Madison Public Library joins local partners in celebrating the diversity of Madison with a series of programs and displays highlighting the experiences of students from Madison and Milwaukee, featured in the forthcoming book Green Card Voices: Immigration Stories from Madison and Milwaukee High Schools.
This book and traveling exhibit features 13 first-person narratives from students at James Madison Memorial High School, all of whom arrived in the United States as immigrants or refugees.
In the spring of 2018, James Madison Memorial High School in Madison embarked on an all school read of Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School. Over 2,000 students read immigration stories written by authors of their own age, and were introduced to the authentic and diverse stories of Minneapolis immigrants from thirteen countries. The book inspired a more empathetic understanding of immigrants, and showcased the need for a similar publication featuring student immigrants from Wisconsin. As Green Card Voices planned the production of a book featuring stories from a Madison high school, they were contacted by the College Possible Milwaukee team, who hoped to collaborate and highlight the stories of immigrant students at Milwaukee high schools. Through this connection, the idea of a book featuring student immigrants from both cities was developed.
The finished book will be the fifth in the Green Card Youth Voices series, which works to generate awareness about the immigrant experience. The previous titles (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta, and Fargo) each feature 30 immigrant youth originally from 35 different countries. Some fled xenophobia, others came to be reunited with family, and all left behind loved ones. These stories show the tremendous resiliency, courage, and unabashed hope these young people maintain as they imagine their futures in this new country.
Information about related events here: https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/new/green-card-voices
