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SPRING 2026
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PRAIRIE LIGHTS BOOKS
Across the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upends small towns and rural communities by staging dramatic raids and rounding up hundreds of people in a single day. These worksite raids fracture families, devastate local economies, and spread fear and trauma that lingers for years. Yet in the wake of these devastating raids, immigrant communities exhibit resistance, resilience, creativity, and an extraordinary determination to rebuild. To discuss this urgent topic, Bill Lopez will be in conversation with Alejandra Escobar about his new book, Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance.
In this powerful follow-up to his best-seller Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid, William D. Lopez brings us into the heart of communities targeted by large-scale ICE enforcement under the Trump administration. These are places where immigrant workers, many of whom have lived in the United States for decades, are suddenly torn from their families and livelihoods. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book highlights the voices of those who have endured these raids: the teachers left to comfort traumatized children, the faith leaders who opened their doors to families in crisis, the organizers who mobilized relief efforts overnight, and the workers and their families who fought for their right to remain.
As raids continue to increase across the country, this book is an urgent and deeply human portrait of what these raids leave behind—and the fierce, often unexpected ways communities come together across class, race, and immigration status in their aftermath.
Dr. William Lopez is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Faculty Associate in the Latina/o Studies Program. He is the author of Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance, a follow-up to his award-winning first book, Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid. In addition to his academic research on the public health impacts of deportation, Dr. Lopez regularly contributes to the public discussions on deportation, diversity, and Latino culture in venues such as the Washington Post, CNN, San Antonio Express News, Detroit Free Press, and Truthout. He is on the Boards of Health in Partnership and The Latino Newsletter.
Alejandra Escobar is a passionate advocate for immigrant rights and the lead organizer at Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, a nonprofit based in Iowa City that mobilizes communities to support and defend immigrants across the state. Born and raised in Colombia during a time of widespread cartel violence, Escobar witnessed firsthand the impacts of instability and loss. She moved to the United States in 2011 to pursue graduate studies in piano performance, eventually coming to Iowa to begin a doctoral program at the University of Iowa.
Her journey from classical pianist to activist was shaped by life-changing experiences, including motherhood and the national reckoning on racial justice in 2020. Escobar chose to leave academia to fully commit to grassroots organizing. With Escucha Mi Voz, she leads community protests, builds deep relationships within Iowa’s Latin American immigrant community, and advocates for systemic change with a focus on compassion, justice, and dignity.
Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2026
6:00 pM - 7:30 PM
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
ALSO STREAMING ONLINE: CLICK HERE FOR STREAMING LINK
Hosted by ICFRC Executive Director Peter Gerlach
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PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DREAM CITY, BLACK FUTURE FEST, IMMIGRANT WELCOME CENTER OF JOHNSON COUNTY, AND AFRICAN FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND CULTURE
This Dream City community conversation will confront misconceptions and cultural divides, while also fostering solidarity and collaboration, between Africans and African Americans in the Iowa City area. To move from separation to shared purpose through empathy, education, and collective empowerment, Thabiti Willis, Grinnell College professor of African Diaspora Studies, will moderate this important discussion with local panelists Mazahir Salih, Ashley Howard, Sunday Goshit, Vanessa Shannon, and Corte Beal.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AFRICA FUTURE FEST EVENT LINEUP
Dr. John Thabiti Willis is a scholar of the history of Africa and its diaspora in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds whose research explores themes of performance, labor, and heritage. He earned his Ph.D. in History from Emory University and has held fellowships at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies and from the Fulbright-Hays Program. His first major project, Masquerading Politics: Kinship, Gender, and Ethnicity in a Yoruba Town, Otta, 1774–1928 (Indiana University Press, 2018), reimagines Yoruba political and cultural history through 19 months of fieldwork in southwestern Nigeria. This work demonstrates how ritual masquerades shaped artistic, religious, and political life while serving as arenas for contestations over labor and authority. It challenges fixed notions of gender in Africanist scholarship and was recognized as a finalist for the 2019 African Studies Association Best Book Prize and winner of the 2020 Yoruba Studies Book Prize. His current research extends into critical heritage studies and GIS to investigate Africa’s role in Gulf pearling. Drawing on archival sources, manumission records, ethnography, and oral histories, Dr. Willis recovers the experiences of Africans and their descendants who labored in pearling communities and examines how their presence has been erased from official heritage narratives. Supported by a Mellon New Directions Fellowship, this work uses GIS mapping to visualize the socio-spatial dynamics of pearling and to illuminate the intertwined histories of Africans and Arabs in the Gulf.
