How I Made It: Ayodele Casel
Latino USA
Ayodele Casel is a tap dancer with a career that spans more than 20 years. Her entry point into tap dancing was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. However, she didn’t start tap dancing until she was a sophomore at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Born to a Puerto Rican mother, and a Black father, she didn’t see herself reflected in the silver screen. As her career developed, she began to search for women like her and uncovered a long legacy of Black women tap dancers. In this non-narrated story, Ayodele Casel discusses her career, taking up space in a field dominated by men, and the legacy of Black tap dancers.
Teresa Urrea: The Mexican Joan of Arc
Latino USA
Teresa Urrea was a “curandera,” or a healer, a feminist, and a revolutionary. Her vision of love and equality inspired rebellions in Mexico against the Mexican dicatotor, Porfirio Díaz. In 1892, Porfirio Díaz exiled Teresa Urrea from Mexico. He called her the most dangerous girl in Mexico. She was only 19-years-old. This narrated story tells the history of Teresa Urrea, and local efforts to keep her legacy alive in El Paso, Texas, where she once lived after being exiled from Mexico.
Portrait Of: Carmen Maria Machado
Latino USA
Carmen Maria Machado is a modern-day literary phenomenon. In 2019, Machado published her experimental memoir, “In the Dream House.” The book grapples with her experience in an abusive relationship with her ex-girlfriend. She’s a bestselling author, a National Book Award fiction finalist, and a Guggenheim Fellow. In this two-way with Maria Hinojosa, Machado discusses her Cuban-American identity, horror, and the challenges of writing her memoir.
A Family Conversation On Race and Latinidad
Latino USA
In this non-narrated conversation, two Afro-Latinx cousins: Umar Williams, who is a musician and radio host living in the Twin Cities, and Alexander Newton, a strategy and analytics consultant who lives in Washington, D.C, discuss the murder of George Floyd by a white cop, Derek Chauvin. They also discuss their Panamanian culture, learning Spanish, and the intersection of their Black and Latinx identity.
Linea Abierta- Coronavirus: Extra Edition. The outbreak at Foster Farms.
Radio Bilingue
I join Chelis Lopez on air, and share my interview with Dr. Salvador Sandoval, health officer for the Merced County Department of Public Health. He talks about how the virus spread inside Foster Farms. for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Food Safety asked the MCDPH to delay their closure order for 48 hours. I also share my interview with Jesus Ruiz, a worker at Foster Farms for 29 years, who is afraid to go back to work, but says he has to make a living.
Trabajadores denuncian negligencia de empresa avícola en explosión de muertes por coronavirus
Radio Bilingue
Close to 400 workers contracted COVID-19, and at least eight workers passed away from the Foster Farms plant in Livingston. After ignoring the Merced County Department of Health’s orders to shut down, and after the threat of a boycott from the United Farmworkers Foundation, the plant partially shut down for six days.
Cerca de 400 trabajadores se contagiaron de coronavirus y 8 perdieron la vida mientras laboraban en la mega compañía procesadora de aves de corral, Foster Farms. Después de meses de ignorar las recomendaciones sanitarias oficiales y bajo la amenaza de un boicot laboral esta semana la empresa cerró sus puertas, se comprometió a desinfectar sus instalaciones y hacer pruebas de Covid-19 a sus más de 3 mil trabajadores.
Comunidad Alerta- Fresno Police Reform Commission
Radio Bilingue
Alongside, host Maria Eraña, we continue our coverage of the Fresno Police Reform Commission. We share our interview with Efrain Botello, a community organizer, one of the youngest members of the Police Reform Commission. He talks about some of the instances of police brutality he has witnessed growing up in Fresno, and why he wants to see police officers removed from schools. I did not participate in the second half of the show.
Linea Abierta- Outbreak at the Mesa Verde Detention Center
Radio Bilingue
A federal judge ordered ICE and GEO to take immediate action to stop a spiraling Covid outbreak in Mesa Verde, an immigrant detention center. I talk about the latest orders from the judge and concerns raised by lawyers, who say ICE/GEO hasn’t come up with an adequate medical plan. Lawyers raise concerns about the conditions inside Mesa Verde. I share clips from my interviews with Genna Beier, attorney with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, as well as Ambar Tovar, attorney with the United Farmworkers Foundation.
Comunidad Alerta- Fresno Police Reform Commission and Back to School
Radio Bilingue
During this episode of Comunidad Alerta I joined host, Maria Eraña. We provided and update of the General Police Reform Commission meeting. I also share my reporting on Fresno Unified School District regarding the start of classes. I spoke with the Director of Familias Empoderadas, Alis Aleman and with Adela Moreno. They talked about the technological challenges they faced, as well as the lack of translation services offered by FUSD to Spanish speaking parents and students. I also spoke with Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teacher’s Association, as well as Vanessa Ramirez, spokesperson of FUSD.
Coronavirus azota empacadora de alimentos en nuevo foco rojo de contagio
Radio Bilingue
“El valle central de California emerge como nuevo foco de la infección del coronavirus y las empacadoras de alimentos han pasado a la primera línea de batalla. Más de cien trabajadoras de una empacadora de pistachios y nueces se contagiaron en junio de coronavirus y una falleció, suscitando de inmediato una ola de temores y protestas. Las trabajadoras de la empresa Primex Farms denunciaron que los gerentes desestimaron y les ocultaron el brote de infección. Hoy las trabajadoras demandan se investigue a fondo a la compañía, quejándose de haber sido objeto de represalias debido a sus reclamos de protección laboral. Nuestra reportera María Esquinca ha cubierto este conflicto en el poblado de Wasco.”
151 workers tested positive for COVID-19, and one passed away. The outbreak happened at Primex, a nuts and dried fruit processing plant. I spoke to workers and officials from the UFW, who said the company took to look to give workers the appropriate protection and hid information from workers.
Coronavirus: Extra Edition, Linea Abierta
Radio Bilingue
I joined host, Samuel Orozco, to talk about my reporting on the outbreak at Primex, where more than 150 workers tested positive for COVID-19, and one worker passed away. Workers say they found out about the outbreaks by themselves, not from the company. When they started protesting alongside for better working conditions, workers say they faced retaliation and where fired, something the company denies.
Consejos en vez de armas, proponen para abatir la violencia de pandillas
Radio Bilingue
Cárcel de California, foco rojo de Covid 19
Radio Bilingue
‘Swamp Therapy’ Hikes Aim To Connect South Floridians To The Everglades
WLRN
“A small group of people gathers at the wooden rail of Big Cypress National Preserve for an event called Swamp Therapy, a hike that involves art, mediation, and activism, created by Yadira Capaz. She wants people to connect with the Everglades.”
Senate Passes E-verify, Bill Makes Its Way to Governor’s Desk
WLRN
“The Florida Senate passed an amended version of SB 665, known as the E-verify bill, Thursday night. The billrequires public employers like schools and government offices to use E-verify, a federal database from the Department
María Esquinca 