SUMMARY
(UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) announces that in light of the current surge of COVID-19 cases and anticipating potential staff shortages, January events are rescheduled to later dates this winter and spring. A&L remains committed to bringing its originally programmed season to the stage as soon as possible, and is actively working to anticipate any challenges. Details about the precautions A&L is taking will continue to be updated on the Season FAQs page.)
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UCSB Arts & Lectures presents New York Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott on Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City
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Her recent five-part series, Invisible Child examined homelessness through the lens of an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl. The series won a George Polk Award, helped reignite a conversation about the dire state of poverty in America and inspired a bestselling book of the same name.
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Selected as one of the 10 Best Books of 2021 by The New York Times, #1 Best Nonfiction Book by Amazon Editors, 2021, President Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2021,Time Top 3 Nonfiction Books of 2021, The Atlantic “Books We Love” and NPR Best Biographies of 2021.
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The presentation is part of the Justice For All series, featured in the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative
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Wednesday, March 9 / 7:30 p.m. Pacific / Campbell Hall
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$20.00: General Public / FREE for UCSB Students (Current student ID required)
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Health & Safety: Proof of full vaccination is required for entry to all indoor A&L events and masks are required until further notice. Unvaccinated patrons, regardless of age, will not be permitted inside the venue. Visit https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/SeasonFAQs/ for updates and further details.
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Tickets/Info: (805) 893-3535, www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu or (805) 963-4408 / AXS
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This event includes an at-home viewing option (live stream only; no replay).
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents New York Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott on Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City, Wednesday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Pacific at Campbell Hall. The presentation is part of the Justice For All series, featured in the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative.
Andrea Elliott puts a human face to topics ranging from child poverty to Muslim life in the U.S. Her recent five-part series,Invisible Child, examined homelessness through the lens of an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl. The series won a George Polk Award, helped reignite a conversation about the dire state of poverty in America and inspired a bestselling book of the same name. Previously, Elliott’s coverage of Islam in America broke new ground in the study of radicalization and earned her a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.
ABOUT ANDREA ELLIOTT
“With compassion and curiosity, [Elliott]… makes visible the cycles of poverty, inequity, and resilience that plague families across the United States.” Publishers Weekly
Andrea Elliott is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and the author of Invisible Child, published by Random House. Since joining The New York Times in 2003, Elliott has specialized in long-form investigative journalism. Her reporting on the life of Dasani Coates, a homeless child, won a 2014 George Polk award, and her series, “An Imam in America,” was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.
Elliott has received honorary doctorates from Occidental College and from Niagara University, which cited her “courage, perseverance, and a commitment to fairness for those without a public voice rarely demonstrated among writers today.” Her writing has been featured in the collections “Best Newspaper Writing” and “Islam for Journalists: A Primer on Covering Muslim American Communities in America.”
Elliott came to The Times from The Miami Herald, where she covered crime, immigration and Latin American politics. Raised in Washington, D.C. by a Chilean immigrant mother and an American father, she attended Occidental College before earning a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in 1999.
ABOUT INVISIBLE CHILD
Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child with an imagination as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn homeless shelter. Born at the turn of a new century, Dasani is named for the bottled water that comes to symbolize Brooklyn’s gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. As Dasani grows up, moving with her tight-knit family from shelter to shelter, this story goes back to trace the passage of Dasani’s ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. By the time Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis is exploding as the chasm deepens between rich and poor.
In the shadows of this new Gilded Age, Dasani must lead her seven siblings through a thicket of problems: hunger, parental drug addiction, violence, housing instability, segregated schools, and the constant monitoring of the child-protection system. When, at age thirteen, Dasani enrolls at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, her loyalties are tested like never before. As she learns to “code switch” between the culture she left behind and the norms of her new town, Dasani starts to feel like a stranger in both places. Ultimately, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning the family you love?
By turns heartbreaking and revelatory, provocative and inspiring,Invisible Child tells an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family, and the cost of inequality. Based on nearly a decade of reporting, this book vividly illuminates some of the most critical issues in contemporary America through the life of one remarkable girl.
See A&L’s full 2022 lineup here
This is a moment that calls for Optimism, Resilience, Courage and Vision.
Santa Barbara needs Hope, and Arts & Lectures is uniquely positioned to respond.
A&L’s 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative has already inspired our community with presentations by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, chef Jose? Andre?s and author Anne Lamott. We will continue to inspire, through shared experiences with thought leaders, creative problem solvers and arts visionaries who will guide us forward. CREATING HOPE programs strengthen human connection, promote emotional well-being, joy and compassion, and envision positive change. Learn more about the CREATING HOPE:https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/CreatingHope.aspx
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Andrea Elliott Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with CALM, Family Service Agency, and the Santa Barbara Public Library
The presentation is part of the Justice For All series, featured in the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative
$20.00 : General Public / Free for UCSB Students (Current student ID required)
For tickets and more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
Justice for All Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Zegar Family Foundation, and Anonymous
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2021-2022 season.