EP #63: Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States

Sunni and Lisa are joined by Warren Bidford to talk about her
book, Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children
Detained at the Southern Border of the United States.


Warren Binford is an international children's rights expert who
is both a professor of law and a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Colorado. She has traveled to over 70 countries and
frequently works with children's organization worldwide to combat
some of the toughest issues facing children and families in the
21st century, such as child exploitation and trafficking,
children in armed conflict, children and families in migration,
and more. She is known for her cross-disciplinary and
solution-focused approaches to problems and has helped to build
teams of doctors, lawyers, mental health professionals, artists,
musicians, the media, documentarians, and others to focus their
myriad talents together to help kids. Warren has a juris
doctorate from Harvard Law School and a BA in Literature and
Psychology, summa cum laude with distinction, and an Ed.M. in
Early Childhood from Boston University. A former foster parent
and inner-city teacher, she lives with her husband, children,
horse, and rabbit in Oregon's Willamette Valley, and spends her
free time hiking, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, and
occasionally, climbing mountains.


Book description:

The moving stories of children in migration—in their own
words.

"In Spanish and in English, a devastating first-person account of
children’s experiences in detention at the southern U.S.
border.... A powerful, critical document only made more
heartbreaking in picture-book form." —Kirkus Reviews starred
review

Every day, children in migration are detained at the US-Mexico
border. They are scared, alone, and their lives are in limbo.
Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz shares the stories of 61
these children, from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador,
and Mexico, ranging in age from five to seventeen—in their own
words from actual sworn testimonies. Befitting the spirit of the
project, the book is in English on one side; then flip it over,
and there's a complete Spanish version.

Illustrated by 17 Latinx artists, including Caldecott Medalist
and multiple Pura Belpré Illustrator Award-winning Yuyi Morales
and Pura Belpré Illustrator Award-winning Raὺl the Third.
Includes information, questions, and action points. Buying this
book benefits Project Amplify, an organization that
supports children in migration.