Confluencenter Receives Recognition for Commitment to Immigrant Community Empowerment
Director of the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, Javier Duran receiving an award from Community Organizer of Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Alba Jaramillo.
Tucson, Ariz. – On Saturday evening at the Global Justice Center, during the celebration of International Migrants Day, the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry was honored with an award from Coalición de Derechos Humanos for its unwavering support of the immigrant community.
The accolade highlights Confluencenter's successful collaboration with Derechos Humanos in the Mellon-Fronteridades program. Supported by the Mellon Foundation, the program aims to elevate the voices and narratives of historically overlooked communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Derechos Humanos and Confluencenter (left to rihgt): Hiram Peña, Isabel García, Alba Jaramillo, Javier Duran, Yadira Caballero, Brenda Machado and Alexandra Mora Medina.
"We are deeply grateful and humbled to receive this recognition," Confluencenter Director, Dr. Javier Duran said. "Our partnership with Derechos Humanos has been instrumental in advancing the Fronteridades program, and this award reflects the hard work and dedication of everyone involved."
As part of the University of Arizona, the organization views its work as an extension of its Land-Grant Mission, which compels them to engage with and serve the communities around them. “We feel obligated to work with the communities, and we’ve been trying really hard to do that in the last few years,” Duran said. “Fronteridades is a really good example of the efforts of some people in the university to reach out and stop the transactional, extractivist approach to working with communities.”
November 22, 2023: Fronteridades gathering with Confluencenter team and partners.
Since 2019, the Fronteridades program under the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry has partnered with numerous local non-profit and grassroots organizations to elevate historically overlooked narratives and form a more inclusive, accurate, and just portrayal of the communities on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Duran expressed pride in the intentionality of the work the center has done and that it is a community effort, focused on supporting immigrants, immigrant families and moving forward together through challenging times.
“As Alba [Jaramillo] mentioned, it’s crucial to reclaim that border narrative for the communities. It’s our community, and the hijacking of this narrative by mainstream media needs to stop now—and we’re going to be part of that,” Duran stated.
Confluencenter team members left to right: Hiram Peña, Yadira Caballero, Javier Duran, Alexandra Mora Medina, and Brenda Machado.
The success of this initiative would not be possible without the efforts of the Confluencenter staff and student workers, whose commitment to the cause has had a lasting impact on the Tucson community and beyond. The award serves as a testament to the power of collaboration and the collective efforts of all involved.