Name: BBF Unbound: We Are America
Start: 2019-10-19T15:30:00-0400
End: 2019-10-19T16:30:00-0400

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BBF Unbound: We Are America

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Twenty-eight students from Lowell High School in Massachusetts set out to understand what it means to be American. They explored their own personal histories, drawing connections between these histories and the larger history of America. Together they wrote We Are America: Voices of the Nation’s Future—a collection of deeply personal stories—of finding the courage to speak, of searching for home, of seeking acceptance, of asking for help. Hearing about their personal acts of courage, their journeys and reflections, can help us better comprehend the beauty and breadth of diversity in this country. This session will elevate the voices of young people who are passionate, eloquent and deeply thoughtful about how we create space to celebrate and understand diversity in America. Students will be joined by their teacher, Jessica Lander, in a session hosted by Charles Thomas Lai FitzGibbon of Facing History and Ourselves.

Moderators

Charles Thomas Lai FitzGibbon

Charles Thomas Lai FitzGibbon is a former social studies teacher and current program associate for Facing History and Ourselves.

Presenters

Safiya Alsamarrai

Safiya Alsamarrai is a freshman at Middlesex Community College and is also a co-chair of the National Student Leadership Board for Generation Citizen. She moved to the United States from Iraq seven years ago.

Diane Chikulu

Diane Chikulu is attending college at Middlesex Community College and is studying liberal arts. She hopes to be involved in the medical field.

Idalisse Fernandez

Idalisse Fernandez aspires to attend college to study business, in the hopes of one day starting her own company.

Katherine Mary Huang

Katherine Huang is a first-year student at MIT, planning to major in comparative media studies. In We Are America, she told the story of starting her nonprofit, Science and Us.

Jessica Lander

Jessica Lander is a writer and a highschool teacher who currently lives in her hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has taught all over the world, including in Thailand and Cambodia, and her work has featured in the Boston Globe Magazine, Huffington Post, Usable Knowledge, and... Read More →