The Student Equity & Support Programs Division hosted an interactive lecture on Wednesday, March 12, featuring Kenya Sullivan and Rebecca Alvarado. Sullivan is a licensed social worker who specializes in community mental health and Alvarado is both a licensed social worker and counselor.
The talk centered on “The Psychology of Immigrant Dehumanization,” a relevant topic in light of the poisonous rhetoric that many heard during the 2024 election cycle and continue to hear with the current federal administration. (Particularly outrageous were the false claims by Republicans that Haitian immigrants were eating pets, as reported by NPR in September 2024.)
Sullivan and Alvarado helped attendees understand the historical background of such harmful narratives. They revealed a pattern going back centuries of intentionally crafted language that negatively targets immigrant communities to justify racist and unequal treatment. They also included the most recent iterations of such dehumanizing language and treatment, bringing up the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil who is a Palestinian-American green card holder that is currently being detained by ICE due to his political activism at Columbia University.
Attendees included staff, faculty, and students from Skyline College. Andrea Fuentes, an Instructional Designer with CTTL, remarked that the lecture “really shined a light on the history of othering immigrants from 200 years ago to today.” Jesus Haro, a Student Ambassador at TRiO, appreciated that it was “an informative and detailed event that covered a range of communities of color.”
Mylene Foo, a Program Services Coordinator at ESL Connect, commented that the lecture helped her better understand what has been occurring. “The way the speakers presented, the injustices directed at immigrant communities were described thoroughly, and they contextualized it,” she said. In her perspective, Sullivan and Alvarado “engaged our minds and hearts.”
SESP is planning a follow-up event with both presenters. If you are interested in the topic, Kenya Sullivan and Rebecca Alvarado will return to the Intercultural Center on Thursday, April 24, at 1:00 p.m. They will focus on both understanding dehumanizing narratives and exploring ways to resist them.
Article and photo by Asra Ziauddin, Program Services Coordinator, SESP
