Neighbors and Allies: Solidarity in a Time of Distress
The last year has brought an era of fear for immigrant communities as newcomers are being demonized, large-scale, heavy-handed enforcement has been unleashed, and our noblest traditions of welcome and inclusion are being discarded. And yet, despite the deliberate attempts to isolate and separate us, immigrants and non-immigrants alike have often been stepping up together to protect rights, build alliances, and fight for a better future for all of us. In this session, three leading activists: Cristina Jimenez, formerly of United We Dream; Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance; and Shaw San Liu of the Chinese Progressive Alliance join Manuel Pastor of USC’s Equity Research Institute in a conversation about what these moments of resistance and solidarity mean for the broader movements to protect our democracy.
March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm
Panelists
Cristina Jiménez Moreta
Co-Founder
United We Dream
Cristina Jiménez Moreta, who came to the U.S. from Ecuador in 1998 and grew up undocumented in Queens, New York, is an award-winning community organizer, bestselling author, and leading social justice activist. Co-founder and former Executive Director of United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country, she has led multiple national and local campaigns for immigrant justice, including playing a leadership role in the campaign to win and implement the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). A distinguished lecturer at the City University of New York, Jiménez was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and named one of Time 100’s most influential people. She is the author of a bestselling debut memoir Dreaming of Home (2025).
Guerline Jozef
Founder and Executive Director
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA)
Guerline M. Jozef, a globally recognized, award-winning human rights advocate, strategist, and thought leader, is the founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), the only Black-led, women-led, Haitian-American-led organization serving migrants at the U.S.–Mexico border, and co-founder of the Black Immigrants Bail Fund and the Cameroon Advocacy Network. Jozef, whose work has been featured in many leading publications and news outlets, has testified before the UN, the U.S. Congress, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Manuel Pastor
Director
Equity Research Institute at USC
Manuel Pastor, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, currently directs the Equity Research Institute at USC. The inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change at USC, Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. He has won countless awards for his scholarship and advocacy and is the author or co-author of many books, including: Just Growth; Solidarity Economics; and, most recently (with Chris Benner), Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future.
Shaw San Liu
