Image - detail from book cover
Past Event

Sheriff Joe Arpaio vs. the Latino Activists Who Took Him Down

Journalists Terry Greene Sterling and Jude Joffe-Block spent years chronicling the human consequences of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s relentless immigration enforcement in Maricopa County, Arizona. In Driving While Brown, they tell the tale of two opposing movements that redefined Arizona’s political landscape—the restrictionist cause embraced by Arpaio and the Latino-led resistance that rose up against it.

Sterling and Joffe-Block reported on Arpaio, his supporters, and his adversaries, including Lydia Guzman, who gathered evidence for a racial-profiling lawsuit that took surprising turns. Guzman joined a coalition determined to stop Arpaio, reform unconstitutional policing, and fight for Latino civil rights. In the process, Arpaio transformed from "America’s Toughest Sheriff," who forced inmates to wear pink underwear, into the nation’s most feared immigration enforcer who ended up receiving President Donald Trump’s first pardon.

Join us for an online discussion with the two authors and their investigative reporting, which provided critical insights into the planning and community organizing that helped transform Arizona from a conservative stronghold into a battleground state.

Notes

This is a free, online-only program; please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event. 

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Find more programs of "The Michelle Meow Show" at The Commonwealth Club.

Sterling photo by Deanna Dent; Block photo by Nick Oza.

July 29, 2021

United States

Speakers
Image - Terry Greene Sterling

Terry Greene Sterling

Affiliated Faculty and Writer-in-Residence, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, Arizona State University; Author, Illegal; Co-Author, Driving While Brown: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance

Image - Jude Joffe-Block

Jude Joffe-Block

Reporter; Co-Author, Driving While Brown: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Versus the Latino Resistance

Image - Michelle Meow

Michelle Meow

Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show" on KBCW/KPIX TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Twitter @msmichellemeow—Co-Host

Image - John Zipperer

John Zipperer

Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club—Co-host