In 2019 America, nationalism is on the rise and xenophobia the new normal. Americans find themselves swirling in an ideological maelstrom. The commander-in-chief has branded immigrants as “thugs” and “animals,” and has characterized the migration of asylum seekers as an “invasion.”
On the other side of all the rhetoric are real people, though, people facing life-and-death dangers in their countries of origin.
Alex Alpharaoh is one of those people. For him, the debate about immigration isn’t academic.
He was just 2 months old when his 15-year-old mother snuck him into the country, after both were nearly killed in a bomb blast at a bus stop. They had lived in a notorious Guatemala City slum known as “Limonada,” where intimidation was the law and violence the enforcer. Even though they would live a shadow life as illegal immigrants in America, Alpharaoh’s mother thought it a good trade.
Alex Alpharaoh grew into the DACA ideal: a bootstrapper who fought for his education, a creative who would eventually write, direct and produce. His acclaimed one-man play, “WET: A DACAmented Journey,” examines the hardships of living as an outsider inside the only culture he’s ever known.
Alpharaoh is the next featured guest for the Sonoma Speaker Series, a public salon that encourages local attendees to think critically. Previously featured speakers have run the gamut, from NASA astronaut Suni Williams to gun-reform activist and Mom’s Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, The guests of the series share one thing in common: they have chosen to live their lives in public service to others, and are masters of their chosen domains.
Alpharaoh will be in conversation with Transcendence Theatre’s Nikko Kimzin on Oct. 28, discussing what it means to be an American in every sense but one. Without proper documents, Alpharaoh and others like him subsist in a middle place, neither in nor out of the place they call home.
Sonoma Speaker Series is held at Hanna Boys Center. Alpharaoh’s talk begins at 7 p.m., with a VIP reception preceding at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are $35 to $75 each, and are available at sonomaspeakerseries.com.
Contact Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com
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