Julissa will discuss the lie that assimilation leads to belonging. She will comb through history and her own story to break down this myth. Julissa offers a bold new promise: Belonging only comes through celebrating yourself, your history, your culture, and everything that makes you uniquely you. Only in turning away from assimilation can we truly make America beautiful. An America where difference is celebrated, heritage is shared and embraced, and belonging is for everyone. Through unearthing veiled history and reclaiming her own identity, Julissa shows us how to do this.

Chicago Public Library is pleased to welcome Julissa Arce author of You Sound Like A White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation as part of our Voices for Justice series and in celebration of Latinx Heritage Month. 

Julissa Arce is a writer, activist, and social changemaker. She is the nationally best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, CNN, CNBC, Vogue and other outlets. Her newest book, You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation, is a powerful dual polemic and manifesto against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America. Instead, she calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans.

Prior to becoming an author and immigrant rights activist, Julissa built a successful career on Wall Street working for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, and had seemingly achieved the American Dream—yet she was not part of what legally defined an American.

Julissa immigrated to America from Mexico at the age of 11 and was undocumented for almost 15 years, some of them spent rising to prominence on Wall Street. In order to help other young people in similar circumstances, she co-founded the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF). AEF is a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students in New York City, regardless of their ethnicity, national origin or immigration status.

Julissa was named one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2022, and 2018’s Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. She is a leading voice in the fight for social justice, immigrant rights and education equality.

Julissa serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center. She was officially sworn in as an American citizen in August of 2014 and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two cats, Nikko and Pancho.

She will be in conversation with Kelly Garcia. Kelly Garcia is a bilingual staff writer for the Chicago Reader, the city's bi-weekly alternative newspaper, where she writes about politics, police, and intra community issues on the Southwest Side. She was previously a summer reporting resident for Injustice Watch and a Civic Reporting Fellow for City Bureau. She also has bylines at a variety of Chicago-based outlets including The TRiiBE, South Side Weekly, and The Daily Line. She's from the sunny state of Florida, but has roots in Peru.

This program is made possible thanks to generous support from the Chicago Public Library Foundation. For more information on the Foundation, visit cplfoundation.org.

The book can also be purchased online from Latinx owned bookstores and other outlets. 

How to Attend:

This event will take place live on CPL's YouTube channel and CPL's Facebook page. You'll be able to ask questions during the event as well! Can't make it to the live stream? We'll archive the video on YouTube to watch later.

Accessibility

Automatic captioning is available via Facebook and YouTube's closed captioning setting. Need sign language interpretation or other accommodations for this event? Please call (312) 747-8184. Requests must be made at least 14 business days before the event.

Program: Latinx History Suitable for: Adults
Teens
Type: Author Events
Language: English

Julissa Arce is a national best-selling author, speaker, and social change-maker. Her latest book, “You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation” chronicles her own story and journey. In her upcoming learning session, Julissa will share her thoughts on how belonging comes through celebrating yourself, your history, your culture, and everything that makes you uniquely you.

Join Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club as they interview authors Julissa Arce (YOU SOUND LIKE A WHITE GIRL: THE CASE FOR REJECTING ASSIMILATION); Alex Segura (SECRET IDENTITY); and Tania de Regil (SOMETHING ABOUT GRANDMA).

The first a bold memoir that makes the case for rejecting assimilation. The second is a mystery involving superheroes. The third is in celebration of Grandparents Day, September 11. It’s a sweet tale of connecting with your Abuela.

Meet authors Julussa Arce, Alex Segura & Tania de Regil on Mon, Sept 26, 7pmCT via zoom. Register now & you may win a free book!

MEX talks is an annual speaker showcase created by Latinos Progresando to give Mexican and Mexican American leaders the platform to reflect on a shared identity and tell stories to inspire positive change.

This unique, highly-anticipated forum convenes a range of voices, including entrepreneurs, lawyers, students, teachers, and nearly everything in between. And just as the stage has been given to our most established community figures, MEX talks has expressly sought to elevate emerging leaders, whose stories haven’t yet been told.

Centering the voices, expertise, and experiences of Mexican@s in Chicago and beyond, the 10th annual MEX talks will celebrate The Joy of Being Mexican.

MEX talks is now sold out. Please visit Latinos Progresando’s YouTube to watch our livestream.

Join us for our 24th annual Multicultural Youth Leadership Conference Community Event. This will be an evening to enjoy a FREE DINNER, cultural performances, art, and keynote speaker, Julissa Arce.

Julissa Arce is a writer, activist, and social changemaker. She is the nationally best-selling author of “My (Underground) American Dream” and “Someone Like Me.” Her newest book, “You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation,” is a powerful dual critic and manifesto against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America. Instead, she calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans.

The cultural performers include Hoop Dancers, Los Guadalupanos, and the German Harvest Fest Polka Dancers.

When: September 21st, 2022 5:30PM-8:00PM Dinner begins at 6PM
Where: Gering Civic Center 1050 M St. Gering, NE 69341

To RSVP please contact Empowering Families at (402) 480-5403 or complete this form bit.ly/mylcevent2022

Latinx Heritage Month organizers from El Centro — CSU’s diversity office for the Latinx community — said they can feel the excitement among students building for this year’s celebration.

In collaboration with RAMEvents and WGAC, this year our LHM Keynote speaker is Julissa Arce. Julissa Arce is a writer, activist, and social changemaker. She is the nationally best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, CNN, CNBC, Vogue and other outlets. Her newest book, You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation, is a powerful dual polemic and manifesto against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America. Instead, she calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans.

