good morning and welcome to mosaic. i'm honored to be your host this morning. throughout our country, we are faced with a situation in which we are thinking very strongly about how it is that we listen to what another and how we are heard by one another. we would like to invite you into a wonderful conversation about a wonderful book called refugees in america stories of courage, resilience and hope in their own words.

welcome, lea. >> thank you, eric. it's a pleasure to be here with you. >> we have this big issue in our country whatever way we played on the different situations of the day. the ways that we talk with understandg and hearing other h people's stories and ways in which they are heard and ways in which you have listened to them up. let's jump in and ask you what led you to this book? what is this book? tell us the background of it. >> eric, i think that your assessment is actually right. i worry a great deal that we don't converse anymore. we've also had as an art of conversation. we have, very divisive and our political rhetoric dominates our conversation. this is about human beings, and ethical issue. for me, it started many years ago and childhood/adolescence. in 2004, when i made my first visit to eastern chad to the

refugee camps right when they were coming over. in those camps, i'd say that it's really when i std listening tofuso beof huma d i heabof humanity and what had happened to people. i made many subsequent trips. many years later, and looking at this world that we are living in, i said that i wanted to do something. we ought to forget their israel people involved and that is what has led to this book. >> you use the term real people. listening and hearing has more to do with just the words that you hear. it has to do with the person in front of you and how you read them and listen to them and how you take in their entire being good i'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about what that was like for you and what about that was stimulating to continue understanding and

hearing stories, as opposed to reading an article about something or quote about something. what is it about being with another real human being about listening and hearing? >> i love being with people and technology is great. there is nothing like being with another person because there is so much more than the words. in any of the work that i've done or any of the work of the book that i did, throughout the years i tried to be fully president. for my book, i thanked all those interviews because i do not want to be preoccupied with writing down things. i can't read my own handwriting anyway. it means being fully present and it's really bearing witness to another person's life. i view it as a privilege when people share their story with you. the most difficult of times. when they have some hope. when i got a break. when somebody was there for them. really going out of your self into their story and not framing it and wants words, but let it just poured out and

really take it in. >> shall we jump in? is there a little bit of a section or a story? >> that would be great. all of these lovely people are incredible. i will take one. she is iraq he, which is liberalism but not many people know a lot about. worthless think about. she talks about living in iraq at the time of hussein. in this passage and what i've done here, i highlight their words. it's their stories. on the conduit for telling the stories. she shares the words. we all lived in fear of hussein and what he might do at any time. he kept the i reiki people away from the world. anybody who was dissented was killed. to me, what hits about that line and i could read that might interest you want, in this country, we can't descent.

in democracies around the worl dissenting equals been the killed. now, we have a pretty been in this country too. it's an exception, not the world. and iraq, that was the ball. she talks about and this is what really moves me. her grandfather talk about the value of education and the value of stories. when i reached high school, my father and grandfather that it was time that i started reading books. they had three or four books in english. this is in high school. the first i read was gone with the wind. i read it in arabic because i worried that i might miss something. then, i read loving to the time of color. i read that over four times. she said that this transforming from the reality of my daily life and she goes on to say, i wanted to learn everything. i wanted to educate myself about the western world and how -- so i study the arts and

movies and she said the following to make. she said, by doing all of this reading and by learning, my friends called me the imaginary girl because i was always telling the stories of other cultures and heroes and the stories that trades for me. >> wow! we are going to take a quick break. thank you so much for that story. we jumped into this wonderful conversation. please join us back here in just a moment on mosaic.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. i'm honored to be your host. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation it was written a wonderful book. stories of courage, resilience, and hopes. in their own words. in a moment, we will ask you to read another snippet of a story, but you are talking about an iraqi woman. i know, for a lot of people, that is a new word. can we take a moment for you to explain? >> we have a little familiarity with this. in ancient history, they are monotheistic. if they believe the sun is the source of life and inspiration. they don't go to services on a weekly basis, but they have their own way of praying and

how they treat people. that they are very into. they really value human interaction and respect and dignity and all of that. some of us remember back to 2014 when they were trapped on mount center, being attacked by isis. we have labeled them as a genocide and that we did a bomb. they were being circled around the mountain and we bombed at the bottom and many of them were able to escape, but they continue to be persecuted in iraq. >> that's exactly right. >> yes. >> another story. >> yes, so the oldest person in the book is a holocaust survivor by the name of sidonia. by the way, each person, 11 people of different countries, different times, different ages. sidonia, unbelievable story and the themes of resilience, courage, hope. this one part really gets to me.

