Immigrants & Elections Pt. 2: Barriers to the Ballot
Photo of Florita & Joseph Campbell at the Halo Halo Restaurant in Phoenix, AZ by contributing producer Valeria Fernández In the US, the right to vote is one of the country’s most cherished and hard-fought rights. But it doesn’t mean that everyone has equal access to the polls. In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down a key civil rights provision of the Voting Rights Act. This November will be the first presidential election in...
Straddling Borders
Existing in two worlds can complicate your identity and complete it–whether it’s understanding your medicine man grandfather, to deepening the concept of love through a different tongue, these storytellers takes us around the world from Colombia to Papua New Guinea, seeking definition and connections with presumably different cultures. Featuring: Francis Rojas Jeremiah Barber William Guillermo Ortiz, Curandero / Medicine Man...
Caring Relationships: Negotiating Meaning and Maintaining Dignity
The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care. Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and...
Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices
Radio can be a familiar friend, source of knowledge, a marker of time and place. But as a cultural institution, what constitutes a “good voice” in radio reflects and transmits cultural norms and structures. When I started my Community Storytelling Radio Fellowship at Making Contact, I prepared by reading articles from Transom and AIR media about interviewing, storytelling, and production. I felt more intimidated as I...
Life, Breath, and Toxics: Lethal Negligence of Northeast and South L.A.
From Norco, Louisiana to Flint, Michigan to Los Angeles, California – environmental racism is real. On this edition of Making Contact, we look at polluting industries in Northeast and South L.A. We begin with a story by Making Contact’s Community Storytelling Fellow Ivan Rodriguez, followed by an interview with journalist Aura Bogado and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Featuring Ivan Maceda Rodriguez, Making Contact...
Call for Pitches: Immigration and Elections
We want your pitches! Making Contact is assembling a team of freelance journalists to examine how immigrants in the U.S. participate in politics and are responding to the 2016 elections. Two freelancers have already joined the project. Their work will specifically examine issues Latino/a communities are confronting in the upcoming elections. We’re looking for character-driven stories that focus on how other immigrant...
