MLK Day 2024:
On Dr. King’s 95th birthday, let’s
Take Action to Support Children and their Families
at the US/Mexico Border
Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.
You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Dr. King
Learn:
- Watch a 6 minute Nickelodeon News story about children at the border and what the Butterfly Effect project is doing to help
- Read about what the Sidewalk School is doing by clicking here
Do:
- Make a bracelet (or 5!) to send to a child served by the Sidewalk School. Make bracelets from beads or embroidery thread, or get creative! Ask someone if you need help!
- Use the art supplies to make a welcoming card for a child at the Sidewalk School (in Spanish or Kreyol)
Advocate:
Asylum policies are currently under attack, and are being debated in Congress right NOW. Check out the links below – you can learn more and sign a petition/write to your Senator/Representative to encourage Congress to consider humane asylum policies.
- Read the Welcome with Dignity Brief about what’s at stake right now
- Human Rights First: Email your congresspeople using these links: Save Asylum – Human Rights First
- National Immigrant Justice Center: Send a message to protect asylum now!
- CGRS: Refugee and Human Rights Law Experts Urge Congress to Uphold Asylum: Learn more about what’s happening – check out this Refugee and Human Rights Law Experts Urge Congress to Uphold Asylum
- See what Physicians for Human Rights is up to: Read “White House Must Not Sacrifice U.S. Asylum System in Funding Negotiations: PHR” and then act to Help secure justice for separated families
- Learn more about what the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests we do to support the health of immigrant children
Support Children & Families at the US/Mexico Border
Youth and adults from the Butterfly Effect have been visiting border towns -including Tijuana, Matamoros and Reynosa – in Mexico to support children and families seeking asylum. We volunteer with some amazing partners to provide humanitarian and medical support. And thanks to many of YOU, we are able to send gifts of friendship bracelets and donations of toys, blankets, and clothes to families seeking asylum at the border.
We know that the border crisis continues. There are a lot of people who still need support.
We are working with some incredible partners who are committed to providing ongoing support to immigrant families.
- The Sidewalk School provides quality education, medical care, employment, housing, and food assistance to those who would go without as they experience displacement on the Mexico border.
- Refugee Health Alliance provides migrants and refugees along the US-Mexico Border with inclusive and ethical medical care.
- Humane Borders works with government land managers and non-profit groups to make water and other lifesaving resources available to migrants on both sides of the border.
- Team Brownsville provides humanitarian aid to asylum seekers in the cities of Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico and they welcome and support families released by US authorities into the United States at the Brownsville Bus Station.
We STILL need your help!
You can:
- Donate money to the amazing organizations above!
- Donate supplies to our partners. They need towels, books (in Spanish & Haitian Creole), hygiene kits, and more!
Kids can get involved in these efforts too! You can make friendship bracelets or run a donation drive at school or ask friends and family to make donations. Check out our “get involved” page to learn more!
Spread the word: We are still fighting for you!
A video message for the kids still being detained at the border…
Share this video from @EffectMigration to help #EndChildDetention and let the kids in detention know, we are still fighting for you! http://bit.ly/BE-Still-Fighting-For-You #youthled #art #activism #craftivism #ButterflyEffect #FamiliesBelongTogether #MigrationIsBeautiful
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What is the Butterfly Effect: Migration is Beautiful Project?
The butterfly effect is the idea that a small change can lead to a much bigger change.
Bay Area youth started the Butterfly Effect: Migration is Beautiful project in 2019 as a way to stand up for migrant children being detained at the US southern border. The youth started with a goal of creating 15,000 butterflies as a visual representation of what was happening to children at the US southern border. Butterflies symbolize that migration is beautiful, and they are all different and beautiful in their own way, just like people.
Over the past few years, hundreds of kids and adults across the world created over 60,000 butterflies as symbols of friendship and solidarity. These hand-made butterflies were then displayed across the country in libraries, schools, community centers in an effort to show our support for kids at the border and raise awareness of the conditions they are facing. You can see pictures of some of our displays here.
We were also invited to display 15,000 butterflies in the US Russell Senate Rotunda. We delivered butterflies to elected officials in all 50 states, and even to the White House. We’ve sent butterflies to kids in detention centers in the US.
Our message to kids entering the US is that we see you, we care about you and we welcome you. All kids should be free and with the people who love them.
Why did we start this project?
We started this advocacy project because we wanted to get people to realize just how many children are being held in the detention centers. We chose butterflies because they symbolize that migration is beautiful, and because they are all different and beautiful in their own way, just like people. Every kid matters, and we kids in the Bay Area want the kids who are coming to this country to know that we care about each one of them and that we welcome them. Butterflies also symbolize freedom, and we imagine a day when all kids are free and with their families.
“Until You’re Free” by the 2-time-Grammy-nominated Alphabet Rockers!
Want to help?
Public Displays
Did you know that a collection of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope?
In 2019-2020, children created 60,000 butterflies and displayed in schools, community centers, public buildings, and more as a way to raise awareness and show solidarity with children at the border.
Thank you to our partners & supporters!!
Our key partners are the Alphabet Rockers, Amnesty International, Destiny Arts Center, The Center for Cultural Power (formerly CultureStrike) MomsRising / MamásConPoder, and Tsuru for Solidarity. The line “migration is beautiful” comes from the Center for Cultural Power. We are grateful to Favianna Rodriguez for letting us use her beautiful art!
We are officially a member of Intersection for the Arts. Intersection for the Arts is a historic arts nonprofit that provides people working in arts and culture with fiscal sponsorship and resources to grow. Thank you, Intersection for the Arts!
Watch this video to learn more about the work we have done in 2020 & 2021, and then please make a tax-deductible donation to help support our work!
THANK YOU
for supporting our work!
Get in Touch
The Butterfly Effect: Migration is Beautiful
butterflyeffectmigration@gmail.com
Follow us on Social Media
The Butterfly Effect: Migration is Beautiful 