Events
The Austin Human Rights Commission's Strategic Plan includes the organizing of community events. Throughout the year, look for community presentations, trainings, and a film series (three films to be shown in 2009-2010). Events will be focused on a variety of themes/topics including immigration, GLBT equaity, and human rights highlighted from around the globe.
Upcoming Event
“Immigration 101”
Thursday March 18th 7:00—8:30 pm
Riverland Community College, Austin Campus
West Building ** Room A237
“Immigration 101” is a fun, interactive workshop that provides participants
with an overview of United States immigration law. The audience will be introduced to basic concepts of immigration law, including
refugee and asylum processes, family-based immigration, employmentbased
immigration, and deportation. The presentation will also examine
the impact of U.S. immigration law on the human rights of immigrants
and present accurate information about some of the hot button
issues surrounding immigration. Participants will have a chance to explore
their own opinions on immigration and on the best way to create a
fair and humane immigration system. Join The Advocates for Human
Rights and the Austin Human Rights Commission for an informative
evening discussing this hot topic in the news and in our community.
Past Events
Martin Luther King Jr.
An evening of music, storytelling, and drama.
Martin Luther King Jr. Event Flyer
Human Rights Day, December 10, 2009
Which Way Home Film and Discussion
The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call “ The Beast ”. Director Rebecca Cammisa (Sister Helen) tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the ones you never hear about – the invisible ones.
The Deportee's Wife
In this solo show, Giselle Stern Hernández’s marriage is laid out on the front lines of the North American immigration debate. Giselle’s husband Roberto was deported from Chicago, Illinois back to Mexico in April of 2001. Giselle moved to Mexico to live with him in August of that same year. While she was born and raised in the States, and they were legally married, it didn't make any difference at all. Her husband was deported, with the order to stay out of the U.S. for twenty years. And in 2007, the day came that he also wasn't allowed to enter Canada. In THE DEPORTEE’S WIFE, Giselle takes the audience through her journey to face hard truths about how race, class, white U.S. privilege and gender intersect within the structures of a badly broken immigration system. Through her words and images, Giselle reveals a complicated love story.
To learn more about the film and the filmmaker visit The Deportee's Wife website