My America: Elly Fishman
@ American Writers Museum
Online
Opening Tuesday, August 10th, from 6:30PM - 7:30PM
In Refugee High: Coming of Age in America, journalist Elly Fishman tells the story of a year in the life of a Chicago high school that has one of the highest proportions of refugees of any school in the nation. Join us for a virtual program in which we’ll chat with Fishman about the book, her approach to writing, and the importance of telling these refugees’ stories. This program will be hosted live online via Zoom. Order your copy of Refugee High from our bookselling partner Seminary Co-op Bookstores here and register for the program here.
This program is part of the Jeanne M. and John W. Rowe Program Series, presented in conjunction with the AWM’s special exhibit My America: Immigrant and Refugee Writers Today. You can explore this timely and important exhibit virtually at www.My-America.org or in-person at the American Writers MuseumMore about Refugee High:
For a century, Chicago’s Roger C. Sullivan High School has been a home to immigrant and refugee students. In 2017, during the worst global refugee crisis in history, its immigrant population numbered close to three hundred—or nearly half the school—and many were refugees new to the country. These young people came from thirty-five different countries, speaking among themselves more than thirty-eight different languages.
For these refugee teens, life in Chicago is hardly easy. They have experienced the world at its worst and carry the trauma of the horrific violence they fled. In America, they face poverty, racism, and xenophobia, but they are still teenagers—flirting, dreaming, and working as they navigate their new life in America.
Refugee High is a riveting chronicle of the 2017–18 school year at Sullivan High, a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric was at its height in the White House. Even as we follow teachers and administrators grappling with the everyday challenges facing many urban schools, we witness the complicated circumstances and unique education needs of refugee and immigrant children: Alejandro may be deported just days before he is scheduled to graduate; Shahina narrowly escapes an arranged marriage; and Belenge encounters gang turf wars he doesn’t understand.
Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, Refugee High raises vital questions about the priorities and values of a public school and offers an eye-opening and captivating window into the present-day American immigration and education systems.
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