IMM Print, the online storytelling platform for Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC), is pleased to announce it has awarded Youth Reporting Fellowships to three recipients.
The Fellowships were designed by IMM Print founder and 2016 Soros Justice Fellow, Kristina Shull. Youth Reporting Fellows will conduct research on immigration detention and produce three articles or photo essays on detention facilities or communities affected by detention to be published in IMM Print.
Stephanie Garcia, 18, a Xicanx student at University of California Riverside, has a passion for community building. One of four siblings, she spends her spare time writing about the world around her and the culture of her community.
Erin Ramirez, 23, is a filmmaker and an award-winning visual artist. Originally from New Hampshire, Erin moved to Los Angeles to pursue cinematic arts and journalism at the University of Southern California. His most recent work, La Guerra, follows a young, adolescent woman who takes on new responsibilities after facing her parents' deportation. His stories examine current social issues and the commonality of human experience, with a particular focus on unearthing narratives from frequently underrepresented populations in the media.
Jo Seck is a recent graduate of Stony Brook University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. While at Stony Brook, Jo was involved as a Research & Teaching Assistant in the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Department as well as a member of the Social Justice League, LGBTA, and as a founding member of the United Nations Association SBU Chapter. They spent their last semester as an Intern with the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP) as well as a HYA Youth Advocate Fellow at the Hetrick Martin Institute (HMI). As an extension of a semester project for a class, Jo helped curate Take Back The Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence From The Ground Up Exhibition At The Interference Archive in Brooklyn in the summer of 2017. They also were a Writing & Development Intern for the Northeast Queer College Collective (NEQCC) in 2017. Jo is looking forward to beginning a Masters of Social Work Program at the University at Albany-SUNY in August.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Stephanie, Erin and Jo as new contributors to IMM Print,” said Christina Fialho, co-founder of Freedom for Immigrants. “Their diverse voices will amplify our mission and provide our readers with fresh perspectives on the devastating impact of immigration detention on individuals and families.”
IMM Print seeks to publish the accounts of individuals and family members directly impacted by immigration detention.
For more information, contact Cindy Knoebel at cknoebel@freedomforimmigrants.org.