The New Bedford Light, August 2025
During this past spring, the Caminos de Esperanza Project gathered a group of Guatemalan immigrant youths from New Bedford, some of whom are members of households that have been terrorized by ICE in the past six months, to counter the dehumanizing narratives that have for too long characterized Latino immigrants in general and Latino immigrant youths in particular. Seeking to correct dominant narratives that singularly frame immigrant youths as gang members or criminals, instead, these youth wanted to develop digital stories that captured “what we want people to know about us” or an accurate version of who young Guatemalan immigrants are.
For nine weeks, with the support of Mujeres Victoriosas in New Bedford, Northeastern University, and Massachusetts Humanities, we met with the youths and guided them as they set out to correct the record and tell their stories in their own voices, through digital testimonios. Through tears but also laughter, our Caminos de Esperanza participants shared details about their lives, or why they felt compelled to leave everything that they loved, their families, their pets, their friends, in order to construct better material lives for themselves and their families and communities back home.
