Claudia Luz Suarez
Alameda County
Project: Our Story, Our Lens: Faces of the Undocumented
Claudia was raised in East Oakland and, at 23-years-old, she is an aspiring documentary filmmaker.
As a first-generation undocumented student in a predominantly white institution, her way of “resisting” was grounding her film work in her communities’ struggles. Her films explore immigration policies, the changing political climate, violence, gentrification in Oakland, sustainability practices of communities of color, and educational barriers. Claudia strives to center youth and community voices in all of her
work.
While media work is her focus, it is completely intertwined with her community work in Oakland. Due to educational inequities that she experienced during her time in the Oakland Unified School District, her activism has focused on working with youth in the field of education. During her sophomore year of college, she co-founded the non-profit organization East Oakland DREAMers with her high school counselor in order to increase access to post-secondary resources for undocumented students.
Claudia is creating a documentary series that focuses on acts of representation, remembering, and archiving of the undocumented experiences of migrants who are often ignored by media due to age, nationality, or status. Through collaboration with East Oakland DREAMers and 67 Sueños, Claudia will offer media training to migrant youth who will lead in production of this documentary series. Her goal is to collect a vast library of resources to match with undocumented migrants who participate in this project in order to further support their needs and special circumstances.
Alameda County
Project: Our Story, Our Lens: Faces of the Undocumented
Claudia was raised in East Oakland and, at 23-years-old, she is an aspiring documentary filmmaker.
As a first-generation undocumented student in a predominantly white institution, her way of “resisting” was grounding her film work in her communities’ struggles. Her films explore immigration policies, the changing political climate, violence, gentrification in Oakland, sustainability practices of communities of color, and educational barriers. Claudia strives to center youth and community voices in all of her
work.
While media work is her focus, it is completely intertwined with her community work in Oakland. Due to educational inequities that she experienced during her time in the Oakland Unified School District, her activism has focused on working with youth in the field of education. During her sophomore year of college, she co-founded the non-profit organization East Oakland DREAMers with her high school counselor in order to increase access to post-secondary resources for undocumented students.
Claudia is creating a documentary series that focuses on acts of representation, remembering, and archiving of the undocumented experiences of migrants who are often ignored by media due to age, nationality, or status. Through collaboration with East Oakland DREAMers and 67 Sueños, Claudia will offer media training to migrant youth who will lead in production of this documentary series. Her goal is to collect a vast library of resources to match with undocumented migrants who participate in this project in order to further support their needs and special circumstances.
