May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, vibrancies, and achievements within the fabric of America. However, we know that the voices of AAPI communities in Atlanta run deep and its richness cannot be captured in just one month. To honor some of these stories, We Love Buford Highway and the Asian American Advocacy Fund are working together to release a three-part listening series called, “AAPI Organizing in the South.” 

Every month from May through July, we will release a part of the series which includes group conversations and individual stories from the voices of local AAPI advocates and community members. These conversations will cover a broad spectrum of topics including but not limited to mental health, intersectionality, the Model Minority Myth, solidarity, and intergenerational healing.

“AAPI Organizing in the South”  will be available here, on the Voices of a Highway podcast (Spotify, Apple Podcasts), every Friday beginning May 12th. 

We are excited to share this special project with existing and new audiences. Mark your calendars and join us in listening to and amplifying the voices of the AAPI organizers that impact Atlanta and the South every day.

This episode is a conversation between Natalia and Alex Ip, a fifth-year international student at Georgia Tech. Alex Ip was born in Hong Kong and founded The Xylom, an award-winning, student-run newsroom that covers issues like environmental justice, immigrants, and people of color in academia. In this episode, they talk about Chinese language (and its diversity), about Alex's experience as an international student in Atlanta, and how science reporting can be empowering to multilingual, multicultural communities outside the field. 

Please follow The Xylom @thexylom on socials and go to their website TheXylom.com for more information on how to get involved and support their work.

En este episodio hablamos con Elida Lopez, quien trabaja como Especialista en Salud de la Población en CareSource. Ella nos cuenta sobre su niñez en Zacatecas, cómo llegó a Estados Unidos, lo que significa para ella celebrar sus raíces siendo madre de niños nacidos en Estados Unidos. Finalmente nos habla de qué es CareSource, qué tipos de servicios provee y cómo acceder a ellos.

For this Women's History Month, we sit down with Elida Lopez, Population Health Specialist at CareSource. Born in Mexico but raised in the US since the age of 5, Elida talks about what growing up was like for her and her 8 siblings. She shares her experience as a daughter, a mother, and how she expresses and understands her Mexican and American identity. She also talks about her job at CareSource and why advocating for Latino communities is important in the health sector.

Don't forget to share this episode, and be on the lookout for a special episode in Spanish with Elida, coming soon!

In this episode, Natalia Garzón talks to Manno Beats, a Grammy-nominated and multi-award-winning musician hailing from Cap-Haitien, Haiti. During their conversation, Manno Beats talks about his childhood in Haiti, the origins of his passion for music and the African diaspora, and the importance of his philosophy "Africa Overseas." The first half of the interview discusses his journey and musical philosophy and the second half is an in-depth overview of his upcoming album, Tchaka, coming out in July of 2023.

If you are a music lover and want to learn more about Haitian culture, cuisine, music, and identity, listen to this podcast and share it with someone in your life! 

If you'd like to see more of Manno Beats, you can find him on all social media platforms as @mannobeats and if you'd like to hear his music, you can listen to him on all music platforms (including Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud). 

*note: the song referenced during the first half of the podcast is titled "Akouna."

In this month’s episode, Daisy Astudillo speaks to Vivian Liu, a Chinese-American student focused on Environmental Science and Statistics, who is passionate about affordable housing, labor rights, and racial justice. Vivian, an Emory student, connected with us through their Community Building and Social Change Fellowship, a program designed to present both challenges and opportunities in building stronger communities through the lens of social justice and positive change. Vivian was part of the Buford Highway corridor team last summer, hitting the pavement to listen directly from local immigrant business owners.

In this interview, they share favorite memories of the Lunar New Year, how being a second generation Chinese-American impacts interactions with culture, and gives advice to other children of first generation immigrants on how to handle generational divides, including familial trauma.

