Jan. 27, 2025 - In order to fully experience the perils of a young migrant鈥檚 journey
from Honduras to the U.S., Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario rode 1,600
miles clinging to the top of seven trains - twice. Her experience turned into a series
in the Los Angeles Times, followed by a 2006 book entitled 鈥淓nrique鈥檚 Journey.鈥
Nazario will draw from her experience retracing the steps of the young Honduran refugee when she speaks at (海角社区CI)鈥檚 2025 Conference for Social Justice in Education, scheduled for Saturday, March 1 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 海角社区CI鈥檚 Grand Salon.
Conference organizers have some openings for presenters at the conference, entitled 鈥淭rauma, Resilience, and the Impact of Migration: A Call for Humanizing and Loving Practices in Education.鈥
Educators, counselors, students, caregivers or anyone interested in a critical discussion about the education of migrant children is invited to attend, or to contact schoolofeducation@csuci.edu if you are interested in being a conference presenter.
鈥淭his is a key audience of people who come in contact with migrant children who have to be put in the public school system,鈥 said 海角社区CI School of Education Social Media & Events Specialist Paola Dios. 鈥淭he culture shock among these children is significant - especially young children. This conference will explore how we can approach these children with intricate backgrounds in the classroom.鈥
There will be presentations and afternoon workshops among educators, researchers, counselors and others to share research and practices that participants can take back to the classroom.
Nazario鈥檚 research and experience with migrant children is deep and extensive. She grew up in Kansas, and later, in Argentina and has written extensively about Latin America and Latina/os in the United States.
Nazario鈥檚 30-year career as a journalist began at the Wall Street Journal before joining the Los Angeles Times in 1993 where she covered tough issues like hunger, drug addiction and immigration. She is currently working on a second book about one mother鈥檚 fight against violence in her neighborhood and is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times on immigration and refugees.
Nazario spent two years reporting on and writing 鈥淓nrique鈥檚 Journey,鈥 which appeared as a series in the LA Times that won numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes - one for feature writing and the other for feature photography. Nazario later expanded the series into a book, which also won numerous awards and became a national bestseller.
The book tells the story of Enrique鈥檚 desperate mother, who entered the U.S. illegally so she could find work and send money back to Enrique and his sister, whom she left with relatives in Honduras. Just as Enrique had done, Nazario rode the tops of trains along with other migrants headed for the U.S. border. She got permission from the Mexican government for her project and was able to get some protection from the gangs that harass the riders but faced the same sort of danger Enrique faced as a teenager when he traveled to the U.S. to find his mother.
鈥淚 almost got swiped off the train by branches. People riding on top of the train were calling back to warn me (about the branches), but the train is loud and I couldn鈥檛 hear them.鈥
Enrique did finally locate and reunite with his mother, but the scars he carried from poverty, abandonment and the terror he faced during his journey continued to plague him as he grew into adulthood. Nazario hopes to share his experience and her own in order to help educators and administrators create one of the few safe spaces these migrant children have ever known.
鈥淚 think schools need to be the social/emotional hubs that link these kids to food, to therapy, to legal associations,鈥 Nazario said. 鈥淭here are a lot of things that can be done in a classroom that can give these kids a fighting chance in education.鈥
To become a presenter or attend the 2025 Conference for Social Justice in Education, visit: . The conference is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required as seating is limited.
The School of Education at 海角社区CI invites artists of all ages and backgrounds both on and off campus to submit their original artwork for possible display in a conference exhibit that aligns with this year鈥檚 theme of 鈥淭rauma, Resilience, and the Impact of Migration.鈥 For more information or to learn how to submit artwork, contact the School of Education at schoolofeducation@csuci.edu.