NEWS

An official DreamWeek event, this free film screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with students who have traveled the world with Summer of Service, a local organization that looks to “educate San Antonio youth through community service (service-learning) and travel abroad.”

The documentary itself, released in 2008, follows adventurers-turned-documentarians Denis Belliveau and Francis O’Donnell as they “retrace Marco Polo’s entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice to China and back.” Through the course of the breathtaking and deeply empathetic 90-minute film, which fuses shots from their journey with quotations from Polo’s own descriptions of his, the two learn a great deal about themselves and discover that travel can serve as a kind of antidote to xenophobia and bigotry.

DreamWeek.

DreamWeek / DreamVoice is in full force! What event have you gone to? Did you know San Antonio hosts the largest MLK march in the nation? #MLKDay #ihaveadream #DreamWeek

Conversations on equality and minority rights don’t happen in a vacuum. Many of this year’s DreamWeek events focus on issues pulled straight from local, state and national news headlines. Here’s a few we’ll be tuning in to.

Immigrant Rights After the 85th Legislative Session and the End of DACA
Immigrant rights advocates spent 2017 fighting political moves that would significantly impact the lives of undocumented immigrants, on both a state and national level. Last summer, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 4, known as an anti-sanctuary, “show me your papers” law, and later in the year, President Donald Trump announced he’d be ending DACA, the program that allowed undocumented people who had arrived in the U.S. as children to legally live and work here. This presentation organized by the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund will discuss the impact those moves will have on the immigrant community, and inform community members how to get involved with legislation. Sat. Jan. 6, 2018 from 10 a.m. – noon. El Progreso Hall, 1306 Guadalupe St.

Planned Parenthood’s Second Annual Action Forum
For the second year in a row, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes will be hosting a forum to talk about their victories and losses in 2017, and what’s on their radar for the new year. Staff and activists are calling on the community to get involved to help them strategize ways to improve reproductive health access and women’s rights in the next election cycle. Wed. Jan. 10, 2018 from 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Movement Gallery/ Galeria de Movimiento, 1412 E Commerce St.

Digital Inclusion
This panel brimming with local leaders, internet service providers and organizations will go over the importance of internet access in San Antonio, and what it means to be a “Digitally Inclusive Community. ” The panel, hosted by the brand-new Upgrade SA, will discuss achieving city-wide digital inclusion for all residents, and why universal internet connectivity is an important resource to improve education and provide more career opportunities for all. Fri. Jan. 19, from 4-6 p.m. Las Palmas Branch Library, 515 Castroville Rd.

From headlines about unequal pay based on gender to rampant sexual harassment in some industries, women are speaking up about their rights. A local group is working to give women in San Antonio a voice to do just that and more.

San Antonio’s sixth annual DreamWeek summit kicked off Friday, the beginning of two weeks of community programming aimed at advancing tolerance, diversity, and equality while celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

Through lecture series, workshops, mixers, film screenings, art shows, live music, and other gatherings, DreamWeek organizers seek to foster healthy public discourse about relevant topics in today’s society. What started with 30 events six years ago has grown into a 16-day commemoration with more than 226 events throughout the city organized with 180 local partners.

Of those partners, 90 are participating in DreamWeek for the first time.