There is a lot of talk these days about immigration—about fences, amnesty, dreams, and citizenship. Much of this talk is polarizing and aimed almost entirely at influencing policy rather than understanding one another and even ourselves.

In this community discussion, the Center for Civic Reflection and Chicago Public Media aim to help us step back from the polarization and the policy so that we can talk with one another about the questions and complexities that affect us on a daily basis: whether we think of ourselves as Americans or hyphenated or some other thing, whether we are citizens or longtime residents or visitors, how we think we are seen by others in this country, the relation between our communities of origin and our communities of culture, and what it means to be American now, in our connected and often conflicted condition of global interdependence.  

This conversation will get us talking across and about the differences between us, and also about the lives and communities we have in common – February 11th at the WBEZ West Side Bureau, February 19th at the WBEZ South Side Bureau, and February 21st at the WBEZ North Side Bureau.

Support for Chicago Public Media’s Community Bureaus is provided in part by Polk Brothers Foundation, Met Life Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies.

The Center for Civic Reflection works to strengthen community and deepen understanding by helping people and organizations think and talk about the meaning of their work in the world.  Through the practice of reflective discussion, which utilizes provocative readings, images, and video, CCR helps people consider the beliefs and values that underlie their commitments—leading to clarity about their work, stronger relationships, and more committed, effective action.