¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?

Non-Latinos are not the only ones confused about why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. I’m from the Dominican Republic, and I have to admit that I didn’t know for a long time that this celebration was not the Mexican Independence Day I was misled by the celebraciones en Estados Unidos about este festejo.

Duolingo schools no son nada nuevo. There are many of them around the country, focusing on many different languages, and they’re certainly not new in the state of Indiana. En Fort Wayne, Lindley Elementary ha tenido un programa similar al de Parkview,  por más de veinte años.

De afuera, la escuela primaria Parkview en Valparaiso, Indiana, looks like any other school in Northern Indiana. Teachers greet kids outside the main doors, little flashes of color swipe past you as kids scurry to get to their classrooms, there’s a smell of plywood, because estan renovando la escuela.

A couple of years ago, Parkview received a state grant to create a pilot bilingual immersion program. Woodetski says como 23 por ciento de los estudiantes son hispanos, y los estudiantes bilingües y de habla hispana were getting left behind. The idea is to teach kids subjects such as math and science en Español por medio dia, y el resto del dia la instrucción es en Ingles.

Pero no todos los estudiantes se sienten cómodos con el Español. Bryan and Osvaldo son hermanos. They’re in different grades. Los dos son bilingues.

Y ser bilingue sometimes means you’re the voice for your family.  A veces tienes que traducir, and that can be tough, take the classic cashier scenario. If you’ve ever translated for your parents you know exactly what we're talking about.

An Immigration Center proposed to be built in Elkhart, Indiana, a city big on agriculture, mainly built on manufacturing and close to big areas with large Latino populations, represented a clear threat to Latinos in the area. Many protests halted the proposed center from coming along but people are still nervous about the possible outcome.

¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? contributor Barbara Anguiano talks to a Latino who was in favor of the center, a young immigrant who returned to Elkhart to help Latinos and a lawyer who understands the economic impact this can have on the immigrant labor force.

In this episodio we’re going to go back in Cuban history.

Last year, Cuba announced that next month, en Marzo del 2018, they will have elections to choose new members of the National Assembly. See this is historico because after that the new parliament will choose the country’s next president. Raul Castro or the Castro’s for that matter will no longer be in power after six

En los cicuenta, Fidel Castro headed an attack against

In 1959, Fidel then became First Minister, helping implement

Ese mismo año, a strong migratory current of doctors and

Today, relations with Cuba have backpedaled after the

So, what do Cubans in the Midwest think about all this?

We went to Ohio to talk to Juan Guardia, a Cuban

So, as time has passed by y han habido tantos cambios,

The policies between the US and Cuba are still rocky but like Juan, some are still hopeful to experience the authentic Cuban cultura.

A look at how Latino art and culture has influenced the Midwest and how it's celebrated where it's people may not feel welcomed.

Para despedir el año, ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? programmer Mareea Thomas and host Paola Marizán shared their favorite songs of 2017 and some of what's coming up next for the podcast. 

Amalia got caught by border patrol and in a split second she had to make the decision --  give her baby to the coyote and hope he’ll get the infant safe to her relatives in the U.S. or to take her four-month-old back home, to El Salvador.

San Salvador is ranked as one of the top murder capitals of the world - one of the reasons why Amalia was fleeing the city she loved. In this episodio, we talk about the US/Mexico border with an expert and hear a first-hand experience of a mother crossing what’s commonly referred to as ‘no man’s land’.