LZC Summer 2026 Updates

America250. How many of you struggled, like I did, to reconcile conflicting feelings this July 4th? Mine included hope, ​connectedness, patriotism (re-defined, see below), shame, dissonance, disgust, incredulity, curiosity, surprise, and more. When​ever​ I feel conflicted, I read. So, I’ll kick off our summer newsletter ​by lifting up a​​ ​few themes and insights that stood out from ​my recent ​readings ​of ​historical notes and reflections on the United States at this moment of time, and how it all connects to our work here at LZC to advance immigrant health and well-being: 

• Selecting 1776 as a “birth” day and celebrating that day 250 years later is simultaneously a celebration of democratic ideals and an act of erasure. It obscures native, Black, and immigrant histories in service of a whitewashed view of colonization and supports a story of manifest destiny. I spent some time this weekend with one of these recovered stories–poring over a map of the Wabenaki homelandsand learning about Margaret Moxa, a Penobscot womanwho was brutally murdered in the Owl’s Head Bay Massacre in 1755 by state-sanctioned militiamen in what is now Maine, not far from where my family spends time each summer (see Owl’s Head Bay Massacre and Storymap, the Wabenaki Alliance, and the film Bounty for more context). The local “birth” story of New England has more to do with trading and diplomacy and vibrant local economies and thriving cultures (long before 1776) that were usurped by European immigrants through the rise of industry, dehumanization, religious and cultural oppression, labor and sexual exploitation of native people and enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean, and control of land and natural resources. I cannot celebrate the beauty of our region and the benefits of modern institutions, crops, roads, and technologies without seeing the contributions of native, Black, and immigrant people going back many centuries and continuing on through the current day.  

• Last week, Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) read Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” for the first time ever on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. ​​The speech makes it clear that the extent to which we are able to rejoice or mourn on this day depends greatly on the degree to which the promises of liberty and equality from the Declaration of Independence have been fulfilled for us and our families. It highlights the violence and oppression that are part of the foundation of this nation–what Viet Thanh Nguyen calls“250 Years of Cruelty”–and reminds us that “revolution” in 1776 meant a break from the rules of feudalism and monarchy. The revolution birthed a new political ideology (an experiment) and created a new system of stratification that has led to the obscene levels of racial and economic inequality we see in the United States today. It meant independence from Great Britain, not freedom for all.  

• The United States continues to vacillate on this idea of “all.” The promises of freedom and democracy remain precarious or unfulfilled for so many immigrants, native communities, and communities of color in the United States today. We are rejoicing in the Supreme Court’s decisionto uphold the 14th Amendment and retain birthright citizenship. This means that all people born in the United States are citizens (including Team USA soccer star Folarin Balogun​,​ born to a mother of Nigerian descent​,​ and original birthright citizenship plaintiff Wong Kim Ark​,​ born to a mother of Chinese descent who was denied re-entry to the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act). We are simultaneously mourning the ongoing attempts to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, Syrians, and other communities (to learn more and/or support the over 45,000 Haitian TPS holders in Massachusetts, see the New American Association of Massachusetts’ statement, the Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI)’s emergency response fund, and MIRA’s page of explanations and resources). We stand with solidarity and compassion with our Haitian and Syrian friends and colleagues; the families of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, TX, and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, ME, who were both killed by ICE this past week; and all who continue to be harmed by the inhumane policies of the current administration. 

I realized that my own personal version of patriotism is aboutresisting dehumanization and preserving core elements of democracy for all, which is core to our work at LZC. Enjoy the following highlights and updates in research, capacity and learning, and networks. Join us as we celebrate the diversity of this nation and ​enact john a. powell’s concepts of bridging and belongingthrough our work.