Panelists
Corte Beal is a first-year student at Kirkwood Community College majoring in Business Administration and Political Science, and he is already creating impact far beyond the classroom. He is the President and Co-Founder of Elev8, a fast-growing youth-led organization dedicated to developing the next generation of leaders through culture, community, and empowerment. Nationally, he serves as the Deputy Programs Director for the College Democrats of America Black Caucus, helping shape youth programming and elevate Black student leaders across the country. His leadership and early influence earned him recognition as one of the College Democrats of America “19 Under 19.” Driven, strategic, and committed to community uplift, Corte Beal continues to rise as a transformative leader shaping the future. Before attending Kirkwood Community College, Corte was one of five Black Student Union executive leaders of West High School that went on to win the Youth Human Rights award, John Lewis Leadership award from the secretary of state, and additionally received Black History Month proclamations on behalf of Johnson County and the City of Iowa City.
Vanessa Shannon is an Iowa City native and first-year student at the University of Iowa majoring in Radiation Sciences. She serves as the Executive Director of Elev8, a student-led organization focused on empowering students of color through mentorship, community, and cultural engagement. Vanessa is also a Freshman Representative on the Black Student Union Executive Board at the University of Iowa and a Facilitating Assistant with Restorative Community Partners. Before attending the University of Iowa, she was one of five executive leaders of the Iowa City West High Black Student Union, which earned both city and county proclamations, the Youth Human Rights Award, and the John Lewis Award.
Mazahir Salih is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County (IWNJC), an immigrant-led organization dedicated to preventing homelessness, advancing affordable housing solutions, and supporting newly arrived immigrant and non-immigrant families as they build stability and opportunity. Under her leadership, IWNJC has grown from a grassroots initiative into a vital community institution, providing temporary housing, job-readiness training, employment navigation, and wraparound services for families in Johnson County. Mazahir also serves as Mayor Pro Tem of Iowa City, championing equity, affordable housing, language access, and inclusive civic engagement. She is a leading voice in local policy efforts to expand affordable housing options, strengthen tenant protections, and ensure that immigrant communities are represented in decision-making spaces.Prior to founding IWNJC, Mazahir co-founded the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, where she organized with low-wage workers and led successful campaigns against wage theft and in support of labor rights, fair wages, and housing justice. Her work has consistently focused on addressing systemic barriers, uplifting marginalized voices, and strengthening community power. Mazahir’s professional journey began with her training as a civil engineer in Sudan. After immigrating to the United States, she graduated in EEG studies and worked on-call at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, grounding her leadership in both technical training and compassionate, crisis-responsive care. Her lived experience as an immigrant and her broad professional background inform her reputation as a strategist, bridge-builder, and community advocate committed to creating pathways to stability, dignity, and opportunity for all.
Ashley Howard is assistant professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Iowa. Her research investigates racial violence in the Midwest and her work has appeared in the Middle West Review, Journal of African American History, Labor Studies Journal, the American Historian, Smithsonian Magazine, the Washington Post, the Financial Times and numerous other popular and scholarly outlets. In 2023, she and co-investigator Colin Gordon were awarded a Mellon Foundation grant to examine race-based property restrictions in Iowa. She serves on the board of multiple organizations including the Annals of Iowa, the Urban History Association and Black Midwest Initiative. She is the author of Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement.
Sunday Goshit is an intercultural educator, consultant, and community leader based in Iowa City, Iowa. He came to the United States from Nigeria in 2000 to pursue graduate studies. He earned a PhD in Geography from the University of Iowa. Sunday is the founder of Damina Global Consulting LLC, where he partners with cities, industries, schools, government agencies, and community organizations to advance intercultural competence, inclusive leadership, and culturally responsive systems. Sunday serves on the Board of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC) and the Community Advisory Board of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also the Director of the African Festival of Arts and Culture, promoting cross-cultural understanding and celebrating African heritage through community engagement. His work bridges global perspectives with local action to strengthen equity, dialogue, and belonging.
Beyond Divides in Iowa's City Black Community:
Building Bridges Between Us
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026
6:00 pM - 8:30 PM
DREAM CITY
ALSO STREAMING ONLINE: CLICK HERE FOR STREAMING LINK
Hosted by ICFRC Board President Sunday Goshit