Immigration, Latin America, globalization and free trade, environmental issues and environmental racism, human trafficking, the sex industry, civil liberties, media analysis and criminal justice issues are among my specialties as a reporter, author and speaker. I aim to highlight the connections between these issues and put a “human face” on policy and economic debates. I love sharing my experiences and observations as a writer and as a speaker, panelist and youth journalism instructor. Thanks for visiting my website, I look forward to hearing from anyone about other media and community projects and welcome all story ideas, speaking opportunities or ideas for collaboration.
My skills and services
Reporter: My reporting has taken me around Latin America and the US, including in-depth reporting in various parts of Mexico, Central and South America, the US-Mexico border region and various urban areas in the US, especially in my home Chicago.
Author: I recently published a book focusing on the concrete effects of globalization on Latin Americans in their home countries and in the US -- Out of the Sea and Into the Fire: Latin American-US Immigration in the Global Age.
Journalist: I write for The Washington Post, In These Times, the Chicago Reader, Punk Planet, The New Standard News, LiP Magazine and other national print and internet publications.
Speaker: I have spoken at various universities, media conferences and seminars about topics including immigration, globalization, human trafficking and independent media, and I am looking for more opportunities to do so.
Youth Instructor: Through my work as a reporter and youth journalism instructor I have also gained a great appreciation for the importance and need for grassroots media airing the voices of marginalized communities including young people, homeless people and public housing residents. Through the Urban Youth International Journalism Program I teach ongoing journalism workshops in Chicago high schools, alternative schools, public housing projects and after school programs. I am looking for opportunities to work with more youth and network with other youth and community media organizations.
Photographer: I also normally take my own photos for stories and have photography available from the topics I have covered.
Exactly one week before the planned May Day 2007 immigrants rights march, heavily armed federal immigration agents stormed a mall in the city's main Latino neighborhood, La Villita, to arrest members of a fake ID-selling ring. They locked down a mall where photos for the IDs are allegedly taken, detaining about 100 men before making several arrests, sending ripples of terror through a community which thought a massive deportation sweep was in progress.
The immigrant community took it as a direct threat and intimidation tactic. Hundreds rallied outside the mall denouncing the raid.
A week later the May Day turn-out was even larger than expected, with about 200,000 people marching through downtown Chicago demanding legalization for all and immigrants rights.
