Posted on July 2, 2019 at 10:56 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
We’ve got two stories on the border drama that tie into poetry and prose today.
In poetry: The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a court order against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, in connection with its arrest of a student who read a poem opposing it.
Jose Bello read the poem “Dear America” at a public forum; two days later, he was arrested and put in ICE custody, a move that the ACLU and Bello attribute to his act of speaking out.
Thus, the ACLU argues, Bello’s First Amendment rights were violated, and he should not be held on the basis of that.
A hearing in the case is set for tomorrow, according to the The Bakersfield Californian.
In prose: Actor George Takei’s graphic-novel memoir, They Called Us Enemy, comes out in just a few weeks.
The book describes the time he spent as a child in Japanese internment camps during World War II.
As politicians and other public figures increasingly compare the current migrant facilities to concentration camps, Takei has chimed in to agree with the condemnation.
He discusses this issue along with his memoir, releasing July 17, in an interview with the radio show 1A.
Categories: Today in Books