Lynn Tramonte – författare

"I am a man."

"Yo existo."

#BlackLivesMatter.

If you''ve never felt your humanity denied, you might not understand why some people have to declare their right to exist. We are all just "cells and bodies," after all. And that is a connection the Ohio Migration Anthology, in all of its volumes, is trying to highlight.

The stories, artwork, poems, and interviews in Volume Two, "(Everything Is) Cells and Bodies," grapple with belonging, identity, and dignity-from Maya McOmie and Betsy Rose Uvagi''s poetry, to Saidu Sow and Mory Keita''s interviews about life after deportation, to Varsha Prabu''s "Immigrant of Extraordinary Ability" and Gloria Kellon''s narrative quilts.

Marina Manoukian writes, in her sophisticated Foreword to Volume Two:

What is thought to be two distinct entities-cells and bodies, others and ourselves, here and there-is created through an imagined division between entities that couldn''t exist without the other. Our stories remain bound to one another and it is up to us to decide what we want our connections to look like as we break down these imagined borders. Nothing occurs in a vacuum.

Volume Two includes representation from the United States (African Americans;) Indonesia, India, Singapore, China, Hungary, Slovakia, Mauritania, Guinea-Conakry, Greece, Turkey, Japan, Uganda, and parts of Latin America-and simultaneously Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Cincinnati, Parma, and more. 

The Illustrated Memoirs Project is also represented with three stories written by young immigrants who matriculated through the Cincinnati Public Schools. From Enock Sadiki''s story about disappointing his father, to Henry Arriaga''s walk through the desert and Shirley Betzaida Lopez Sanchez'' brave decision, readers will find something to connect with and something to learn from these new Ohioans. Also for the first time, we are publishing a trilingual story (Lopez Sanchez), written in Spanish, English, and Mam.

All of our contributors, all of the people whose stories they share, and all of our readers have one thing in common. We may come from different lands, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and "races"-whatever that means-but we are all just people: cells and bodies.

What if you were forced to pack your belongings and leave your family, friends, career, home, and life behind? Could you say good-bye to everyone and everything you love, not knowing if you will see them again? That is what deportation is: permanent banishment from your home, family, friends, and job, from a life built over years. It is an extreme action that causes lasting harm to everyone it touches. 

Broken Hope: Deportation and the Road Home is a collaboration between the OHIA and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) that highlights the experiences, hopes, and dreams of 255 people who were deported from the United States, as well as their loved ones. They are part of OHIA''s #ReuniteUS campaign, which seeks to change policy so that more people who were deported can return.

As a result of deportation, individuals and families, including young children and people of advanced age, experience:

Economic insecurity, including lack of access to food, housing, health care, and childcare; serious mental health problems, resulting in self-harm and long-term damage; Adverse Childhood Experiences, toxic stress, and poor physical health; disruption of education and career goals; persecution, exploitation, homelessness, and a lack of safety; the stress and financial strain of becoming a "single parent" unwillingly, and overnight; feeling powerless to help the people they love; and fractured bonds and relationships.

But it doesn''t have to be this way. The impact of deportation is a human-made problem, and the solution is also in the hands of people.