|
|
About the Contest
The Things I'll Never Say national creativity contest encourages undocumented young people in the United States to share their immigration stories in creative ways. Over 100 outstanding writing, art, photography, video and music submissions were entered. The contest is currently closed, but you can still share your story with us! Click here.
The work submitted to the Things I'll Never Say contest spanned mediums and approaches, but was uniformly powerful. The stories of immigrant and undocumented youth are so crucial to the fabric of our country, yet are often not part of public discourse and media. The contest has shown that these students have a distinct and powerful voice— I'm grateful that their stories will now be heard and seen around the world.
- Theo Rigby, Documentary Filmmaker and Cinematographer
About the Winners
Click on their name to see their work.
Kemi Bello
Kemi is a Nigerian-American undocumented youth living in Texas. She hopes to explore the many facets of the undocumented experience through writing and narrative-building as activism. She is an alum of the University of Houston, where she received a B.S. in Economics, and is currently saving up money to continue her graduate education.
|
|
Praise Odigie
Praise Odigie is a poet, singer, writer and filmmaker. She was born and raised in Nigeria, and came to the United States at the age of 10. She is currently a student at Adelphi University, where she is studying film and political science. She strongly believes in the power of words, especially through media. Her dream is to use the film industry to bring about social justice in her country, as well as the United States.
|
|
Jose Ortiz
Jose Ortiz is originally from Tijuana Baja California, Mexico. He came to the United States at the age of 8 and settled in California. Currently, he is an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. For the past three years, he has been an active member of Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success (IDEAS) at UCLA, during which he has lobbied legislators in Sacramento and Washington D.C. for the passage of the Federal DREAM Act. "I used to live in the shadows, until my IDEAS family and other undocumented students politicized me and guided me in the process of sharing my story," says Jose. Despite his active leadership roles in advocating for the undocumented immigrant community, he also has an interest in contributing his skills and abilities to Medicine. During the summer of 2012, he conducted clinical cancer research at the City of Hope National Medical Center. He is a freelance artist and believes artwork serves as a medium to relax and heal. After graduating, he plans to apply to graduate school and become a research Oncologist.
|
|
Yosimar Reyes
From the Mountains of Guerrero, Mexico comes nationally acclaimed poet, Yosimar Reyes. Based out of San Jose, CA his style has been described as ""a brave and vulnerable voice that shines light on the issues affecting Queer Immigrant Youth and the many disenfranchised communities in the U.S and throughout the world.""
Yosimar’s distinct style has managed to get him to perform and give lectures on stages and classrooms all over the United States (always representing East Side San Jose and his beautiful Mexico). He holds the title for the 2005 as well as the 2006 South Bay teen Grand SLAM Champion, has been featured in the Documentary 2nd Verse: the Rebirth of Poetry. (2ndversefilm.com) And published in Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry (Floricanto Press) His words have open up concerts for Carlos Santana in his latest endeavor Architects of a New Dawn (Aoand.com) At the age of 19 Yosimar self-published his chapbook, For Colored Boys Who speaks softly… and his currently working on his second publication. When he is not rocking the stage with his Diva attitude you catch Yosimar waiting for the bus and sharing PALABRA with his Abuelita always breaking it down hood and speaking from a community spirit. |
|
Cesar Vega
César Miguel Vega-Magallón was born in Huentitán, a small town on the periphery of Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. He crossed into the United States at the age of four and has lived in Southern California with his family ever since. In 2010 he received an associate degree from Antelope Valley College and he has been accepted to both UCLA and USC to study art history. César Miguel is currently not pursuing an education due to financial issues brought about by his immigration status. His goal is to finish his undergraduate studies and start the long path towards a doctorate degree. He hopes an advanced education will give him the tools with which to faithfully document the art of other marginalized peoples.
|
|
About the Selection Committee
Click on their name to visit their website.
Reyna Grande
|
About Reyna
Reyna Grande is an award-winning novelist and memoirist. Her first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains, (Atria, 2006), received a 2010 Latino Books Into Movies Award, a 2007 American Book Award, and the 2006 El Premio Aztlán Literary Award. Her second novel, Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009) was critically acclaimed and was the recipient of a 2010 International Latino Book Awards. Both novels have been read widely in schools across the country and have been published internationally. The Distance Between Us, Reyna's third book, was published on August 28, 2012, by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In this memoir, Reyna writes about her life before and after illegally immigrating from Mexico to the United States. The Distance Between Us is an inspirational coming-of-age story about the pursuit of a better life. The Los Angeles Times hailed it as ‘the Angela’s Ashes of the modern Mexican immigrant experience.”
|
Theo Rigby
|
About Theo
Theo Rigby is an award-winning director, cinematographer, and photographer based out of San Francisco. He believes in the power of image and sound to create awareness and dialogue about the world's most pressing social issues. Theo has focused on topics ranging from the War in Iraq, to the justice system, and for the past eight years has been focusing on immigration in the U.S. His latest film, Sin País (Without Country), won a Student Academy Award, has screened in over 30 film festivals, and was be nationally broadcast on PBS' Independent Documentary Series, POV, in 2012. His new project, Immigrant Nation, is a series of short documentaries addressing immigration issues across the U.S., coupled with an online platform where people can create and share their own immigrant stories. He graduated with a M.F.A. in Documentary Film from Stanford University.
|
Favianna Rodriguez
|
About Favianna
Favianna Rodriguez is a transnational interdisciplinary artist and cultural organizer that works for social change. A recent instructor at Stanford University, her art and online organizing projects deal with migration, global politics, economic disparity, patriarchy, and interdependence. Rodriguez lectures globally on the power of art, cultural organizing and technology to inspire social change, and she also leads art workshops at universities around the country. In 2011, she co-founded of CultureStrike, a national organization that works to engage artists in migrant rights. In 2009 she cofounded Presente.org, a national online organizing network dedicated to the political empowerment of Latino communities.
|
Julio Salgado
|
About Julio
Julio Salgado is the co-founder of DreamersAdrift.com. His activist artwork has become a staple of the DREAM Act movement. His status as an undocumented, queer artivist has fueled the contents of his illustrations, which depict key individuals and moments of the DREAM Act movement. Undocumented students and allies across the country have used Salgado's artwork to call attention to the youth-led movement. His work has been praised by OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano, KPCC-FM 89.3's Multi-American blog and the influential journal ColorLines. Salgado graduated from California State Universitiy, Long Beach with a degree in journalism. To see more of his artwork and other collaborations, you can go tojuliosalgado83.tumblr.com.
|
Jose Antonio Vargas
|
About Jose
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the founder of Define American, a campaign that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration. In a June 2011 issue of the New York Times Magazine, he revealed and chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant, stunning media and political circles and attracting worldwide coverage. A year later, he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine worldwide with fellow undocumented immigrants as part of a follow-up cover story.
|
