and consider how our constructed definition of “borders” relates to US immigration history at the turn of the 20th century.
  
  Presenter – Aidan Wang | History and English Departments, CSW

• Language, Literacy, and Opportunity

  This session focuses on practical strategies for supporting immigrant and multilingual learners. Students will learn tutoring and teaching approaches used in Project Literacy programs and leave with concrete tools for building welcoming learning environments and supporting language development.
  
  (Afternoon workshop only)
  
  Presenters – Janet Saied & Erin Ward | Project Literacy of Watertown Library

• Master Class with Keynote Speaker

  This workshop aims to translate the experiences shared during the keynote talk into a more personal and locally grounded reflection on individuals’ roots, actions, and roles within the current socio-political realities shaping the U.S. and its communities. An instant camera, provided by the artist, will be available for participants to create spontaneous portraits that become part of their reflection process. These reflections will then be expressed through an artistic intervention on a U.S. flag, transforming it into a personal and collective canvas about the “Land of the Free,” the place where participants currently live and of which they are active actors. What are their feelings on how this country is treating some of its own inhabitants? What are their thoughts on the ways the reduction of rights and freedom for some is impacting us all? Critics, suggestions, memories can come in the form of poems, paintings, short tales or other personal expressive approaches. The U.S. flag, a sensitive and important symbol, is chosen as an element that represents both the foundational philosophy of a place built by migrants and that is also used to represent the collectivity, for good and bad, over different individuals or groups inside the society. By having the possibility of individually expressing themselves, participants can exteriorize personal ideas and feelings that are many times left behind by more dominant discourses. It is also an exercise on respectful expressions and on free but responsible speech.
  
  Presenter – Oscar B. Castillo | Documentary Photographer & Keynote Speaker

• Memoir Remix

  You have a story worth telling. In this workshop, I’ll help you dig into the messy, meaningful material of your own life and figure out how to make it sing on the page. We’ll brainstorm juicy topics, read excerpts from published memoirs, and experiment with unexpected forms — think collage essays, letters to your younger self, speculative creative nonfiction, text messages, and more. You’ll leave with a handful of ready-to-use jumpstarts and key craft moves to make your writing — remixed or not — impossible to put down.
  
  Presenter – Jennifer De Leon | Author & Associate Professor of Creative Writing

• Navigating the Journey from First-Gen to Advocate

  This workshop offers a chance to learn from Viviana Cordero Garcia, a first-generation college graduate with extensive experience supporting students and alumni through Esperanza Academy’s Graduate Success Program in Lawrence. Drawing on both her lived experience and professional expertise, Viviana will discuss the challenges and strengths of immigrant, first-, and second-generation students as they , while sharing practical strategies and resources to help them succeed. Participants will leave with insights on creating supportive environments, navigating institutional barriers, and empowering students to reach their academic and career goals.
  
  Presenter – Viviana Cordero Garcia | Chief Alumni Success Officer, Esperanza Academy

• Rebellion and Riot: Zoot Suit, Pachuco, and Greaser Youth Culture (an Overview)

  This workshop will explore the emergence of 'transgressive' youth subcultures of Zoot Suiters, Pachucos, and Greasers - primarily first generation citizens - during the mid-20th century. Part of the focus will center fashion's intersections with social politics, protest, music, and dance. Additionally, we'll examine the stereotyping of criminality and its modern legacy via depictions of these historic subcultures.
  
  Presenters – Dolores Minakakis & Ryan Jacobs | English & History Departments, CSW

• Somos Latinos: By the Community, For the Community

  Post World War II, the city of Lawrence was confronted with the impact of deindustrialization as its economic staple, the textile industry, left the city. After several decades of slower immigration, in the 1950s Latinos began to arrive and the economic and cultural reinvigoration in Lawrence began. Learn how the residents of Lawrence created an exhibit to show how people from such places as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic came to the city to find work, education, and better lives for their families as well as showcase the beauty and vitality of Latino heritage, using historical archival material.
  
  Presenters – Sara Morin & Amita Kiley | Lawrence Heritage Center

• The 1912 Bread & Roses Strike: A Lens into Immigrant Lives

  The 1912 Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, one of the most important labor struggles in U.S. history, offers a powerful lens into both the city’s and the nation’s immigration story. Drawn by the world’s largest woolen mills, immigrants from dozens of countries settled in Lawrence; by 1900, nearly 40 nationalities lived in a city of about 75,000 people, bringing diverse languages, foods, cultures, and religions. Although mill owners often exploited these differences, in 1912 workers united across cultures to demand fair wages and safer conditions from some of the wealthiest industrialists in the country. They organized soup kitchens and childcare, translated meetings into many languages so all could participate, and women built neighborhood alliances that helped sustain the strike.
  
  Presenter – Robert Forrant | History Professor

• The Basics of U.S. Visas

  This workshop will provide an overview of U.S. visas, highlighting the different types and their eligibility requirements. Participants will also explore the opportunities and challenges associated with each, gaining practical insights into the U.S. immigration process.
  
  Presenter – Dayna Lally | Immigration Lawyer, Boston 

• The Constitutional and Legal Evolution of Immigration in the US

  In the US, immigration is often seen as the starting point to citizenship. Because of this, the history and evolution of immigration into the United States can not be seen separately from the U.S. Constitution, where the fundamental rights and protections of citizens are enshrined. Therefore, it is imperative that we begin with a brief look at the timeline of immigration to America and the constitutional decisions established to regulate the process. We will examine several landmark constitutional cases brought before the Supreme Court where immigrants have argued for the right to citizenship: Dred Scott, United States v. Wong Kim Ark and U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind to explore how the US courts have interpreted just who can become a citizen, and when and how they can do so. We will then turn our attention to the nature of citizenship and its relationship to immigration, question whether the two are synonymous, and look at various forms of immigration to the U.S., both documented and undocumented. Finally, we will also consider the Fourteenth Amendment and birthright citizenship, particularly in view of the recent challenge by the current administration to this 150-year-old provision guaranteeing citizenship to anyone born in the United States. Please join us for a dive into the concepts and text of the US’s legal code on citizenship and practices in fostering and impeding immigration."
  
  Presenters – Anjali Bhatia & Rachel Hirsch | History Department, CSW

• The Detention Center Nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”

  In this workshop, we will explore some of the history of the Florida Detention Facility which has been nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.” We will look at how issues of environmentalism, racism, and ancestral land preservation intersect with present day arguments about civil rights and civil liberties to understand the multiple issues that surround this facility today.
  
  Presenter – Jane Reynolds | Chair of P.A.C.E. Department & English Teacher, CSW