¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?

This season it’s all about música SO be ready to move your hips to artistas como Making Movies, the Grammy-winning all-female Mariachi Flor de Toloache, Migrant Kids, Reggae prodigy Zion, the multilingual band The Brazilionaires and Appalatin.

We’re not only showcasing their music and work but also conversations about current topics that affect us all. We talked to them about the migrant caravan, racism, their muses, their instruments and how they see the Latino community in the US.

Jackie Coleman from Flor de Toloache talks to us about her role as a negra in the mariachi, Enrique Chi from Making Movies talks about the separation of children from their parents that were traveling with the migrant caravan and Zion talks to us about how religion shaped his future.

Don’t miss the exclusive content on our newsletter!

It’s been a great season for us and we hope that it has been for you too. Esperamos que hayas disfrutado de los temas que tocamos esta temporada. We talked about being kidnapped in Venezuela by the FARC, we went to Liberal Kansas for Cinco de Mayo, we covered the stories of Paola’s family experiencing Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico; we talked about los del 1.5 Generation, the effects of deportation among families, Domestic Violence, the Census 2020 and more.

But that’s not all we’ve done. Thanks to our Summer intern, Emily Miles, we were able to bring you animations of some episodes, cool social media posts and a Spotify Bilingual playlist.

We want to say Gracias to our editor Sophia Paliza Carre, our contributors Grisel Barajas, Barbara Anguiano, Amy Gastelum, Emmy Beltre and a huge thanks to everyone who shared their stories with us over the past two seasons.

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to keep up with what we’re up to behind the scenes and more.

“if you go to the emergency room, if you go to a doctors appointment, you know that the one thing that they ask for is insurance. Do you have insurance? You know? I’m not going to say the majority, but a good portion of the Latinos that I deal with don’t qualify for insurance. You know you have to be a resident here for at least a month in order for you to apply for emergency services which is very limited.“

Every ten years, the government of the United States of America issues a mandatory census to count the population.  The results of the census determine the number of seats that each state gets in the House of Representatives, the distribution of federal funds, and enforcement of voting rights laws. Now, the 2020 Census tiene una pregunta sobre citizenship. The Department of Justice requested that the Census Bureau reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. They say that citizenship voting age population data isn’t currently available, and it’s needed to determine violations of minority population voting rights. Mucha gente, especially Latinos, are worried that answers to the citizenship question will be used to target their communities. That fear of being targeted may keep some people from filling out the census. But if Latinos don’t respond to the census, it’s possible that they won’t receive the funds that they need to support sus comunidades.

In this episode, co-producer Mareea Thomas talks to Paola about her experience when living in a house where domestic violence was present, about fleeing to New York and on how her family finally left.

Please seek help. Busca ayuda. No estas solo/a.

1) https://espanol.thehotline.org/

2) https://www.thehotline.org/2018/05/09/help-undocumented-experiencing-intimate-partner-violence-rights-reaching-support/

3) https://casadeesperanza.org/es/

4) http://www.nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org/

5) https://www.nrcdv.org/domestic-violence-safety-tips/

6) https://ncadv.org/other-organizations

7) https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

En este episodio hablamos de la importancia de la educación en familias Latinas. Cesar Roman works with diverse communities informing them of the options they have to obtain a better education for their children. He says the lack of education for the parents on what;s the best option for their children often hinders the possibilities of better options. He said the lack of information in their native language is also a factor on why parents don't know what their options are for their kids. 

The experience of 1.5 generation immigrants, a term used to describe people who arrived in the U.S. as children and adolescents, is a unique one. Unlike their first-generation parents or U.S.-born siblings, their identity is split. That in between. Los que hablan más inglés que Español o que a lo mejor no saben mucho acerca de la cultura de sus padres.

Emmy is part of this generation. He was brought to the Midwest as a little boy by his parents who had a visa to establish churches in the region. Emmy, now 31 years old, wants to connect more with his Dominican heritage and pass this knowledge along to his daughter Charlie, who is 9 months old. El solo le habla español and says it’s important to him that his daughter knows what at some point he was ashamed of showcasing - his Latino heritage. Emmy tried to fit in for many years.

U.S. immigration agents raided an Ohio gardening company, arresting 114 suspected undocumented workers. About 200 federal officers blitzed two locations of Corso’s Flower and Garden Center. La escena incluyó, agents surrounding the perimeter and blocking off nearby streets as helicopters flew overhead. They loaded 114 workers onto buses bound for ICE detention facilities. Y de acuerdo con activistas, dozens of the workers’ children were left stranded at day-care centers and with babysitters. The massive raid came exactly two months after federal officials arrested 97 immigrants at a meat-processing plant in rural Tennessee. Esto es parte de los workplace raids across the country, including a nationwide sweep of 98 7-Eleven stores. 

Escenas como esta son cada vez más común en las noticias. We see the people being surrounded, the agents, the buses and sometimes the facilities but what we don’t see is the trauma this causes for not only the companies and the community but for the families of these individuals.

Janeth works at the local community college in Liberal, Kansas as an academic advisor, helping students navigate college and immigration when needed. Ella también ayuda con el festival del Cinco de Mayo since she was the first Cinco de Mayo Liberal Kansas queen in 2002. Janeth’s mission is to help the youth and the community. She’s involved in many non profit organizations and committees around the city of Liberal trying to help those who are lacking the education to better navigate the systems.

Help for families of deported individuals. 

Ayuda para las personas detenidas o que enfrentan la deportación. 

Guidance for schools.

Immigrant Defense Project.

More Resources.

After not being able to talk to my family for six days, my mom finally called me from the Island. Hurricane Maria had just passed and she couldn't believe was she was seeing. I didn't know what had happened during that time so she started sending me pictures of what I thought was another country. I grew up in Puerto Rico; in these streets and I couldn't recognize any of them. My mom and sister came to stay with me in the Midwest after the hurricane and talked to me about their experience.

Why did Alfonso come to the Midwest? It had something to do with the FARC - las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - una alianza en contra del gobierno since 1964. The FARC sustains their estilo de vida by kidnapping and ransom, illegal mining, extorsiones and the production and distribución of illegal drugs.

Alfonso was kidnapped on a fishing trip in Venezuela and when he escaped to el Medio Oeste he was just supposed to be here for 3 months. Pero Alfonso’s kidnapping was more a plane robbery than un secuestro.