Former President Donald Trump continued his neverending displays of degrading language toward immigrants, spewing nothing but misinformation by falsely claiming that immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, during ABC’s presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. More than ever, it is important to attend events that tear down the rhetoric surrounding conversations about immigration that only demonize the people who wish to improve their lives by entering the United States.
“Sowing Seeds: Art and Advocacy on the Border,” an event hosted by Ruido Studios’s own Ruby Fuentes (she/her/ella), helps to inform the 956 community through a night of plática, art and poetry. Fuentes, who works as both the Communications Fellow at Ruido Studios and the Digital Communications Organizer for The Sidewalk School, mentioned that “Sowing Seeds” was not just for Brownsville or for RGV but is something that is already growing organically. She hopes more “Sowing Seeds” events in different key border cities could start to blossom in the future.
Through a special evening of social issues-related platicá, sweet bread provided by Mr. Ben’s Bakery and wine sold by Búho, people from all over the RGV listened to the panelists of “Sowing Seeds” discuss immigration and human rights in a way that reminded us all of how we should honor the very same people who live in our border or across it, as they are only in search of the same dreams we all have as humans.
Uplifting Voices: The Border Beyond The Border
Fuentes, a San Juan native with a strong Catholic background, leads positive change through the social justice work she does through her partnership with The Sidewalk School, a rapid response organization that serves asylum seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
As someone who has always been interested in immigration advocacy and human rights, it’s no surprise that Fuentes planned out the “Sowing Seeds” event. The idea for the event had a long time coming, with Fuentes discussing how she was inspired in March when The Sidewalk School, along with Texas Civil Rights Project and La Union Del Pueblo Entero, educated the public on Senate Bill 4 with a panel at ENTRE Film Center which was followed by an art exhibit of asylum-seeking children’s art and spoken word by Poets Against Walls at Cactus Valley Art.
At “Sowing Seeds,” the event also happened to showcase many asylum-seeking children’s artworks. A piece that caught Fuentes’ attention was of “a big heart.” She said, “Not every single piece has a narrative [or] a story. Some of them [are just] paintings because we can still tell a story with or without words.” Fuentes added, “I would really love for the people of the Valley, whoever [got] to experience and witness this art [to] recognize that […] you’re building a relationship with these asylum-seeking children from different parts of the world who just want an opportunity to grow and […] to live a life.”
Fuentes continued her discussion of the concept of “Sowing Seeds” as an idea with a lot of heart behind it where one could “talk about different issues that affect the Rio Grande Valley.” She mentioned the importance of highlighting the work of organizations “through advocacy, through art, through music, through spoken word.”
Finally, Fuentes proudly confessed how working with The Sidewalk School has been a humbling experience to be able to assist in a small way, “I’ve [always] been inspired by my faith and Sister Norma, back when I was working for the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville and I feel like when I […] saw that they were going to pair a fellow with The Sidewalk School, I got really excited and motivated to apply [to the fellowship program] because I felt like this [was] a really great opportunity to see firsthand and to amplify the work that they’re doing.”
Uniting Voices Through Labor of Love
“Sowing Seeds” featured various panelists, partners and poets. Michelle Serrano (she/her), Co-Director of Voces Unidas and panelist talked about how “Sowing Seeds” was able to open the door for everybody, not just for the people who are already working within the non-profit world. “A lot of people don’t see that they don’t have that, that privilege if you could call it a privilege, to see it because it is a lot of hard work and it is a labor of love,” she said.
Voces Unidas encourages community members to raise their voices for the land and the people of the Rio Grande Delta. “First off, through the programming and […] our small cohorts of people, we do like have our social media, we do lift up the voices and the activities that have been happening on there. We let other people know. We give them our ideas, our perspectives, our philosophies through our actions,” Serrano said. But most importantly, Voces Unidas envisions a peaceful world without borders and they want that to happen through their healing justice center programming.
Another panelist was Cecilia Sierra (she/her), the Community Outreach Coordinator for Flower Shop Art Residency said that her work aligns with the theme of “Sowing Seeds” because “creating work based on [her] surroundings is a form of advocacy.” Sierra also discussed her latest art show “Small Platicas” at Paper Caper Co., which was based on Sierra’s interactions with asylum seekers and immigrants coming into the U.S. through the airport. The show covers how there’s a need for humanity, how we should never forget who we are as people and how at the end of the day, we all need to treat each other with respect.
Lastly, “Sowing Seeds” gave the poet Emmanuel Con Dos Emmes (he/him) the opportunity to express what brought him to the event at Búho. The poet is also the Director of Technology and Culture at Unfolded: Poetry Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring individuality through the written word. The poet mentioned that the organization was invited to perform original poetry that resonates with the themes of the event and that it was a wonderful opportunity to share Unfolded’s message with a wider audience.
There Are No Real Lines For Us
Through the words of Michelle Serrano, we can allow ourselves to be reconnected with the land: “We are a place of encounter. […] This is an international place for migration from the very southern part of South America all the way to North America, Canada and beyond. There’s connection, there’s movement, and it happens right here on the Delta, right here on the border by the sea. There’s just a historic power that’s here that people can recognize. We recognize it because we are a binational community. We have crossed the border many times to visit family, to go out, to eat, to live, to play. So, for us, it’s something natural to be crossing these thresholds. […] There are no real lines for us.”
We see the narrative of our region changing, and in order to keep doing good for ourselves and for the people we choose to connect with, we can also move beyond our region and help out across the border.
To do this, one can check out The Sidewalk School, donate to them, and support their cause because they’re doing so much to help asylum-seekers. Don’t forget to also check in on what Ruido Studios, Voces Unidas, and Flower Shop Art Residency are all doing, who knows, just like Fuentes, you can be the next to take part in social justice movements!
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