Ivan Rodriguez is fighting the toxic effects of environmental racism in Southeast LA
Southeast Los Angeles is my home, it is also one of the most heavily industrialized areas in Los Angeles, a community about six and a half miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. My Making Contact story is about my experience of institutional environmental racism and the hidden effects it has on my community. The greatest challenge to the area is the large number of toxic polluters, superfund sites, brownfields and freeways. This so...
Ingrid Rojas Contreras searches for the forgotten magic in immigrant stories
For all thirteen years as an immigrant I have collected answers to this question: When you traveled over what special item did you bring? A poetry book. A dress. A father’s bow tie. I used to ask this more when I lived in Chicago, where I often found myself in the wee hours of the night waiting for the owl bus, huddling with strangers under the shelter of one heat lamp. I remember a young Mexican bartender who told me a flag and a...
Voice Recognition: Does how we sound determine who we are?
What do our voices say about us? On this edition we explore voice and identity. Lateef McLeod, our inaugural Community Storytelling Fellow, explains the everyday challenges that come with using a speech generating device. We’ll hear from someone who nearly lost their voice, and we’ll look at how voice contributes to trans women’s sense of safety and self. Featuring: Mya Byrne, singer-songwriter Kathe Perez, creator...
After 31 years in prison, Al Sasser is giving a voice to men still inside
My piece is everything about the relationships fostered while under the most traumatic circumstances of sensory deprivation, political pressure and uncertainty. The reality of human confinement is extremely difficult to describe adequately. However I will endeavor to share the Truth of our existence while we struggled to rise above it. I hope to honor each individual involved with the process of building us up. Encouraging us to...
Help our fellows tell real stories and diversify the media!
In 2014 we created our Community Storytelling Fellowship because media needs to be MORE diverse, MORE relevant and BETTER REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES THEY COVER. Over the course of a year our team worked with 3 vibrant, committed based storytellers. During their 10-week paid immersion in audio storytelling, each fellow turned their personal experiences into 8 minute radio segments-intense, moving stories you won’t hear anywhere else....
Announcing Making Contact’s 2015-16 Community Storytelling Fellows
In keeping with our mission of covering important issues and helping community media makers tell their stories, Making Contact is pleased to announce our 2nd class of Community Storytelling Fellows! Welcome Al Sasser, Alice Wong, Ivan Rodriguez and Ingrid Rojas Contreras! The fellows will work with us through early 2016 and will each produce an 8 minute radio segment in addition to blog posts and online content. This is a paid, 10...
