Cristina Jiménez: Dreaming of Home

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Award-winning community organizer Cristina Jiménez visits Changing Hands Tempe to share her inspiring memoir, discussing her journey from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement. In conversation with former Senator Raquel Terán.

ABOUT THE LIVE EVENT

• Interpretation services will be provided (Spanish - English)
• Booksigning will follow presentation.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A MacArthur "Genius" shares her inspiring story, from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement.

Dreaming of Home is a coming-of-age story for both a young woman finding her true self and a social movement of immigrant youth trailblazers who inspired the world and changed the lives of millions.

Cristina Jiménez's family fought to stay afloat as Ecuador fell into a political and economic crisis. When she was thirteen, her family came to the US seeking a better life, landing in an overcrowded one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York. She lived in fear of deportation and ashamed of being undocumented, but eventually, Cristina discovered she was not alone. She made it into college when students and advocates won a change in the law, allowing undocumented students to access higher education. She was proud to be the first one in her family to go to college, but she felt out of place until she met professors and student activists who opened a new world where she found her calling within a community of social justice organizers.

With deep candor and humor, Cristina shows us what it's like to grow up undocumented and the reality that being a "good" immigrant doesn't shield you from systemic racism, danger--or even the confusion of falling in love. She invites us to acknowledge the America that never was and to imagine the America that could be when everyday people come together, build power, and fight for change, even when the world around us seems to be crumbling.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cristina Jiménez is an award-winning community organizer and a leading voice in movements for social justice. She is Co-Founder and former Executive Director of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. A Distinguished Lecturer at the City University of New York, Jimenez received a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship and a spot on the 2018 TIME 100 Most Influential People List. She came to the U.S from Ecuador in 1998 and grew up undocumented in Queens, N.Y.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Raquel Terán was born in Arizona and grew up on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. She is a mom, a wife, and a proud graduate of Arizona State University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. She has spent her life building power in the Latino community. As a leader in the movement to fight back against racist bills like Arizona's SB 1070 and to oust Sheriff Joe Arpaio for terrorizing communities across Arizona, Raquel was at the forefront demonstrating what our community can accomplish when we work together.

It wasn’t long before Raquel traded her megaphone for a microphone: she served in the Arizona State House and Senate, where she fought every day to make it easier to provide for our families by investing in our schools, making our neighborhoods safe, and bringing good jobs back to Arizonans. Then, as the Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, she brought together a broad coalition to elect a Democratic U.S. Senator, Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State in Arizona for the first time in decades.

Now, Raquel leads Aquí Estamos PAC to continue her life’s work of building power and serving her community.