North American Project

Mission statement

We first conceived of the North American Project five years ago when we began to notice xenophobia making its mainstream appearance in the U.S. media. The devastation of the El Paso shooting in August 2019, when an armed man entered a Walmart and fatally shot 23 people, showed us just how dangerous divisive political rhetoric can be for our communities.

What happened in El Paso made the North American Project not just an idea but an urgent mission. The U.S.-Mexico border is not a wall, or a line in the sand, where one culture begins and another one ends. We represent different languages and cultures that have coexisted for centuries. Our place in American history, culture and tradition is undeniable. We’ve fought every war and have been part of the American experiment every step of the way.

Yet, too often, politicians and popular culture portray our community according to simplistic stereotypes. True human tragedies, such as forced migration, drug trafficking and gang violence are reduced to glowing generalities and xenophobic rally chants that drown out the far more interesting, and often untold narratives, surrounding the binational experience. Stories of friendship and family, and of cooperation and resilience in the face of adversity by everyday people dwelling between two nations joined at the hip by a shared history, geography, heritage and common destiny.

The mission of the North American Project is to share these untold American stories with our readers.