IM MIGRATION is a Visual Experience for National Immigrants' Day, Oct. 28

October 28th is National Immigrants’ Day and we would like for you to join us in honoring and celebrating this day to recognize all of our migrations by saying “I’m migration, you're migration, we're migration!”

Initiatives of Change USA is honored to again partner with Alfonso Perez Acosta on recognizing National Immigrants’ Day, first in Virginia in 2019 and again this year. In 2021, Alfonso has released the digital image above and it is also available for free download.

Every day, we are confronted with particular narratives about immigration as a 'dangerous problem' that must be managed with force and control. These dominant narratives clog our social media and tv screens and offer no options outside of border policing, displacement and acculturation. But, we know that human life is grey matter - complex, distinct and varied. Immigration is so much more than what is often shown - it is not always tragic or so distant from us. Immigration is inclusive by nature because it reflects all of our stories and we need to tell this narrative as well.

We’re talking about the opportunities that come with a new life in a new country, about the cultural exchange between people with different languages and world views, and about the stories that reshape many families with happiness or sorrow in extraordinary ways in the journey to a better tomorrow. We’re looking at our DNA and all the migrations that live within us, in our skin, our blood and our words before we came to where we are now. With an accepting awareness, we see the different internal migrations that each of us go through in life with our emotions, our beliefs and our identities in order to feel that we belong.

For this and many more reasons, we invite you to join us in sharing this “IM MIGRATION” poster in any way you like, to make this celebration your own. Again, the poster is available for free in a digital version to share on social media. We also have stickers that are available! Check out this newly unveiled website (created by Emma Ito) featuring images and video over the last three years celebration of National Immigrants’ Day and an expanding podcast series. Stay tuned for creative healing practices and resources, and more to come.

If you are interested in building these experiences, email healingmigrations@gmail.com.