In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), the Fairness First Campaign hosted a bilingual event in partnership with the NAU Honors College and community organizers from the Northern Arizona Interfaith Council (NAIC).
Using a community organizing approach known as a house meeting,* NAIC’s Roxana Cardiel led a discussion with Dr. Leah Mundell of NAU’s Anthropology Department and community leaders Elsi Elena and María de Jesús Guillén on immigrant experiences in the Flagstaff community.
Through story sharing, Roxana, Leah, Elsi, and María addressed community needs that relate to health and educational equity. The speakers also discussed Arizona’s proposition 314 and the impacts this legislation can have for immigrant individuals, families and communities, including racial profiling and deterring people from accessing services that they are qualified to use. With the passing of proposition 314 during the November 5th election, it is becoming increasingly important to call attention to stories about immigrant experiences and how this type of legislation affects people in Arizona.
To illustrate the importance of bilingual meetings, the speakers shared their stories in Spanish – the native language of several of the speakers. Bilingual meetings ensure that everyone has the opportunity to have their voice heard and allow people to share their thoughts and experiences in the language they are most comfortable speaking. Barb Eickmeyer of English Spanish Translation Services, LLC provided English interpretation for the conversation.
Attendees (including NAU students, staff, and faculty) and speakers were moved by the stories shared during the meeting and felt it was important to discuss and learn about immigrant experiences with health and educational equity and the opportunities for overlapping community organizing and research.
You can read more about this partnership in October’s bilingual Fairness First blog post.
*Drawing on personal networks, house meetings engage community members in a public narrative that supports relationship building and encourages participants to take action on an issue or community need.
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Later this month we’ll be featuring Samantha Sabo in a post on the importance of health equity research to create meaningful change. Sam will discuss how research contributes to health equity, advocacy in health equity and public health, and ways to get involved in health equity efforts that are important to you.
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