Black August encourages us to learn about and engage with the systems that are obstacles to freedom and justice for our communities. The Pōpolo Project is proud to be a co-sponsor for "Lives on the Line," a panel conversation between activists and writers whose work considers how the telling and holding of each othersʻ stories counter repressive narratives about immigration, incarceration, and child abuse within those systems.

"Lives on the Line" features contributors to a special issue of BIOGRAPHY on "Biographic Mediation: The Uses of Personal Disclosure in Bureaucracy and Politics" (2019), guest edited by Ebony Coletu. Reflecting on the use of stories to mobilize action in immigration advocacy, the movement to end child sexual assault and the lifelong punishment of the formerly incarcerated, participants in this roundtable discussion will connect the demand for public narratives about injustice to bureaucratic demands for personal information that "decide" who gets what and why. Moderator: Ebony Coletu. Panelists: Aly Wane, Amita Swadhin, Michelle Jones.

Bios:
Aly Wane, undocumented human rights organizer, originally from Senegal.
Amita Swadhin, Activist Storyteller and Founder of Mirror Memoirs, an oral history project centering the narratives, healing and leadership of LGBTQ survivors of color in the movement to end child sexual abuse.
MICHELLE JONES, Activist for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and men, playwright, doctoral student and board chair of Constructing Our Future, a reentry and housing program for women in Indiana.
Ebony Coletu, Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies, Pennsylvania State University

The event will run from 7-8:30 pm in KUY 410, UHM Dept. of English

Sponsored by the Center for Biographical Research. Cosponsors: UHM Ethnic Studies, UHM English Dept., and the UH-Immigrant and Refugee Action Coalition (IRAC), The Pōpolo Project

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available on the UH-M campus for $6 after 4 pm.