The Latino Alternative Business Forum, a two-day in person event where we will amplify Latino business leaders, small business owners and thought leaders through: 

Expert Panels, Think Tanks, and content creation and so much more. Hosted by our very own and diverse LATV talent, the two-day networking event will include a cocktail hour, performances, panels, interviews and many surprises, directly filmed from our State-Of-The-Art studios in Los Angeles, CA, where four of our main primetime shows stages will be built to have an exclusive experience that you’ll be able to see on a special that will air on LATV during Hispanic Heritage Month.

All times are listed in Central Time.

Holocaust Museum Houston kicks off Latinx Heritage Month with author Julissa Arce who will discuss her newest book, You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case For Rejecting Assimilation.

Julissa Arce is a writer, activist, and social changemaker. She is the nationally best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, CNN, CNBC, Vogue and other outlets. Her newest book, You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation, is a powerful dual polemic and manifesto against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America. Instead, she calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans. Prior to becoming an author and immigrant rights activist, Julissa built a successful career on Wall Street working for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and had seemingly achieved the American Dream—yet she was not part of what legally defined an American. Julissa immigrated to America from Mexico at the age of 11 and was undocumented for almost 15 years, some of them spent rising to prominence on Wall Street. In order to help other young people in similar circumstances, she co-founded the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF). AEF is a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students in New York City, regardless of their ethnicity, national origin or immigration status.  

Julissa was named one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2022, and 2018’s Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. She is a leading voice in the fight for social justice, immigrant rights and education equality. Julissa serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center. She was officially sworn in as an American citizen in August of 2014 and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two cats, Nikko and Pancho.

Special thanks to Amigos Meat Distributors, LP for generously supporting the Museum’s Latinx Heritage Month Lecture and Film Series.

Julissa Arce presents her book You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation

About this event

Julissa Arce is a best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream (Entre Las Sombras del Sueño Americano) and Someone Like Me (Alguien Como Yo). Arce immigrated to the US from Mexico at the age of 11 and was undocumented for almost 15 years, some of them spent rising to prominence on Wall Street. She made national and international headlines when she revealed that she had achieved the American Dream of wealth and status at Goldman Sachs all while undocumented. She was named one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2019 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. She has appeared on Oprah’s Book Club, CNN, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, NPR, Fox Business News, Telemundo, Bloomberg TV and Univision among other networks. Her writing has been published on TIME, The New York Times, Vogue, BuzzfeedCrooked, Media, Huffington Post, Fusion, CNN, CNN en Español, The Hill, and Univision. She serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center. Her book, My Underground American Dream is currently being developed as a television series with producer and actor America Ferrera.

She will be reading from her new book You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation. As a brown immigrant from Mexico, assimilation had been demanded of her since the moment she set foot in San Antonio, Texas. In this dual polemic and manifesto, Julissa dives into and tears apart the lie that assimilation leads to belonging. She combs through history and her own story to break down this myth, arguing that assimilation is a moving finish line designed to keep Black and Brown Americans and immigrants chasing racist American ideals.

Date: Saturday, May 21, 2022

Time: 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM CT

Session Location: Russell Hill Rodgers Tent, Central Library 

Signing Location: Festival Marketplace

Moderator: Cat Cardenas, Texas Monthly

Description: ASSIMILATION AND BELONGING

In You Sound Like a White Girl, bestselling author Julissa Arce questions the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants and calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that make us Americans.

Get the latests details here: https://sabookfestival.org/schedule-event/julissa-arce/

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL: The San Antonio Book Festival unites readers and writers in a celebration of ideas, books, libraries, and literary culture. The 10th annual San Antonio Book Festival will return to the Central Library and Southwest School of Art on May 21, 2022 and will feature more than 70 authors. 

Enjoy an evening of engaging conversation with Reyna Grande and Julissa Arce, moderated by Yarel Ramos from Univision. Reyna is an award-winning author, motivational speaker, and writing teacher. She’ll discuss her newest novel, “A Ballad of Love and Glory.” Julissa, who left behind a Wall Street career is an outspoken advocate for immigrants, will present her latest work, “You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation.”

REGISTER HERE

Cost of ticket covers the cost of one copy of You Sound Like a White Girl that will be signed by Julissa Arce the night of the event!

Vaccination status will be checked at the door & masks are required.

Julissa Natzely Arce Raya in conversation with America Ferrera

THIS IS A VIRTUAL EVENT.

Join Julissa Natzely Arce Raya, in conversation with America Ferrera, to celebrate the launch of her new book, YOU SOUND LIKE A WHITE GIRL: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation.

In partnership with BookPeople, Creating Conversations, and Loyalty Bookstore.

Time: Mar 25, 2022 4:00 PM PT/ 7:00 PM ET

REGISTER HERE.

Immigration in America

NBC Reporter Jacob Soboroff, social justice advocate Julissa Arce and journalist Todd Miller will share their thoughts on immigration in America. Where can we go from here? Let's listen in.

Student Union Gallagher Theater (Seats 340)
Sun, Mar 13, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Current Issues / Politics / Social Science
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area - UA BookStore Tent (on Mall) (following presentation)

Panelists: Julissa Arce, Todd Miller, Jacob Soboroff
Moderator: Celeste González de Bustamante

Visit the festival website for more info: https://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org

Someone Like Me: My Journey for the (underground) American Dream

A panel discussion with a local immigration activist and SCU faculty member Deep Gulasekaram

Hispanic Heritage Month Recognition/Speaker Series

We are proud to invite you to participate in our Latina Empowerment Luncheon. This event celebrates the accomplishments of Latinas in business, politics, and advocacy. All proceeds benefit our scholarship program and programs benefitting women in Stanislaus County.