Join MIMS on September 30th for a virtual discussion with authors Suzanne Llewellyn (Berta Saves the River) and Belinda Arriaga Hernandez (Love and Monsters in Sofia's Life). Moderated by Maria Autrey, this event will explore themes of migration in children’s literature.
Maria Autrey (she/they) is an educator and activist from Mexico, and currently a doctoral candidate of the IME HRE Ed.D at USF. Maria's research focuses on liberatory sexuality education, exploring the use of critical pedagogy in grassroots projects that foster social change. Maria is the creator of Beyond Border Storytime, a website that features narrated children’s books that focus on migration.
Belinda Arriaga Hernandez has a doctorate in Education, and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with eighteen years experience working in community mental health, with a specialization in child trauma and Latino Mental Health. Her current research is focused on understanding the emotional, psychological and traumatic experiences that impact undocumented and mixed status Latino youth. Belinda’s work also focuses on understanding the cultural arts as a healing space for this community of children. Belinda is committed to social justice advocacy and multicultural practices in counseling that gives voice to underground communities and expand indigenous cultural practices in the field of counseling.
Suzanne Llewellyn grew up in Montana and enjoyed an administrative career at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health. After retiring she became an immigrant rights advocate. She traveled to Honduras several times with the SHARE Foundation and the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity to learn about root causes of migration from Honduras. She arrived on her first trip shortly after Berta Cáceres was murdered.
This story reflects what she learned and her desire to express solidarity with Hondurans fighting for their right to stay home rather than being forced to migrate. All profits are donated to Honduran communities struggling for their land, water, and resource rights against a corrupt government. Berta’s mother, Austra Bertha Flores Lopez, and Padre Ishmael Moreno (Fr. Melo), director of a Jesuit organization in Honduras that hosts these delegations, blessed the story before it was published. They will ensure it supports those who are fighting for their right to thrive in their own country.