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Leading with the Heart Is the Theme of the 2024 Blockstein Lecture

04/01/2024 02:44:37 PM

Apr1

By Lynn Silverman

“Leading with the heart” is the approach this year’s Blockstein presenter, Bojana Zorić Martinez, has followed in her work with refugees. Bojana is the state refugee coordinator and director of refugee programs at the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. A refugee herself, having fled as a teenager with her family from war-torn Bosnia in 1995, she knows what it’s like to be torn away from everything you know and navigate a new culture, frightened and vulnerable, but determined to make a new life. 

Speaking to a large audience on February 11, Bojana noted that the UN Commission on Human Rights estimates that there are 110 million displaced people in the world today, 40 million of whom are refugees, and half of whom are children. Shockingly, fewer than 1% of these displaced people get to resettle in a country like the U.S. She emphasized that this is why she is so passionate about making sure we resettle as many people as we can, by building our capacity and growing our programs. These include programs for migrants at the southern border, asylum-seeking migrants, migrants on humanitarian parole, and undocumented migrants. Many of these people have experienced the same kind of trauma as refugees but are not looked at the same way and are not able to receive the same benefits. 

While in the past few years the U.S. has had increasing numbers of refugees and migrants due to the crisis in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, climate change, civil wars, and violence, this coming year a record number of refugees is expected due to the situations in Cuba and Haiti, among others. 

Making this crisis even more challenging is the way refugee resettlement, once a bipartisan issue, has become politicized. In addition to misinformation, there has been the development of hate groups who are threatened by people who don’t look like them, don’t have the same religion, etc. Yet refugees are the most vetted group in the U.S., waiting two years or longer to receive permission to enter the country. 

Asked what we as individuals can do, Bojana emphasized that it takes a village. Wisconsin has been a welcoming state due to the support of volunteers and the teams of people in agencies such as Jewish Social Services of Madison, Open Doors for Refugees, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, and the Office of New Americans. She urged us to keep volunteering, keep supporting local groups who provide services to refugees and immigrants, and continuing to voice our support for refugees and for immigration reform. After all, no one asks to be a refugee, but if we lead with our hearts, we can provide vulnerable people with a safe and welcoming home. 

April 29, 2024 21 Nisan 5784