An impressive group of speakers will headline two evening forums focused on immigration in Springfield. Sponsored by the Citizens Club of Springfield, the programs will be held Feb. 1 and Feb. 15 6-7:30 at St. John's Hospital's Dove Conference Center, 619 E. Mason.
Citizens Club President John Kelker, Program Director Beverly Bunch, and lead organizers of the programs and Citizen Club Board members, Sammi Mander and Lingling Liu, have planned the programs to provide a local look at immigration. Kelker says, "Our club highlights issues of a local nature, and this is one that turned out to be worthy of a two-part evening program."
The Citizens Club's regular monthly presentations are usually on the fourth Friday of the month at 8 a.m. at the Hoogland. The Jan. 26 program will look at the shortage of health professionals in Springfield.
Mander says the two evening forums will be an opportunity to hear from people who immigrated to Springfield. It may be surprising to some to learn that of the 115,000 citizens in Springfield, 4.37% are immigrants. Looking at national statistics – out of the 340 million citizens in the U.S., 13.7% are immigrants. Mander says, "Many on the panel at each event have stories of what prompted them to seek a different life and why they came here. We want to go beyond the typical narrative about immigration and focus on facts and the ways so many have contributed to the vibrancy and the fabric of the Springfield community. In addition, we want to look at what policies and practices around immigration would help our community be even more vibrant."
Experts will delve into the stories of immigrants as well as challenges faced and the impact of historical and current legislation on immigration. Questions from the audience will be taken at the end of each program.
Moderator David Steward, retired faculty member of SIU School of Medicine, will lead the discussions. Panelists include some who are immigrants themselves, others who are experts in the field. The Feb. 1 session, called "History, Challenges and Contributions" includes panelists Driss El-Akrich, the first Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in Arabic in the U.S., Xuna Hu, currently a real estate agent who immigrated from China, Isabel Skinner, assistant professor in the School of Politics and International Affairs at UIS, and Vidya Sundareshan, originally from India, a professor and Chief of Infectious Diseases at SIU School of Medicine.
The Feb. 15 session, "Building a More Immigrant-Inclusive Springfield," brings together Elizabeth Brago Boateng, from Ghana, who holds several degrees and won a book award in Ghana at the age of 17; Brooke Depenbusch, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at UIS whose research examines U.S. social policy; Yves Doumen, originally from Cameroon, who founded The Motherland Gardens, a nonprofit organization that works to address food insecurity through a sustainable urban agriculture system in Springfield; and Veronica Espina, who was a journalist in Santiago, Chile, came to the U.S. on a Rotary Scholarship, earning a degree at UIS in Community Arts Management and founded the Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network (SIAN).
The sessions are free and open to the public. Reservations are appreciated but not required. More information can be found on the Citizens Club Facebook page.
Cinda Ackerman Klickna discovered impressive bios of the panelists and looks forward to hearing their stories.