this is a woman that is fierce. she spent decades in schools talking about the holocaust and teaching people, but she shares when she was living in a bunker for three months underground and she would sneak out when she could. she was a young teenager. she shares the following. at that time, i was eating from trashcan's leftovers. there i was, a teenager with no items whatsoever for years now. my father heard that somebody, somewhere, illegally had apples for sale. he wanted them in the worst way to get an apple for me. he never came back. all i know is that i lost my father because of an apple. every time i eat an apple, i remember him. here is a person who takes an experience like that and she is an optimist about life. she is deeply aware of current events and involved in the

current situation. rather than feeling the sadness, which she does inside. she views her dad in a positive way and that she loves apples and they are always around her and her nickname is the apple lady. >> you know, the story reminds me of something that i was looking at when i read your book, in some cases, the person telling their story as told their story repeatedly. and in some cases, they are part of a group that goes to an educational setting and continues to tell the personal stories and matter of historical record for a class studying something of historical significance. in some cases, the very first time the person is telling their story and the very first time, even the most intimate family member reads or hears their story, is through your book. we will take a quick break in a moment but i wanted to ask you to comment on what is that position of stories that are repeatedly told. stories told for the very first

time? >> most, just to put it -- three out of the 11 to speak often about their stories. that is not an cu representation. mo reesarnever speaking auten to kabt the hehe and hurt and many said to me, lee, nobody has ever asked me about my story. nobody has ever sat down with me and asked. for those people, this was really cathartic that they shared it and had it in a book and now their children are seeing good and it's having a great impact on the. to me, it only emphasizes how important it is that we ask each other about our stories. >> is such an interesting comment, we can talk when we get back from the break on the affective silence on the affective not asking for not knowing. please join us back here on mosaic.

good morning and welcome back to mosa we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about his book . if you would like to have more information about refugees in america, please go to refugees in america.com. that is refugees in america.com. welcome back. we were talking about all of the different stories and i'm so interested in one of the words of the subtitle of your book, which is hope. you have a little piece on it that topic that is from one of the folks in the books and am wondering if you would take a moment to read what he said. >> yes, hope is such an important thing to have in my. for all of refugees, i think there are moments, months, years, where they lose hope but when they get a window where they can have hope. here is mayor and.

he suffered terrible brutality. he comes to the states. he gave the graduation speech at the university of san francisco in december, 2016, and these words were part of his talk. it's not an easy road, but hope is the oxygen of my life. i have hope in humanity. so simple, but so true and that, to me, is the challenge of finding hope. what is the source for that for me? why do we give up hope? people have been through so much and he reflects everyone that i've ever met has been a refugee and to still have hope in humanity, even though he has experienced the worst of it. >> you bring up such an important point and that is a big question. every tradition trust articulated as visits it can, and whatever way it does, hope.

they are core narratives. core contemporary conversations about what hope is and how it functions. a lot of times i think that we think of hope as is something that we come to understand in our own minds and that is part of it but i'm wondering, for you, what you learned about hope from these folks? >> these people taught me so much about life. what are the things, i think it's about ever radford yet met or for the most part, they have great respect for our stories. you. me. all of the viewers. everybody has a story. their stories are dramatically different because they suffer tremendous hardship, but from them, i gave insights about how to live life. about how to not take education for granted or everyday for granted and i find that in judaism, the reminder for me,

my favorite prayer, which i say every night at bed, allow me to go to bed in peace. i translated the following way. the well me to put my head on my pillow tonight and peace. being a piece with what i did today. the part of hope is, allow me to wake up tomorrow renewed it to life and to relationships again. that is a hopeful prayer and these people have really taught me and they continue to teach me that one has that strength, one has to have resilience, one has to have courage, and we all can shape a life that we want and when they the ocean,, they all talk about, they been lucky, but i had, they knew what to do with their book. they didn't squander it. they got a break and they walked right into it and went with it. >> i think that every faith tradition, part of the -- if i can use the word business.

that theology and faith traditions are in, has to do with the cultivation of hope. we are in the business of hope and maybe that is part of the rationale for faith traditions to be involved in with issues of refugees and issues of cultivating hope and issues of catching people when they take a leap of faith. issues of moving people along the way. teaching them a language and system and helping to understand a culture because it's a way of cultivating hope. i just wonder if that was a great with you about this topic? >> i think there is a deep connection. when we read stories like this were a number of stories and there are many great writers out there and when we read oral histories and stories, we learn about others lives. i think the part of it is so that we have empathy and passion. if we are motivated to help people, like refugees, and much better ways than we are helping them now, but also, it can next deep within sight of us.

