Come Together

Journalist Sonia Nazario talks immigration.

Comments (0) By Susan Froyd Thursday, Sep 25 2008

Facing History is one of those nonprofits that work behind the scenes, without much notoriety or time in the limelight. But Denver is lucky to be one of eight cities in the nation with a full-time Facing History office, which trains teachers in many Front Range schools to introduce issues of racism, civic responsibility and tolerance in their classrooms through studies in history and the humanities. It’s been so successful that the organization eventually introduced a series of Community Conversations.

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“We saw the power of what we did in classrooms and wanted to bring the same kind of conversation to adults,” spokeswoman Fran Sterling explains. “It’s a great way to bring up issues we all think about but maybe don’t talk about because it’s too difficult.” To that end, the group has presented authors, artists, filmmakers and the like, who lead nonpartisan discussions on issues similar to those presented to youth.

Los Angeles Times journalist Sonia Nazario will appear tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. at West High School, 951 Elati Street, to discuss modern immigration issues through her book, Enrique's Journey, which is based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning series about the hardships faced by a Honduran boy trying to reach his mother in the United States. Students from Mullen High School -- who’ve read the book as part of their curriculum and will meet with Nazario at school -- will get the question-and-answer session going after her talk.

Admission is free, but reservations are requested; go to www2.facinghistory.org/Campus/Events.nsf to register.
Thu., Sept. 25, 7-9 p.m., 2008