Kids on the Border

The Arizona Daily Star printed an article today about Project Libertad, a new media project (supported by CPR!) that amplifies the voices of Mexican adolescents living near the Mexico-Arizona border.  Pablo created this storytelling initiative to give voice to the kids growing up at the center of border wars and wading through gritty realities like family separation, poverty, violence, discrimination, and under-education.

Pablo translates the unfiltered voices of adolescents into fictional narratives.  He first imbeds himself in a community, provides tools for authentic stories to emerge, and turns these stories into a feature film or other digital media product.

His first feature film, Runnin at Midnite, explored the midnight basketball culture of youth in the barrios on the U.S. side of border.  In the development phase of this first effort he established a youth educational program in Tucson’s south side.  Only kids who had been kicked out of many high schools were eligible to study filmmaking with Pablo, with just one catch: they had to show up everyday to work toward their GED.

The teens who shaped Runnin at Midnite were not the  model “at-risk” youth that are the delight of intervention programs.  Pablo’s kids were beyond at-risk, they were post-risk.  In fact, the Department of Labor had classified this community as one of the nation’s neediest in regard to at-risk youth. Many participants were teen parents, most had a history of drug or alcohol use, most had a criminal record, most lived amidst serious violence, all lived in poverty.  These teens were well beyond the No Child Left Behind hype.  But a strange thing happened when Pablo handed them a camera and taught them to tell their authentic stories: they re-engaged high school studies.  Pablo’s high school graduation rate among these youth was so high that it earned him kudos from the White House.

Many of these barrio kids can be seen in the acclaimed Runnin at Midnite.  In this next film effort, Project Libertad, Pablo heads across the border to Mexico.  For the last few years Pablo has been traveling to Mexico to visit with people in the underbelly of border crossing politics: people who wade through sewer tunnels to cross underneath the border, kids living on their own while their families do seasonal work, families living in shacks and whole communities terrorized by cross-border drug wars.

Pablo starts this next film project by teaching border kids in Mexico about the art of storytelling.  His workshops are in formation now; more kids in need than he can ever serve are anxiously hoping to participate.  If you’ve got any inclination or ability to sponsor some of these kids, please send a donation.  Or if you can’t donate, please become a fan of Project Libertad on Facebook.  This story will unfold over the next few years and I guarantee you will be fascinated to watch it from the inside.