Somos Parte de la Democracia?
Culture, Democracy, and LA’s Day Labor Community

What does democracy mean? What did you think about democracy before coming to the US – and what do you think now? How are immigrants viewed in our democracy and what is the role of immigrants in a democracy?

Some of the Democracia interview questions.

As part of this year-long project, Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras (TJSF) asked the day labor community to share their diverse viewpoints on democracy and participation in US society.

Many thanks to Dr. Maribel Alvarez, Assistant Research Professor in the English Department and Research Social Scientist at the Southwest Center, University of Arizona, who helped us launch this project with a day-long training in conducting interviews, and summed up our project with a beautiful essay – Download Essay

Todos Queremos Vivir En Democracia.

The thoughts day laborers shared with us about democracy, heard in interviews TJSF conducted, put a personal face on the experience of democracy within the immigrant communities of Los Angeles.

Based on our own members’ experiences, TJSF wrote and toured a play, Todos Queremos Vivir en Democracia/Everyone Wants To Live in A Democracy, which takes viewers into day laborers’ daily experiences and the “mind” of the democratic process, the court system.

Democracia Videos

Watch some of the video interviews with Los Angeles day laborers:

Watch clips from Todos Queremos Vivir en Democracia:

This project was made possible in part by a grant from California Stories Fund of the California Council for the Humanities (Cal Humanities).

Special thanks to CARECEN, IDEPSCA, and Dr. Maribel Alvarez.