Date: New Date: November 30th 9 am PST, (Nigeria/USA)
Cost: Suggested donation $10 US.
We will offer this program free to those whose resources are limited.
Watch a Recording of the Program
A poignant, moving memoir and urgent call to action for immigration justice by a Nigerian asylee and global gay rights and immigration activist Edafe Okporo.
On the eve of Edafe Okporo’s twenty-sixth birthday, he was awoken to a violent mob outside his window in Abuja, Nigeria. The mob threatened his life after discovering the secret Edafe had been hiding for years—that he is a gay man. Left with no other choice, he purchased a one-way plane ticket to New York City and fled for his life. Though America had always been painted to him as a land of freedom and opportunity, it was anything but when he arrived just days before the tumultuous 2016 Presidential Election.
Edafe would go on to spend the next six months at an immigration detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After navigating the confusing, often draconian, US immigration and legal system, he was finally granted asylum. But he would soon realize that America is exceptionally good at keeping people locked up but is seriously lacking in integrating freed refugees into society.
Asylum is Edafe’s eye-opening, thought-provoking memoir and manifesto, which documents his experiences growing up gay in Nigeria, fleeing to America, navigating the immigration system, and making a life for himself as a Black, gay immigrant. Alongside his personal story is a blaring call to action—not only for immigration reform but for a just immigration system for refugees everywhere. This book imagines a future where immigrants and asylees are treated with fairness, transparency, and compassion. It aims to help us understand that home is not just where you feel safe and welcome but also how you can make it feel safe and welcome for others.
About the Author
Edafe Okporo was born in Warri, Nigeria. He migrated to the United States in 2016 as an asylum seeker and is now a refugee of the United States. Edafe is a global gay rights activist and the former executive director of the RDJ Refugee Shelter in Harlem, which helps refugees transition to life in America. He is now the Mobilization Director at Talent Beyond Boundaries, an organization that aims to utilize refugees in our global workforce. Edafe is among the inaugural winners of the David Prize, which honors individuals with bold visions for creating a better and brighter New York City. He is also a Logo 30 Honoree. He lives in New York City.
About the Host
Felipe Zurita, Marketing Director for the Charter for Compassion, has been bringing awareness to the Golden Rule and empathy with his energetic Millennial, Latinx, Immigrant, Queer voice and experiences to the compassionate movement for 5 years, joining the Charter for Compassion in 2021 to amplify its reach via social media and projects with his social marketing and project coordination skills. His involvement and focus in the interfaith world, has allowed him to organize and work with many faiths and spiritual practices to bring more equality and equity to marginalized communities working towards social justice.
