I sometimes refer to my church, Immanuel Presbyterian in Los Angeles, as Noah’s Ark, because we seem to have two of everything.  Two nuclear physicists, two lesbians, two folks from Egypt … you get the idea.

As it turns out, we also have two filmmakers:  myself and Leanna Creel.  Leanna and I tend to see the world in images and stories.  Sometimes, we see those compelling images and stories in places that other folks overlook.

May 6th, 2010.

8:00 a.m. – The day begins as per usual; traffic is getting better. The snowbirds are leaving for the summer and so the freeways are a little less congested. People talk about the great game last night. If we can come away from the San Antonio road trip with even one win, Los Suns will be in a great position to take the series.

Our Voices of Immigration campaign seeks to bring the stories of immigrants and those who work with and live among them to the public attention. To commemorate Mother’s Day, we have this musical tribute to immigrant mothers: “Lovely To Me (Immigrant Mother),” by Taiyo Na. Thanks to the artist and director for their permission.

This week in immigration:

Someone please pinch me. This must be a nightmare. After all, is it possible that, in this land of freedom, one of its states — which back in 1993 refused to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday — has now legally sanctioned racial profiling? Is it possible in this land of ours that tea partiers decided to organize precisely under the presidency of the first person of color? Speaking about the “perfect” timing of the Tea Party’s rise, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts recently exclaimed:

“When we met the young lady in Nogales, the daddy in me wanted to take her to a safe place. My heart was broken even more than before,” reflected Reverend Andy Bales, the CEO of Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. On a recent trip to the US-Mexico border we met with a young woman who was attempting the dangerous crossing alone. What is it about our faith that leads us to a deep connection with those who suffer?

According to Bureau of Labor statistics, Latinos suffer far more fatalities on the job than other demographic group. Are these statistics an accident? I think not. And this has everything to do with the broader immigration reform debate, because from conversations with Latino workers and their families, it seems that employers do not consider us as people with value.

There’s a wonderful family at my church who are from Rwanda. They have been granted asylum in the United States, having successfully gone through the stressful process of proving that they had a reasonable fear of persecution in their country of origin. Gratefully, they are now safe in the United States and re-building their lives.

About a year ago, when we were writing our song “White Flag Warrior”, my friend (and fellow frontman) Stephen and I had quite a conversation. We talked about Leonard Cohen’s song “Story of Isaac” and about Kierkegaard’s multiple interpretations of Genesis 22, about Malcolm X challenging MLK, Jr.

This January, four immigrant college students from Florida began a fifteen hundred mile pilgrimage, “risking their future because the present is unbearable” (Matos, 23, in interview). Their ultimate destination was Washington, D.C. as they advocate for comprehensive immigration reform that would include the DREAM Act.