Parmenides by PLATO (??????)

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.

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.

¿QPM? 15: Fin de temporada, Recap and Next Season

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.

¿QPM? 12: Feeling displaced and dealing with depression. A personal story.

¿QPM? 12: Feeling displaced and dealing with depression. A personal story.

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 decades of dictatorship. En los cicuenta, Fidel Castro headed an attack against the barracks Moncada of Santiago de Cuba, east of La Havana. Castro was arrested and convicted to 15 years of prison but two years later he, along with other rebels, was amnestied. After that, Castro leads guerrilla fights, the cause of the United States removing their military support to the government. In 1959, Fidel then became First Minister, helping implement politics of nationalization and approaching the Soviet Union. The US imposes the economic embargo to the island that same year and breaks all diplomatic relationships with Cuba. Ese mismo año, a strong migratory current of doctors and teachers begun toward the US and Fidel Castro declares the socialist character of the Cuban Revoltion. In 1991 the country falls in a strong economic crisis. Today, relations with Cuba have backpedaled after the last administration begun dialogue and trade with the island. Hoy día, el presidente no esta de acuerdo con que nos acerquemos a la isla. So, what do Cubans in the Midwest think about all this? Will they go back to an island they haven’t seen in decades or some – never? Do Cuban Americans miss the island they remember, communist Cuba? We went to Ohio to talk to Juan Guardia, a Cuban American who saw his break to visit the island of his parents shut down when relations with the US became cold again. So, as time has passed by y han habido tantos cambios, no tan solo en poliza sino tambien en culturas and costumes, Cuban Americans and the ones who fled the island during the start of the regime are more comfortable staying in the country that they now call casa. 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.

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’.

Celebrating Christmas as a Latino, today means that celebrations pour over borders and become part of our own traditions. Is not just about celebrating a native tradición but celebrating the traditions we took from our neighboring countries. In this episode, WNYC journalist Sophia Paliza Carre and host Paola Marizán talk about their Christmas in Perú and the Dominican Republic and about the fusion of traditions happening in Latin America. Sophia a Peruvian Francesa y ahora Neoyorquina reminisces on Peruvian Panetón while Paola remember listening to Perico Ripiao in every colmado in Dominican Republic. 

Imagine establishing a life in a foreign country that then becomes home - mi casa- even more than where you come from. That’s how twenty one year old Laura Ayala feels. See, Laura can navigate the city of Cincinnati easier than she can travel through the roads of Bogota, Colombia because she moved from Colombia when she was just four. . Cuando estaba cerca de graduarse de High School, empezó su busquedad for the best university. Laura began researching online, asking friends, and even attended college fairs to see what it was going to be like to start college and establish a Career in Ohio. When Laura was just fifteen, Laura found out she was undocumented. In this episodio we meet DACA recipient Laura. Una Latina that didn’t know about her legal status until she wanted to apply for college and about the taboo many immigrant families have en casa when talking about immigration.

Finding the ingredients to feel close to home is always a hassle. Here's my journey finding achiote for my Puertorican Sofrito in the Midwest, how that becomes part of my identity and why Latino-owned businesses it matters. 

En este episodio, exploramos lo que significa identidad -we talk to Lydia about being Mexican and African American in the Midwest - dealing with the issues of Inmigración and racial profiling - and about the threats her undocumented father received after Trump’s election.

In the first three months President Trump was in office, an average of over 5,000 immigrants a month were arrested and nearly 200,000 families were approved for Parole in Place, according to Homeland Security. Before 2013, members of the U.S. armed forces with undocumented families could leave for training or to fight in other countries and return a una casa vacía, to a deported family. En este episodio, We meet Pedro Alvarado. He tells us about the deal he made to keep his parents in this country. In fact, miles de personas like Pedro have made this very same deal. Un acuerdo que puede desanimar a algunos and that it involves loyalty and trust for his parents and this country.

The Aztecs made Pulque by fermenting the nectar of a cactus plant, llamada Magüey. The drink of the gods is at least 2000 years old and is seen as a cultural resistance to today’s political divide by those from the native land of Pulque. We wanted to know why is this drink becoming a catch in North America's heartland because no hace mucho you could only try Pulque in places like New York, California and Chicago pero ahora pulque has made its way to smaller cities like Frankfort, Indiana, where Ye Olde Spirit Shoppe, sold us two cans of this fermented Mexican drink. We tried Pulque with Norma Rosas Mayén y  Manuel Apodaca-Valdez, Mexican immigrants who teach Spanish at the University of Southern Indiana;  at their home en un pequeño barrio en Evansville, Indiana, where Norma tells us what does it mean for Mexicans to drink pulque en el Medio Oeste? ¿Tienes preguntas? Got any questions? Email us at [email protected]. Dinos, ¿qué pasa, midwest?