Amelia Gonzales ’17 is featured in a new half-hour documentary special, “A Family of Us,” which is part of the PBS American Portrait initiative. The episode will premiere on Sunday, August 2 at 10:30 PM EST.
Amelia’s father, Ernesto, was released from prison in February 2020 after serving a 10-year-sentence for a crime that he did not commit. The special, which is all about familial relationships in America, captures Amelia’s long-awaited, emotional reunion with her father when she is finally able to fly from New York to San Francisco to see him again. Amelia also shares the toll incarceration takes on families like hers and why the years-long separation from her father was so painful.
“Family of Us” will also be available for streaming online from all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, and Chromecast.
Amelia graduated from Antioch College in 2017 with a BA in Anthropology. Following graduation she has worked as a filmmaker and worked on advocacy and lobbying for the prison justice movement. Although she has confronted much hopelessness and despair through her work, she remains “relentless when it comes to transforming my community and the world.”
About PBS American Portrait
Launched on January 10, 2020, PBS American Portrait, a national storytelling project aligned with PBS’s 50th-anniversary celebration, is the organization’s most ambitious multiplatform project in its history. A digital-first initiative produced by RadicalMedia, PBS American Portrait begins as a platform for user-generated content participation and is envisioned to encompass publishing, short-form content, classroom engagement, a web miniseries, public art installations, live events and, in January 2021, a nationally televised documentary series. Leveraging the local reach of PBS through its member stations, PBS American Portrait presents a mosaic of our country’s diversity by connecting tens of thousands of people across the country, creating a communal voice through individual stories of joy, hardship, triumphs, and sorrow. Participants will be able to tell and share their own stories, and see the stories shared by a wide panorama of Americans, united by a series of prompts that will serve as conversation starters, including: “I was raised to believe…,” “The tradition I carry on is…,” “What keeps me up at night is…,” “When I step outside my door…” and “Most days I feel…,” among others like, “I never expected…,” added in response to COVID-19, “Now is the time…” added to encourage people to share their stories about race in light of recent events.
