Our guest speaker is Orlando Rodriguez professor of Sociology and Criminology at Fordham University. Dr. Rodriguez was instrumental in creating a minor in Peace and Justice Studies, as well as expanding community service learning at Fordham. He is a volunteer teacher at Sing Sing Correctional as part of Rising Hope, a one-year program for prisoners resulting in college credit and certificate in Ministry and Human Services. He has wide experience as researcher at Vera Institute of Justice, Hispanic Research Center among other entities.

In describing his address Dr. Rodriguez writes: In 1955, my parents and I moved from Havana to New York City for job opportunities and education. I was 13 and had no say in the decision. Three years ago I started wondering why almost every generation of my family since the 18th century has migrated to a different region in Spain and/or another country altogether, most notably, Cuba. Using my family tree going back as far as I can using public records and family lore, I am writing a book about emigration, using them as a case study. In order to understand and try to answer the “why” of the title, I have been researching the economic, political and social conditions of each period in history and patterns of migration.