Pulitzer Prize Winner Jose Vargas Comes Forward as Undocumented

Posted on June 23, 2011 |

Yesterday, Pulitzer winning reporter Jose Vargas published an essay in the New York Times, describing his experiences as an undocumented student, and later journalist in the United States. The essay, titled “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” details Vargas’ experiences– from when he first discovered he was in the country illegally, to the present day.

In the article, Vargas writes:
There are believed to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.
Vargas’ …

KALW’s Crosscurrents Features Voice of Witness

Posted on June 7, 2011 |

This spring, as editors Maggie Lemere and Zoë West joined the Voice of Witness team in San Francisco to launch Nowhere to Be Home, the group also had the opportunity to meet with KALW intern Holly McDede. Holly took time to learn about the Voice of Witness series from its staff, editors, volunteers and interns, creating a feature for the KALW radio program Crosscurrents.

Click here to listen and learn more about Voice of Witness!

To purchase a copy of Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime just click here.

Voice of Witness is a nonprofit book series that empowers those most closely affected by contemporary social injustice. Using oral history as a foundation, the series depicts human rights crises around the world through the stories of the men and women who experience them. Voice of Witness was founded by author Dave Eggers and physician/human rights scholar Lola Vollen, and is the nonprofit division of McSweeney's Books.