April 28, 2017 | Theatre,

Proyecto Carrito at ArtsEmerson

This Friday and Saturday, members of Proyecto Carrito will be joining ArtsEmerson at 17 Border Crossings. Students and staff involved with the organization will be present in the lobby before and after the show, sharing information about the organization as well as some of their own stories of border crossings.

Proyecto Carrito began in 2010 as a weekly writing class at Emerson College, and has since evolved into a growing transnational movement, embodied by the organization’s eponymous van—the Proyecto Carrito. The writing class began as an opportunity for members who often felt invisible in their cities and workplaces to come together and share their stories of immigration from Latin America. It remains one of the only college courses in the country that brings together janitors, students, faculty, and staff. When the class found difficulty getting their work published by publications on-campus, they instead decided to write their stories on a van which they would drive cross-country, upholding their core goal of achieving “more humane, compassionate, and inclusive immigration and education policies.”

Recently, Proyecto Carrito has shared their stories in a new anthology, entitled Proyecto Carrito 2010-2016: Stories of Migration and Practices of Inclusion. The work is made up of “essays, interviews, and speeches by immigrant janitors, students, professors, and staff at Emerson College” and “includes original writing from [their] weekly class, press and public responses, and academic articles about [their] initiatives.” The book will be available to buy at performances of 17 Border Crossings.

We’re very excited to bring the voices of Proyecto Carrito to the stories Thaddeus Phillips has collected for 17 Border Crossings. In their new book and in the writing they have produced over the last six years, Proyecto Carrito has told stories of crossing or being blocked by borders. In conversation with 17 Border Crossings, these stories deepen our connection as an Emerson community to the stark reality of a world increasingly divided and limited by imaginary lines.