“Telling a story you think only you feel, three other people say, ‘Oh you feel like that? I thought only I felt like that.’ Then we discover that it’s in some ways about power or injustice. Together we can change that.”
Episode 9: Wandering in the Desert
Art Acevedo reads the story of Laura Peniche. Musical guest Spirit of Grace responds.
Art Acevedo is an American police officer who has served as the chief of police for the cities of Houston, Austin and Miami. He reads the story of a young mother with DACA, Laura Peniche, and her attempt to help her fellow Christians understand the impact of anti-immigrant policies on undocumented families. Episode details and transcript.
Episode 8: This Beautiful Dark Brown Skin
Patrisse Cullors reads the story of Armando Peniche. Musical guest Ron Miles responds. Poetic response by Dominique Christina.
Co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors reads Armando Peniche’s story of the racial profiling he experienced as a 12-year old boy and the danger slanderous rhetoric of mythic criminality poses to the undocumented Mexican community and his own young American son. Episode details and transcript.
Episode 7: Checkpoint at Fantasyland
Ai-jen Poo reads the story of Victor Galvan
Musical Guest Las Cafeteras responds
Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo, reads Victor Galvan's story about the overwhelming human rights challenges facing the immigrant community and his insistence, despite his fear and the obstacles ahead, of manifesting his American Dream. Episode details and transcript
Episode 6: Listen to Your Heart
Maria Hinojosa reads the story of Tania Chairez
Musical Guest Arturo O’Farrill responds
Maria Hinojosa is the lead anchor and executive producer of Latino USA, and the founder of Futuro Media. She reads the story of Tania Chairez - a social entrepreneur and Motus staff member who grew up undocumented in Arizona - sharing her struggle to protect good parents, just like her own, from the attacks against the immigrant community. Episode details and transcript
Episode 5: The Most Beautiful Monument
John Lithgow reads the story of Irving Reza
Musical Guest Neil Young responds
Award-winning actor, author, musician and singer, John Lithgow, reads the story of Irving Reza, a DACAmented political science major who uses humor to negotiate the fear of passing through immigration checkpoints and his deepening reverence for the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Episode details and transcript
Episode 4: Deport Me
José Andrés reads the story of Alejandro Fuentes-Mena
Musical Guest Ozomatli responds
José Andrés is an internationally-recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup. He reads Alejandro Fuentes-Mena’s story of his hard working parents and celebrates the assets he and his family are to our country. Episode details and transcript
Episode 3: I Was Made for the Light
Nicholas Kristof reads the story of Reydesel Salvidrez-Rodriguez
Musical Guest Arturo O’Farrill responds
Nicholas Kristof is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and writes an op-ed column for The New York Times. He reads the story of Reydesel Salvidrez-Rodriguez, a legally deaf undocumented young man who was on the verge of killing himself before the DACA program was created that gave temporary legal status to undocumented young people brought to the U.S. before age 16 by their parents. Episode details and transcript
Episode 2: Returning Home
Gloria Steinem reads the story of Kiara Chavez
Musical guest Jennifer Berezan responds
Activist and writer, Gloria Steinem reads Kiara Chavez’s story about the obstacles immigration policy has placed between herself and who and what she loves. She tells a tender story of flying home to Mexico for the first time since she was age four to see her ailing grandmother. Episode details and transcript
Episode 1: The Meaning of Courage
Jorge Ramos reads the story of Cristian Solano-Córdova
Musical Guests Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott respond
Jorge Ramos, often referred to as the "The Walter Cronkite of Latin America" and an Emmy-award winning news anchor for Univision, reads Cristian Solano-Córdova’s story of strategizing to protect his eight-year-old sister, who is an American citizen, in the event her mother gets deported. Episode details and transcript