{"id":2127,"date":"2020-01-22T15:39:22","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T15:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2022-09-30T12:52:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T17:52:23","slug":"el-espectaculo-de-chicago-pone-en-escena-los-viajes-de-los-inmigrantes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2020\/01\/22\/chicago-show-brings-immigrant-stories-journeys-to-centerstage\/","title":{"rendered":"Un espect\u00e1culo en Chicago pone en escena historias y viajes de inmigrantes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: Nestor Gomez wins his 41st Moth Slam on Dec. 16, 2019, at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, Ill. <\/span>Photo by Matt Lingenfelter\/The Moth\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Nestor Gomez came to the United States from Guatemala in the mid-1980s as a 15-year-old, he only knew a few words of English. Today, he is the force behind Chicago\u2019s regular immigrant storytelling performance, <\/span>80 Minutes Around the World<\/span><\/span><\/a>: Immigration Stories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gomez\u2019s first introduction to live storytelling came in Chicago in 2014, when he signed up for The Moth StorySLAM at Martyrs\u2019 on the city\u2019s North Side. He says he hoped the performance would help him overcome his fear of public speaking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gomez continued to perform in The Moth events, but after President Trump was elected he felt the need to bring more stories like his own to the stage. The result was a storytelling performance featuring true stories told by immigrants, their descendants and allies curated and hosted by Gomez dubbed 80 Minutes Around the World.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since its debut in 2017, a revolving cast of storytellers, writers and comedians have brought their personal experiences to life in over a dozen performances in Chicago and New York City. Performers include <\/span>Danny Forster<\/span><\/a><\/span>, the host of the Science Channel’s series\u00a0Build it Bigger, and Anurag Gupta, a lawyer turned entrepreneur who <\/span>gave a 2017 TED Talk<\/span><\/a><\/span> on removing unconscious bias.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, Gomez partnered with Hong Kong immigrant Angel Ling, herself a podcaster and storyteller, to produce a podcast based on the show called <\/span>Immigration Stories with Nestor Gomez. The podcast\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>features selections from performances and conversations with performers about their story and its relevance amid shifting immigration policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead of hosting a performance of 80 Minutes Around the World <\/span>this Friday in Chicago<\/span><\/span>, Gomez spoke to Borderless Magazine\u2019s Nissa Rhee about the project.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Nestor Gomez pictured at\u00a0First Person Live<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0<\/a>a storytelling show in Arlington Heights, Ill. <\/span>Photo by Diane Kastiel<\/span><\/p>\n

Borderless<\/b>: I first met you when you performed at <\/span>a storytelling event<\/span><\/span><\/a> we held to mark the first anniversary of the Muslim Travel Ban in 2018. How has the world changed since then for storytellers like yourself who talk about their immigration journey?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gomez:<\/b> I think there are more stories being told now. Because of the political climate, we know that we have to speak up. We know that if we don\u2019t speak up, then other people are going to tell our stories and other people will be telling information that is either misleading or completely wrong about immigrants.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So I think the current climate has helped a lot of people speak up about not only what are things the administration is doing wrong but our own history. With the current administration, there are a lot of anti-immigration policies that the president has enacted to keep people of color from coming into the country and to try to get rid of people of color who are already in the country. And the situation at the border, the Muslim Ban, all of those things have made us aware that we have to speak up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Borderless<\/b>: Tell me about the storytellers in 80 Minutes Around the World. What types of people do you include?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gomez:\u00a0<\/strong>We try to be diverse. From the very first day that we did the show, I didn\u2019t want to have just a bunch of Latinos talking about crossing the border. That\u2019s what most people think about immigration. No, immigration comes from all areas of the world. So from the very first show, I\u2019ve wanted a diverse line up of storytellers telling stories from Latin America, from Europe, from Asia, from Africa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We tell stories from people who are documented who become undocumented. They came with documents but then they didn\u2019t have documents anymore. We also try to include at least one person from the LGBTQ spectrum in each show. We wish we could include more people with disabilities, but we have only been able to include two or three people with disabilities in our show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At least a quarter of the people who have told stories in our show have never told a story in their life before. Not only are there a lot of people out there speaking out, but we also try to do our part by bringing more storytellers out.<\/span><\/p>\n