UNA Human Rights Day 2021

 I was incredibly privileged to be able to play a facilitation role in this years Human Rights Day where we heard from a diverse list of speakers from our community. Firstly, we received an introduction from the mayor of Pasadena, Victor Gordo, who acknowledged the work of the Pasadena UN chapter and the various organizations that made the event possible. Then, Reyna Grande opened the event by providing an explanation of her personal experience as a migrant and a Pasadena local. Her firsthand perspective was very unique, and allowed the audience to better understand the impacts of the situation on an individual, especially as a member of our community. She articulated the difficulty adapting culturally to Pasadena and her struggles to maintain certain aspects of her identity. This was very interesting to hear as a Pasadena resident, because migration does not always seem like a particularly pressing issue in this area. Hearing about her experience was also useful to me personally as my final capstone project centers around local refugees and immigration, so her perspective is incredibly relevant. 

Then, we heard from Martin Zogg, the executive director of the International Rescue committee in Los Angeles. He is responsible for all Los Angeles operations and has touched thousands of refugee lives throughout his time in office. Similar to Reyna Grande, he emphasized an importance of community in the resettlement process, which is partially why he was so thankful for the aid of non-profit community organizations. Throughout his discussion of the complicated resettlement process, I became just how many steps were required to fully integrate a new person into our society. He strained the importance of maintaining individuality throughout the complex process, as it is easy to reduce an immigrant to a number on a sheet of operations. This stuck with me as each individual, like Reyna Grande, is incredibly complicated and deserves to be regarded as and treated as such. His organization does an exceptionally good job of providing immigrants with the necessary tools to not only survive but thrive in their new environment. 

All together, I appreciated the opportunity to hear both firsthand, and more removed perspectives on an issue as complicated as immigration. It was great to hear from members of my own community that could shed light on the reality in my own city as well. I loved hosting Martin Zogg for this event and hope to carry over my learnings into my own project!