Bringing Durban Home: Combating Racism Together
Deport the Statue of Liberty? Crazy, right? But you know what's really crazy? Deporting millions of human beings who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years and call this country their home. That is what's been happening for years under U.S. immigration policy. Today, we have the chance -- and the power -- to change that. Public opinion today strongly favors fair, common-sense immigration reform. What's more, the Obama administration and Congress finally appear committed to making it happen. At the end of June 2013, the Senate passed an immigration reform bill that could help millions of immigrants -- more than half of them women -- live up to their full potential, and help our country do the same. Although the path to citizenship included in the current bill comes at a huge cost -- increased enforcement that could have devastating effects for many-- this is our chance to push for immigration reform that protects human rights and due process for all. That's why Breakthrough (www.breakthrough.tv) had to get extra-creative. We created the red herring "LegalsPAC," the Legals for the Preservation of American Culture, a group focused on deporting the statue of liberty due to her immigration status. Led by fictional CEO Harvey Knowles Brier, our humorous and fictional universe stretched from spoof twitter accounts to websites to email threads. The fictional world was created solely to help build a larger and louder groundswell than ever around immigration in the U.S. And so far, it's been working. Breakthrough's video has been featured in the Huffington Post, the BBC, Univision, and Telemundo, and had a spot on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room on CNN that was rebroadcast across the country by over 40 news channels. Today, we have the opportunity to #TakeLibertyBack -- to build an America that values the freedom, dignity, and humanity of all the women, men, and children who live here. To take action: http://brkth.ru/12SOaXj Cast: Statue of Liberty: Davina Cohen William: William Cook Credits: Producers: Ishita Srivastava, Dana Variano Assistant Producer: Nadia Rasul Writer: Dana Variano Videographer, Editor: Emilie Jackson Stage & Lighting: Michael Hauer Voiceover: Sam Dingman Graphics: Garret Walter Special thanks to the Yes Men and the Yes Lab, as well as to the NYU Hemispheric Institute.