Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 

A Policy Forum

 

Thursday, September 11, 2008

12:00pm - 2:00pm

 

Co-Sponsored with Demos and the Building Movement Project

 

Will expanded immigration truly improve the lives of fellow Americans? Does neo-liberalism inherently drive migration? On the anniversary of 9/11 join the World Policy Institute, Demos and the Building Movement Project as Accidental American authors, Rinku Sen, Fekkak Mamdouh, and David Bacon, author of Illegal People discuss insight on innovative immigration policy directions suggested by their new books.

 

The Accidental American calls for a bold new approach to immigration: a free international flow of labor to match globalization's free flow of capital. The book combines sophisticated social and political analysis by Rinku Sen with the gripping story of Fekkak Mamdouh, an immigrant and former employee of the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center, revealing the human cost of our inhumane immigration system. The Accidental American shows that what binds us together is far greater than what divides us, and that true immigration reform will only take place when we recognize our common interests, not by building bigger walls.

 

In Illegal People David Bacon explores the human side of globalization, exposing the many ways it uproots individuals in Latin America and Asia, driving them to migrate. Bacon asserts that U.S. immigration policy makes the labor of those displaced people a crime in the United States. Illegal People explains why our national policy produces even more displacement, more migration, more immigration raids, and a more divided, polarized society.

 

The entire panel will discuss key human rights concerns as well as address the intense need to liberalize our immigration policy while creating fair globalization.

 

Rinku Sen is president and executive director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and the publisher of ColorLines magazine. Sen started her organizing as a student activist in 1984, fighting race, gender and class discrimination on campuses. From 1988-2000, Sen was on the staff of Oakland-based Center for Third World Organizing, a national network of organizations of color. She was recognized by Ms. Magazine as one of 21 feminists to watch in the 21st century in 1996, the same year that she received the Ms. Foundation for Women's Gloria Steinem Women of Vision award. Sen is the author of Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy.

 

Fekkak Mamdouh was a headwaiter and union leader at the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center, until the 9/11 attacks transformed him into an organizer of immigrant restaurant workers and Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY). Mamdouh is cofounder of Restaurant Opportunities Center United, the country's first national restaurant worker organization and has joined with journalist and immigration expert Rinku Sen to tell the story of how he became an "Accidental American," at the same time exploring and analyzing current immigration policy in the U.S.

 

Award-winning photojournalist David Bacon spent thirty years as a labor organizer and immigrant rights activist. His articles appear in The Nation, American Prospect, Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Bacon hosts a weekly radio show on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California.

 

WHEN

Thursday, September 11, 2008

12 pm to 2 pm

 

WHERE:

Demos,

220 Fifth Ave 5th floor

(@26th st)

 

This event is free and open to the public but RSVP is strongly recommended to secure a seat. To RSVP, email events@worldpolicy.org or call the World Policy Institute events line at 212 481 5005, Option 2