Brave Journeys/ Pasos valientes

A new online version of this breathtaking collection of 15 stories by young people, ages 14-17, who risked their lives crossing borders alone.

A testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, which no reader will ever forget.

Help us achieve our dream to get this book into all students’ hands.

Now available along with a full toolkit for teachers and school counselors here on this website, thanks to a generous grant from Long Island Community Foundation.

a resource for students and teachers

In early 2018, when the book was born, Dafny Irizarry, founder and president of Long Island Latino Association (LILTA), wrote:

We are thrilled, and also humbled, to anonymously share the stories of volunteer high school newcomer students who agreed to write their journeys into this land, the land of liberty. I had the privilege of watching as they shaped these stories with voices that must not be dismissed. We publish this collection in a celebration of our young heroes whose voices and names will be declared someday out loud, breaking any and every oppressive wall, united in one voice and one heart.

Since then, more that 8,000 copies have been distributed locally on Long Island where the book was born and nationally through First Book. Now more than ever…

A RESOURCE FOR THE COMMUNITY

Storytelling is the passageway that enables us to share and preserve our culture and social norms. It humanizes the issue and is a way of instilling and strengthening our moral values. Storytelling ​can transform our perception of the world. This book is a tool that allows us to step into a world that teaches us the power of the human spirit.

Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, former executive director of Long Island Wins

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