DREAMS AND SHADOWS | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

Dreams and Shadows: An Immigrant’s Journey is the memoir of Emma Violand-Sanchez, an immigrant from Bolivia who arrived without her parents in 1961 as a senior in high school, knowing little English.  During a long and often difficult personal journey, she became a transformative figure in American public education and in service to immigrants and refugees.

Emma has been a forceful advocate for bilingual education.  She led the development of a national model for teaching English Language Learners.  She began this work at a time when large numbers of immigrants and refugees were arriving in the Washington, D.C. area, first from Indochina, then Central America, and later from scores of other countries worldwide. Many of these new arrivals brought with them the trauma of war and violence, family separation, and deep cultural and personal loss--presenting local educators with an unprecedented challenge.  

In response Emma advocated for the approval of the Bilingual GED exam in Virginia and broke new ground as the first Latina to chair a school board in Virginia.  She also led the effort to gain in-state college tuition for immigrant students who face challenge due to their immigration status; and founded The Dream Project, which has opened the doors to higher education for hundreds of immigrant and refugee families.

Emma's father was the Bolivian Ambassador to three countries; and partly, this memoir is a story about Bolivia, its political turmoil, the struggles of its indigenous people, and the “glass ceiling” many Bolivian women face.  It’s also about the immigrant experience; acculturation as a lifelong process; and about maintaining bicultural identity against the myth of the American “melting pot”.  

But mostly, Dreams and Shadows is a story about service and personal resilience.  Emma's successes have been extraordinary.  So have her struggles, beginning with the death of her first husband in Vietnam.  Her personal story unfolds against the backdrops of the Vietnam era, segregation and desegregation, the beginnings of a tidal wave of immigration, convulsive shifts in federal and state education policy, and the emergence of public education as a battleground in America’s culture wars. 

Emma Violand-Sánchez is joining us on the Busboys stage to celebrate the release of her book and share more about her journey filled with trials and triumph. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Violand-Sánchez will be signing following the program.

This event is INVITE ONLY. All RSVPs that are not on the author’s guest list will be void. Standby tickets available.

Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of DREAMS AND SHADOWS will be available for purchase before and after the event. 

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

Emma Violand-Sánchez was born in Bolivia and is an educator and fierce advocate on behalf of immigrants and refugees. She received her BS and MS degrees from Radford University and her doctorate at George Washington University. During her forty-year  career with Arlington Public Schools, Emma became the firstLatina elected to the school board. She has consulted throughout the US and Latin America and published widely in the field of education, in both Spanish and English. Her awards include a FulbrightFellowship, AAUWAmerican Fellowship,the JamesHunterIIIHuman Rights Award, the MALDEF Community Service Award, Washingtonian of the Year, an Arlington Spirit of Community Award, and the 2024 Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award.

Host or Publisher Busboys and Poets