Elver Barrios oral history interview

Elver Barrios was a 28-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place at J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala in 1991. He was educated at Johnson C. Smith University and was employed as a community organizer at La Coalición, or the Latin American Coalition, and as an engineer at Duke Energy.

Elver Barrios, a former staff member at La Coalicion, the Latin American Coalition (LAC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, worked for the non-profit for three years, from 2010-2013. In this interview, Mr. Barrios describes his role as a grassroots community organizer, which was to involve and organize youth in the Charlotte area, and to involve and organize community members in the Triad area. He explains that his activism is focused on immigrant rights, specifically providing undocumented students access to higher education. Mr. Barrios also shares that he was part of that group of students who dreamed of obtaining a college degree. Other topics discussed include marches and protests that took place in Charlotte; College Access para todos (College Access Plan or CAP), a program in which undocumented students could enroll and obtain a higher education; and the role of Johnson C. Smith University, the only institution in Charlotte that would accept undocumented students at the time. Mr. Barrios ends the interview by sharing the satisfaction of being part of a movement that has impacted many undocumented students.