The student panelists of Voices of Migration and Exile all had distinct and meaningful stories to share. Eloquent in their storytelling, they shed the traditional meaning of migration and exile from the usual contours and gave their words new connotations.
All individuals at the April 22 panel, through historical or cultural experiences, endured migration and exile. Yet their differences were neither the focus nor the common thread of this powerful panel discussion. After the stories were shared, it was clear that the commonalities and mutual understandings brought to the table where the panelists sat together was the uniting bond and highlight of the event.
Among the recurring themes that united both panelists and attendees were: loneliness, feeling out of place, wanting to return home, the desire to fit in, desperation, blame, anger, active forgetting, selective memory, trauma, silence, and assimilation. Students from all regions of the world were in attendance: Claudia Contreras (El Salvador/USA), Juan David Cure (Colombia), Nancy Cruickshanks (USA), Ary Diaz (Chile/Argentina), Beda Kacou (Ivory Coast/Canada), Mohammad Khatib (Palestine/Lebanon), Iotha Molyneux (Montserrat/England), Franz Monnestime (Haiti), Tammy Powell (USA), Carlos Sanchez (Guatemala), and Olga Viera (Guinea Bissau/Russia).
The event was organized by Professor Clara Estow, chair of Hispanic studies, and moderated by Professor Segi Stefanos of the College of Public and Community Service (CPCS). Voices of Migration and Exile was the first of a three-part series on exile launched by the Hispanic studies department.
On Thursday, April 23 Hispanic studies and the consulate general of Spain in Boston held a symposium on exile and the Spanish Civil War, uncovering the powerful tale of a massive exodus from Spain during the war that lasted from 1936-1939 and was followed by Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, which ended in 1975. It consisted of the showing of a documentary film Exilio for the first time in the United States. The film was followed by a roundtable discussion between exiles and the writer/director of the film from Spain, Pedro Carvajal. The third part of this series, “Language and Borders” will take place Thursday, April 29 from 2:30-5:00 p.m. in the new Campus Center.
Students of Voices of Migration and Exile opened up this discussion of exile with stirring and passionate stories. Juan Cure of Colombia opted for exile rather than to be a victim in a country where his generation cannot fathom the cycle of violence and political turmoil.
Iotha Molyneux, a native of Montserrat, spoke of the unstable feeling of being a “rolling stone,” constantly moving and passing through different geographical spaces as she migrated from Montserrat to the United Kingdom, and later to the United States.
Olga Viera came to the United States from Guinea Bissau via Russia. Only here did she consider herself as experiencing life as an immigrant, due to the hardships of working long hours and putting off her studies to make ends meet.
Mohammad Khatib, a Palestinian/Lebanese born in Lebanon, spoke about the experience of Palestinian exile in the Arab world. The Palestinians were blamed and looked down upon all throughout his childhood while living in Lebanon and later in Qatar. He talked about the identity card that he had to carry with him stating that he was a Palestinian. He would hide it deep into his pockets during his school years in Lebanon, desperately wanting to forget that it stated his second-class status in Lebanon.
“I hated my identity card; it gave away my identity as a Palestinian, a people who were seen as filthy, annoying, and parasitical.” Living in the United States since 1999, Khatib has found a space where he can advocate for Palestinian rights as well as communicate with Israelis and members of the Jewish-American community.
Ary Diaz, a Chilean who migrated to Argentina at a young age, spoke of her family’s experience under the dictatorship, and her desire to uncover her family’s story. She came from a politically active family who knew the horrors of Chile’s guerra sucia (dirty war) all too well. Her generation rarely discussed this gruesome time period with their parents who wanted to forget the past yet were haunted by it. Diaz related the stories of her parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins under the military dictator Agosto Pinochet.
Diaz’s family’s migration and exile has been painful, yet it has been nourishing for her to retell the story. As Diaz reflected on her family’s experience in exile, she also began to reflect on her own life experience. Although her family found a second home in another country, she is reconsidering her identity as a Chilean instead of an Argentinean.