Building Better Tomorrows

As one of six projects created through Groundswells Summer Leadership Institute in 2007, young men in our Making History program explored what it means to be an immigrant father in Brooklyn. The team then transformed this investigation into a monumental mural for PS 24, a bilingual public school in Sunset Park that primarily serves children of Latin American immigrants. The mural is comprised of thirteen separate walls, which together illustrate the journey of male immigrants to the United States. In the first, a silhouette of a father holds his baby against the background of a sunset. The next eleven walls address issues such as frustration at not knowing English, the challenge of building a new community outside of ones homeland, and accessing new opportunities. In the thirteenth and final wall, a child sits on a stack of books. He holds a key that represents the opportunity that his father has afforded him by immigrating. A sunrise in the background evokes a better tomorrow for immigrant families.