Stories about Migration & Immigration from April, 2012
United States: Indig-Nación, the Spanish Newspaper of Occupy Wall Street
Yarisa Colón interviews Sofía Gallisá, a member of the editorial team of “Indig-Nación,” the new newspaper in Spanish of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Cuba: Diaspora Reacts to Ferrer García's Release
Cuban prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released over the weekend. Diaspora bloggers comment on this most recent development.
Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana: Is “Miss Black France” Acceptable?
While French people are still in the midst of the presidential elections, with its second round coming up on May 5-6, bloggers in the French overseas territories were buzzing about another vote this past week: the “Miss Black France” contest.
Barbados: Racial Slurs for Winning Goal
Joel Ward, an Afro-Canadian ice hockey player for the Washington Capitals, who is of Barbadian parentage, was subjected to racial slurs on Twitter after he scored the winning goal in overtime of the decisive seventh game against the defending champion Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League playoffs.
Refugees: Online Media and Technology to the Service of Refugees
Two different organizations are using online media and technology to aid refugees and improve their lives. The first uses online and mobile tools to reunite refugees who have lost track of family members, and the other provides legal information to refugees in Hong Kong through YouTube videos.
Ecuador: Refugee Women and Girls Turning to Sex Work
A video documentary examines the situation with Colombian women who had to migrate across the border into Ecuador due to violence. In many cases, without being able to gain legal employment, the women and their underage daughters find themselves turning to sex-work to make a living.
Video: Mobile Phone Megaphone Project for Chinese Immigrants in the US
The Megaphone project has allowed communities to express their thoughts and aspirations through mobile technology since 2003. The latest incarnation is in New York City as Chinese Immigrants document their daily life, thoughts and dreams using mobile technology, with a video explaining a bit more about the process.
Cuba: The “Gap” within the Cuban Exile Community
Penúltimos Días author Ernesto Hernández Busto, who lives in Barcelona, describes the “gap” or divide between Cubans living off the island, when it comes to their desires for Cuba's future; Regina Coyula, a blogger who resides in Cuba, responds. Hernández writes that there is a “deep gap between Cubans with...
Egypt: “Blog About Nubia” Day
In an attempt to highlight the situation of the Nubian community in Egypt and to challenge stereotypes about them, a day of blogging and tweeting about their cause took place on April 18.
Video: Worldwide UN Youth Competition for Short Films on Human Rights
Students between the ages of 10 and 20 worldwide are invited to produce short films (max. 3 min) on the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a special focus on sustainability, migration / refugees and global warming for the Video competition for the 2012 this human world...
Egypt: The Other Homeland
Al Jazeera World broadcasts a small film entitled “Egypt:The Other Homeland”, narrating the history of the once thriving Greek community in Egypt through personal interviews and archive material. At the beginning of the 20th century,there were about 200,000 Greeks in Egypt. Today, the Greek community there has approximately 1,000 members.
Cuba: Diaspora Blogs About Dissidents
The plight of prisoners of conscience is a front-burner issue with Cuban diaspora bloggers. This week, they are talking about two in particular: Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a former member of the Black Spring “Group of 75″ and Andres Carrion Alvarez, the man who was detained after shouting, “Down with Communism!” prior to the start of a mass during Pope Benedict XVI's recent visit to the island.
Iran: Turning a Page on Racism Against Afghans
Rumors that Afghans living in Isfahan, Iran had been banned from picnicking in a park during Iranian New Year celebrations, caused an uproar online with Iranians expressing solidarity with Afghans against racism.
Chinese Africans in Hong Kong
The Republic of the Gambia has no consulate in Hong Kong. But the city has a population of Mainland Chinese Gambian passport holders seeking residency in HK via the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES). More from David Webb.
Cuba: Uproar Over Ozzie Guillen's “Love” for Fidel Castro
Across digital and mainstream media, in the United States and Cuba, Miami Marlins baseball team manager Ozzie Guillén's comments on Fidel Castro unleashed a searing debate between baseball fans, political junkies, Cuban-American Miamians, and Cubans themselves.
Sweden: Visiting Rinkeby, Stockholm's Immigrant Ghetto
The Rinkeby district of Stockholm, Sweden is famous for its high concentration of immigrants. Curious outsiders have documented their visits.
Egypt: Advocating for Residents of Informal Neighbourhoods
Architect and researcher Omnia Khalil, has published this presentation as a part of Egyptian urban action [Ar], an exhibition and workshop scheduled for 4 July, 2012. It concerns advocating for the residents of informal neighbourhoods and highlights urban deterioration, forced evacuation and urban challenges in Egypt. In this video [Ar]...
Czech Republic, Ukraine: Migrant Domestic Workers’ Rights
GV Author Tetyana Bohdanova, who blogs at Good Girl Gone Ukrainian, writes about a video created as part of the campaign [cs] for the rights and better treatment of Ukrainian migrant workers in the Czech Republic. The video [cs] shows a Czech teenager yelling at the Ukrainian cleaning lady who...
Overseas Chinese Students Bring Changes to China?
Ali from Offbeat China discussed the impact of overseas Chinese students to China upon their return. The discussion in major overseas Chinese student web forums indicate that rather than the assumption that these students would be exposed to fundamental value changes and help China to develop political reform, many take...
Is Basketball's Jeremy Lin the Light of Taiwan?
From a benchwarmer to an NBA player who led the New York Knicks to seven consecutive victories, Jeremy Lin's inspiring Cinderella story has incited “Linsanity” in Taiwan. All major newspapers have extravagantly portrayed him as "the light of Taiwan." However, many Taiwanese bloggers are wary of this kind of blind idolatry.
Jamaica: Counting Crayons
“Yes, the crime rate and garrison communities are atrocious. Yes, the decline in public morality is a cause for concern. But there are bright spots that shine beyond Jamaica's geographical boundaries”: Diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp highlights one of them.
