Special Guest Author: Cristina Jiménez, Community Organizer & Bestselling Author
Fear, uncertainty, and division are gripping the hearts of millions in our country as once peaceful neighborhoods are terrorized and a new threat emerges seemingly every day. It’s hard to remain grounded in these times, but I continue to find strength, resilience, and hope in community. It is in community that we are reminded that love, joy, and our relationships will get us through the greatest odds.
The practice and spirit of community is the heart of Rockwood Leadership Institute. As a Rockwood alumna and now Board Member, I’m grateful and proud for Rockwood’s 25 years of transformational work, equipping leaders with the community and skills to lead with vision, love, and clarity. Congratulations, Rockwood community!
I was part of Rockwood’s Leading from the Inside Out Fellowship in 2016 when I was the Executive Director of United We Dream (UWD), the country’s largest immigrant youth led network. I remember Election Day that year. When the outcome was announced I looked around the room and saw immigrant youth leaders and their parents crying and hugging each other. The thought of what was about to hit immigrant communities was overwhelming. I was paralyzed with fear. But in my darkest moment, my community of UWD and Rockwood colleagues and friends reminded me of our collective power and that we, immigrants, weren’t alone in this fight.
And that same power of community is at the center of my new memoir, Dreaming of Home. I grew up undocumented in New York City. My parents risked deportation every day when going to work. The possibility that I might return home and not find them tormented my little brother and me. We lived in the shadows, in constant fear of making the slightest slipup that could lead to our family broken apart by an unjust immigration system. But I found my voice and power when I met a community of undocumented youth and immigrant justice organizers who were fighting to stop deportations.
In this community, I discovered that in moments of fear, chaos, and injustice we can protect one another. We can win change when we come together, speak up, and take collective action. I was undocumented, but became unafraid. I offer Dreaming of Home as a roadmap to pride, power, and hope. It’s my story of being forced to leave Ecuador, growing up undocumented, navigating unjust laws and institutions, and then finding my purpose, love, community, as a leader in a movement for justice that opened the hearts of America and changed the lives of millions.
This is the book I needed when I was undocumented, afraid, and ashamed. This is the book that America needs right now–at a moment where our human and civil rights are being taken away and vulnerable communities attacked. Dreaming of Home is for anyone who has ever felt alone, othered, or afraid, to remind us that in spite of fear and the odds, together we can find the courage to build the America that could be, a country where we all belong and thrive. I know this America is possible. It is up to us, you and I, to nurture it and fight for it. My hope is that you share this story of love, community, and transformation with those who need it.
I hope you’ll join me and the whole Rockwood family on October 15 in New York to celebrate 25 years of transforming leaders. In this time of threat and isolation, come be with your courageous community and remember our power to create change!
With love,
Cristina