We dedicate this episode to the victims who lost their lives and the families and communities grieving from the tragedy that took place at Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay during a time of year where so many Asian communities guard as space to connect to customs around happiness and celebration. We hope that Vivian’s story shines light to how we can all make meaningful steps towards positive change.

We are so happy to interview one of our own team members at We Love Buford Highway, Daisy Astudillo, for our final 2022 episode. She has been Program Coordinator since may of 2022 and in this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down to chat with her about her upbringing and her experience as a first generation Mexican-American in her family. What does applying to college feel like? Who helped Daisy along the way? What did Buford Highway mean to her growing up and how has her identity changed or been influenced by her position at We Love Buford Highway? This and much more is discussed during the interview. Listen & share to people in your life who need to be inspired by a young Latina/x who is learning to navigate heritage, culture, and identity.

Estamos felices de entrevistar a nuestra Coordinadora de Programas, Daisy Astudillo, para nuestra última entrevista del 2022. Daisy ha estado en el equipo desde mayo del 2022 y en este episodio Lily Pabian, Directora Ejecutiva, se sienta con ella para hablar de su infancia y de su experiencia siendo mexicana-americana y la primera en su familia en ir a la universidad. ¿Qué se sintió entrar a la universidad? ¿Quién la ayudó durante el camino? ¿Qué significaba Buford Highway en su infancia y cómo ha impactado su identidad al trabajar con las comunidades del corredor? Todas estás preguntas forman parte de la entrevista y los invitamos a que la escuchen y la compartan con alguien que le interesa la cultura y la identidad de los mexicanos-americanos en USA. 

In this episode, Daisy Astudillo speaks with Patricia Hernandez, a LATINX/ indigenous diaspora artist who is a cultural organizer and self-taught artist. Patricia discusses the memories of her young adulthood on Buford Highway, how her multicultural friendships helped shape her narrative, and the stigmatization of being a Latina and single mother in the artist community.

Patricia’s story of interconnectedness and mutual understanding between immigrants will resonate with listeners because she believes honoring our culture, traditions, communities, and families unite us all to our core memories and self-identity.

Patricia, alongside artist Nicole Kang Ahn, recently worked with us on a community newsletter stand for Buford Highway. If you want to see Patricia’s colorful, vibrant artwork, check out these links:

IG: @patl.sv

Website: patlsv.com

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En esta segunda parte de la entrevista, Patricia y Xavier, dos estudiantes panameños aquí en Georgia, hablan de sus experiencias en Panamá. Este episodio es una reflexión sobre lo que han vivido en su país de origen, lo que han aprendido de sus familias y lo que disfrutan hacer fuera de sus estudios. ¿Por qué es importante reflexionar sobre nuestro pasado? Xavier y Patricia resaltan la importancia de no olvidar de dónde venimos para siempre saber hacia dónde vamos. 

Xavier, Patricia y Natalia crean un espacio en este episodio para compartir lo que recuerdan de su niñez, lo que aprendieron en el camino y lo que les gusta hacer en su tiempo libre. Al final de la entrevista, Xavier y Patricia le hablan directamente a los estudiantes que escuchen este episodio.

En este episodio, que celebra el mes del desarrollo profesional y por supuesto, el mes de acción de gracias, Natalia Garzón invita a Patricia Muñoz y a Xavier Bosso, dos estudiantes panameños que están aprendiendo inglés para continuar su licenciatura en la Universidad de Brenau en Gainesville, Georgia. Patricia y Xavier fueron voluntarios en nuestro evento de despensas a finales de octubre y hoy nos cuentan más sobre su experiencia estudiando aquí en Estados Unidos.

¿Qué se siente venir a una universidad en Estados Unidos? ¿Qué han aprendido estos dos estudiantes? Xavier, Patricia y Natalia crean un espacio en este episodio para compartir lo que se siente ser jóven, lleno de sueños y aspiraciones profesionales y sobretodo, lo que se siente llegar a un país diferente, con una cultura distinta y tener que aprender a crear una comunidad, una familia y un futuro prometedor.