LatinaLista —
Campaign: Destino – A book about the destiny of Central American migrants searching for American Dream
Destino, meaning “destination” or “destiny” in Spanish, tells the story of undocumented Central American migrants and the perilous journey by freight train across Mexico, as they attempt to enter the United States in pursuit of a better life.
In Destino, photographer Michelle Frankfurter seeks to capture the experience of people who struggle to control their own destiny when confronted by extreme circumstances.
Destino is both a social commentary on one of the biggest global issues of the time and an epic adventure tale.
It conveys the experience of a generation of exiles, driven by poverty and the dysfunction of failed states, traveling across a landscape that has become increasingly dangerous, heading towards a precarious future as a last resort.
The unprecedented wave of Central American migration began a full century after Mexican immigration to the US, the consequence of bloody civil wars, US cold war intervention and crippling international trade policies.
Such conflicts left a legacy of drug and gang related violence, rampant domestic abuse, and unrelenting poverty.
Despite an economic downturn, anti-immigrant sentiment, and a stalled immigration reform bill, Central American migration is on the rise. Destino addresses the root causes behind this wave of human migration.
Frankfurter’s aim in Destino is to take the viewer beyond what is expected and humanize the real-life individuals behind the polarizing political debate, to draw attention to the underlying causes behind this migration and see and feel the humanity of these people who seek no more than the security and prosperity that they imagine is lived within the United States.
The campaign’s goal is $18,500 and ends June 27.
Featured Photo: Salvadoran migrant, Hermanos en El Camino migrant shelter, Ixtepéc, Oaxaca. 2009
