“[Los Medanos is] a place where diversity is not only celebrated but central to who we are,” said Interim Vice President of Instruction A’kilah Smith.
Seats were filled for the premiere of “Define American” a documentary produced by a team of Experience journalists. Nearly 100 people were in attendance for the screening in the Student Union Conference Center and the panel discussion that followed Nov. 19.
The event was made possible with the sponsorship of the California Humanities Emerging Journalists Fellowship Program.
The event kicked off with opening remarks from Smith and Editor-in-Chief of the Experience newspaper Gabbie Munoz introducing the film.
The film was created by Director and Editor Jordan Suisala, Story Producers Aliyah Ramirez, Gabbie Munoz, Darcy Meadows, Graphics Editor Alexis Ramirez and Audio Editor Ricky Montejo with musical arrangements by Joseph Okello.
Suisala shared that although strenuous, creating a film that highlights stories that are important for people to hear was not something she took lightly.
“Putting together the documentary was challenging in a laborious way, but also in a way in which I wanted to provide as much clarity to the immigration experience as possible and make sure everyone’s stories got the time they deserved,” said Suisala.
She vocalized how she wanted the emotions felt speaking to each individual about their experiences to come across through the film.
“The interviews were a privilege to sit through, to be able to hear the stories live and in person,” said Suisala. “I wanted to make sure the documentary had the emotions we were all feeling during the interview.”
The impact of those stories were felt in the room with people in the audience moved to tears.
Students Cindy Hermosillo and Jennifer Pina described the film as something “many people can relate to” and “very emotional.”
“I loved how they all individually shared their stories,” said Pina.
The panel discussion that was moderated by Aliyah Ramirez featured Akila Briggs, Pablo Flores, Hector Hidalgo Combs, Brianna Luna and Aki Sagun who all shared their personal experiences of immigration.
They discussed with audience members the hardships they’ve undergone to not only educate but also show others who may be experiencing similar things that they’re not alone in their battles.
Akila Briggs spoke of how there are many resources out there and each individual has to figure out what works best for them. She shared that students at LMC can use the library as a resource as well.
“The libraries are a free resource, they have books on everything [like] immigration, laws of immigration, laws pertaining to residency,” said Briggs. “Bring someone with you to help you interpret what it is you’re reading so you can make sure you’re doing everything you can on your end.”
Pablo Flores who immigrated from El Salvador shared the harsh realities of why some people have to leave the country from which they are born.
“I was beat up [by] some gang members then I went to some police officers to ask for help and they beat me up again,” said Flores. “My family decided that the best thing for my brother and I was to leave the country and come here.”
Flores expressed how he wished people would stop putting harmful labels on people who come to the United States.
“I wish people would stop calling us criminals because we are not criminals, for a lot of us it wasn’t an option it was [a] dead or alive situation,” said Flores.
Ramirez emphasized the goal of the stories, documentary and event were to raise immigrant voices within the LMC community.
“Especially given the polarization surrounding this topic, we wanted to approach these stories without bias or misconceptions,” Ramirez said. “To simply have the project’s voices rewrite the narrative and redefine what it means to be American.”