what is the refugee experienced at its heart, boss. both of which, most of familiarity, everything. >> i want to ask you something because i'm sure some of our viewers are wondering about this as well. hope is very precarious in many ways. i think there are some people who would say that they actually don't get to choose the way their lights go. i think that some part of the way hope functions, you discover a place of hope that you didn't know existed. i wonder how you think about the human struggle where people really come to a point of no hope. i don't have a choice. about whatever it is. >> there are many people suffering from that and have that and i really get it. i think what refugees teachers, when you have at the window that you can find something to be hopeful about, the in

judaism for all human beings, there is always a possibility. the one quick, if i -- i have a very different with als. i recently talked with him and he refrained veered we have our book on the bucket list but he has reshaped it for how grateful he is in life for all of the things he did on the bucket list that he dreamt about and he shipped it to be realistic for what it means to have als and being confined to a wheelchair. i think the part of it is being a realistic -- being realistic about hope. i can't hope to go play professional baseball, but can i hope to be more appreciative of what i have in life? what are we hopeful about? if it is realistic, god willing with the right support, we can find the anchors of support and the stories, the skies of storie, theycan

inspire us. stories saved her life. stories took her out of that word for little village and all of the chores that thinking about the stories said, there is hope out there somewhere. >> thank you so much for getting to the complexity of it. i think what of the ideas that we don't talk about it, is the way that hope converts itself to other forms of hope alone among the way. we will take another quick break and come back to mosaic in just a moment.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about his book, refugees in america, stories of courage, resilience, and hope. in their own words. i wanted to ask you a couple logistic questions. people are thinking, i have an idea for a story. i would like to do this kind of treatment with the people i know. can you talk a little bit about how you found a publisher and how did you get the book published? how is that process? >> is a long journey and you have to have a lot of patience to ever do a book. this kind of book is much harder than i thought because i'm only reflecting their

stories. i had to work very carefully with them once i wrote their stories to make sure they were happy with it. i'm not writing a book of fiction. i'm not just writing an academic book. people's lives are at stake here and i wanted to make sure to get it right and they were comfortable. i hope to get an agent in new york and the agent shops the book and records university expressed interest and, finally, that worked out and from the time they accepted, and i didn't believe it would ever take this long, from the time it is published as a year. i kept saying to myself, why does it take so long? it just us but with a lot of time on the show. you have to have patience and good breaks. i was looking to get a agent and could publishing house. >> and the contents of the book itself, this is a category of history of oral history historic implementation? >> they are putting it into the category of human rights, oral history, but nonfiction, sort of a variety of categories

dealing with human rights. >> interesting. i wanted to ask you two quick questions. believe it or not, we are at the end of our time together. just rewinding a little bit, we talked a bit about about the people who tell their story regularly and the people who told her story for the first time. i wonder if you can comment a little bit on what that break from silences like and maybe even consequence, in a good way, outcome impact of the first time of telling a story and a really in such a public documented for every manner. >> i would say cathartic for the person telling me the story. as they got more and more into it and we spent hours upon hours together, i think the more they felt empowered that somebody was listening and cared about their story. for the family sonic about it for the first time, that mom or dad went through this. i think that some families say, why didn't you tell me earlier?

some have a much better plans and the two women in here, particularly, about the mother story and what she experienced in what she provided for the children. the impact is unfolding. the book came out and will will and i thought about that. >> what do you hope people will actually get from the book itself? >> my hope is the following. people will listen to the stories as a starting point of reframing a conversation about comprehensive immigration reform. you have to start a human story and connecting it to you and for me, eric, it's the following. we have advanced medically, scientifically, technology, et cetera, et cetera. have we advanced since the first killing, cain and abel, and it gives me hope. at times i say we haven't advanced that when i sit and listen to other human beings who share this earth, i gain

hope in the human story, and the resilience and the courage that people have. >> thank you so much for your conversation about the book, refugees in america. we would like you to read this book and more importantly, to take the time to listen to here and tell your stories. thank you so much for being with us here on it mosaic.

see the area studios this is kpix5 news. the bay area hit with the first wave of the storm overnight. some areas are under evacuation orders and some residents have chosen to stay behind. police are looking for someone who smashing windows along highway 17. even responsible responding officers windows were shattered. what new information the fda is said to review about coronavirus. let's start with a quick check of our weather. we will take a look at high def dominant which has plenty

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