February 28, 2018

Don't Tell Anyone

Critical Conversations in Urban Education (CCUE) hosted a screening of the award-winning documentary "Don't Tell Anyone” (Ne Le Digas a Nadie) on February 28, 2018 at Only Charter High School in Philadelphia. The documentary is based on the real life story of 24-year old Angy Rivera, an undocumented youth living in New York City who became an important activist and voice for Dreamers in NYC and across the country.

CCUE also invited two panelists, Catherine Miller-Wilson, Executive Director at HIAS Pennsylvania, and Olivia Vasquez, a community organizer at Juntos, an immigration rights organization, to address questions from the audience after the film screening. Olivia Vazquez is a DACA recipient from Mexico. During her high school years, she experienced first hand the many barriers that undocumented young people faced in this country which lead to be an advocate for immigrant community and to be a co-founder of the youth group at Juntos, an immigrant rights organization in south Philadelphia. Cathryn Miller-Wilson has spent her career doing social justice work: representing parents accused of abuse and neglect at Community Legal Services, Inc., representing persons with HIV/AIDS at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania and teaching and supervising law students who represented low income persons in a variety of civil matters at both Drexel University School of Law and Villanova University School of Law.  

March 16, 2018

Teach Us All

Drexel University School of Education's Critical Conversations in Urban Education Lecture Series hosted a special free screening of the critically acclaimed documentary "Teach Us All." The film focuses on the issue of education inequality, set against the backdrop of the 1957 Little Rock school crisis. Sixty years after the Little Rock Nine, we look at the current state of education to see where inequalities and challenges still exist in schools all across the country.

The film was followed by a panel discussion with diverse voices in education including:

• Kenya Nation, Philadelphia Public School Parent
• Deborah Gordon Khler, Executive Director, Education Law Center
• Christian Edge, Director of K-12 School Work, Drexel University
• Kwan Hopkins, Philadelphia Public School Student
• Anea Moore, Philadelphia Public School Graduate and First Generation College Student

April 26, 2018

Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America

Drexel University School of Education's Critical Conversations in Urban Education is proud to host a screening and discussion of the critically acclaimed documentary "Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America." The film illustrates the intersection of queer and immigrant issues, highlighting the challenges facing LGBTQA+ individuals growing up in the rural south. Moises Serrano's story demonstrates courage, conviction and an unyielding desire to succeed.

The event will include a presentation with Jesus Cisneros, PhD, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Foundations at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Cisneros takes a critical interdisciplinary approach to education policy and practice, providing a nuanced and complex understanding of the intersection of sexual identity and immigration status. Dr. Cisneros presentation: Undocuqueer: Coming Out of the Shadows and the Closet will provide further insight into the critical themes presented in the documentary.