Tuesday viewing: Migration is Beautiful

i am OTHER (Pharrell, I love you!) featured artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez, along with her partners and supporters, in a documentary series, “Migration is Beautiful.” In the videos, she details her own passion as an artist,  her journey to the front lines of the war on immigrants, and her trip to the Democratic National Convention last year, where she met up with the UndocuBus. The series also features interviews with activists such as Jose Antonio Vargas, Isabel Garcia, and Julio Salgado. And it is beautiful.

My stance on immigration reform is probably not news to anybody who reads this site. But in case you need a reminder, Vargas sums it up succinctly.

Immigration is not this “south of the border” Mexican brown thing. We have to explain and unpack not only why people are moving but also explain the history behind that. People have been moving since the beginning of time. Why does Asia look the way that it does? Why does Africa look the way that it does? Why does somebody like me, who looks like Yao Ming, have a name like Jose Antonio Vargas? I don’t know, because the Spanish moved in 1521 and decided to go to the Philippines and check us out? Not my fault. White people have been moving since the beginning of time! … What border are you talking about? The Great Wall of China? Has humanity ever built a border that could withstand human will? So long as people are hungry, they’ll fucking cross whatever border you put in front of them!

All three videos in the documentary can be found on i am OTHER’s site. If any of you dear readers can help us out with transcripts to the series, we would be forever indebted!