In 2020, ICE detained an immigrant mother as she was taking her child to school. The community, along with JUNTOS, responded by organizing a campaign to create Sanctuary Schools to address the education inequities that uniquely affect children with immigrant parents. On June 2021, the Philadelphia Board of Education approved the Sanctuary School Resolution. (for ¡Presente! Media)
Watu Moja is a local non-profit organization that is telling their own story about the reality of life and policing in Camden by combining art and activism.
Video story created for WHYY Philadelphia
Gamaliel Uc has been dancing Jarana, the traditional dance of Yucatán, since he was seven years old. Watch Gamaliel and learn about the traditional festival of his town of Yaxkukul, Yucatán, México.
On Monday, February 8, public elementary schools in Philadelphia were set to reopen. Teachers, students and the community came together to protest against unsafe conditions in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Video story shot and edited for ¡Presente! Media Collective
Short film by Leta Hallowell, Becca Haydu, and Bailey O'Brien at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine.
Cultural Immersion Programs in Yucatán (PICY - Programas de Inmersión Cultural en Yucatán) creates impactful exchange programs in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula. This video highlights the experience of a student living with a host family in the capital city of Mérida while participating in the program. Jennifer Elliott is from Montana and studies at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. She came to PICY because she wanted to improve her Spanish in preparation to work at a midwifery school in Texas. Through her time at PICY, Jennifer not only improved her Spanish but gained a new perspective on the world. Learn more at: picy.org.mx
This short profile piece highlights René Goddess Johnson and her journey of self-discovery through art from South Africa to Portland, Maine. Final project created at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at Maine College of Art. December 2018.