Celebrate Immigrants in bold blue letters against a green and white background with red stars and hearts.
celebratediversity

Immigrant Heritage Month – June 2024

Dear Emersonians,

As we close the month of June, we take a moment to recognize National Immigrant Heritage Month, first established by President Barack Obama in 2014.

The variety of factors that cause people to migrate from their communities, and sometimes risk perilous journeys, permanent separation from loved ones, possible detention, and ambiguous pathways to legal status, are steeped in complex stories of who we are as a nation and the world.

Many (though not all) of us come from intergenerational families of immigrants who settled in the places we currently call home, and our ancestral histories have an important role in the depth of beautiful diversity and culture that we should all acknowledge.

Often, pressure to culturally assimilate can nearly erase meaningful ethnic, linguistic, racial, religious, and national identities that are part of who we are. At Emerson we are working to create a culture of belonging that honors these full and authentic ancestral connections.

We encourage you to explore immigration legacies in your community and learn more about historical and current immigration issues in the resources linked below.

Events

Immigrant Heritage Month, June 1-30, 2024, City of Belonging Festival, Boston. Saturday June 29, 2024, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. World Refugee Day Celebration. Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center Website and photos. City of Boston Immigrant Advancement.
City of Belonging Festival – World Refugee Day Celebration
Website for 5th Annual Immigration Summit. Leading a Bold, Just, and Inclusive Democracy. California Community Foundation, USC Dornsife Equity Research Division. Photos of individuals representing different cultural and racial backgrounds.
5th Annual Immigration Summit

Learn More

From the website fwd.us. 11 Years of Immigrant Heritage Month: What we've learned. Four lessons from more than a decade of exploring and celebrating the impact of immigration in America. June 5th, 2024. Photograph of smiling family.
11 Years of Immigrant Heritage Month
From I Am an Immigrant .com. Who We Are. The I Stand With Immigrants / I Am An Immigrant Initiative, powered by the FWD.us Education Fund, Inc., leads narrative campaigns that empower immigrants and allies to share their stories and drive action that demonstrate how immigration is good for our communities, economy, and country. We do this with the goal of encouraging everyone to explore their individual heritage and celebrate both our distinct and shared experiences. Yellow and red background, photo of 3 people with different hair styles, skin color, and gender representation.
From IAmAnImmigrant.com