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#83 Ilda Martinez and Cleo Rodriguez Oct 07, 2019

Show notes

Ilda Martinez was 3 years old when she arrived at a migrant Head Start center in Plant City, Florida. Her first language was Mixtec, an indigenous dialogue of Oaxaca, Mexico. She learned Spanish and then English in Head Start programs. These migrant and seasonal programs are critical resources for families like Ilda's that move several times a year to harvest crops, from blueberries in North Carolina to strawberries in Florida and asparagus in Michigan. The work is arduous, the weather can be brutal, and housing situations are often meager. Less noted is that farm work requires significant skill and commitment. As National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association executive director Cleo Rodriguez explains, without migrant farmworkers, the US agricultural sector would collapse. Ilda's childhood in Head Start led her to the NMSHSA Internship Program, which brings young people to Washington for eight weeks each year, an opportunity that as Ilda describes, is game changing. As Ilda explains, the characteristic that best defines migrant families is resilience.And remember her name because Ilda will be an influential voice for social justice well into the future.

#82 Cleofas Rodriguez Jr. Sep 30, 2019

Show notes

Head Start is known for making early childhood development and education a reality for all families. Developed as part of the 1960's War on Poverty, Head Start is an example of public policy that serve the educational needs of underserved children. But the Head Start model was organized around the school calendar, an approach that works for most but not all of our nation's families. It does not meet the unique needs of migrant families, who travel from state to state to harvest our nation's crops. The National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association was created specifically for farmworkers whose expertise and labor are responsible for the produce in our stores and the bounty on our tables. They are served by dedicated community-based Migrant and Seasonal Head Start providers, 27 programs in 40 states. Many providers come from farmworker families themselves and are highly committed to serving families that move 3 times per year. Cleofas Rodriguez Jr, executive director of The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, speaks to the foresight of President Johnson in creating these program and to his love for the families he serves.

#81 Schroeder Stribling, N Street Village Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

Have you been to the 14th street corridor of Washington DC lately? It is a destination spot for upscale restaurants, furniture stores, galleries and newly constructed apartment buildings. If you venture to a leafy side street you will find a courtyard that leads to N Street Village, a local nonprofit whose programs and advocacy serve 2000 homeless and low-income women annually year. Many of these women grew up in the shadows of an earlier incarnation of 14th Street, devastated by rioting after the assassination of Martin Luther King and in the clutches of poverty and the crack epidemic for decades. As N Street Village CEO Schroeder Stribling, explains, when these women arrive, they are looking for what we all need: a supportive community, safe and affordable housing, and attention to mental and physical health challenges. It is Schroeder's mission to provide a "radically welcoming" environment. Schroeder and the N Street Village staff and volunteers manage an array of facilities and services in a fashion that Schroeder describes as emergency room triage. The bigger picture, she reminds us, is that housing solves homelessness. We just need to create the political will.

#81 Samer Khalaf, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

In 1980, James Abourezk, US Senator from South Dakota and the first Arab-American elected to Congress, founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. It is now the nation's largest grassroots nonprofit advocating for the civil and human rights of Arab Americans. With a small staff of lawyers, and community-based supporters in 50 states, ADC, under the leadership of Samer Khalef, represents Arab Americans in cases involving hate crimes, discrimination and deportation. And it educates the public and policy makers about who Arab Americans are, from their rich cultural backgrounds to their experience in America. Arab-Americans face specific challenges as immigrants, including the reality of being stateless and having no country to claim as their own. Those who are able to remain in the US exist in a sort of legal limbo. They are on essentially on parole, unable to work and ineligible for public resources. Samer is optimistic about the determination of Arab Americans to turn out for the 2020 elections but concerned about voter suppression. He will definitely make the voice of his community heard.

#79 Elizabeth Lindsey, Byte Back Sep 09, 2019

Show notes

An innovative nonprofit is requiring us to rethink our assumptions about who works in the digital economy. Byte Back, a DC based training organization led by the dynamic Elizabeth Lindsey, is shaking up the workforce and technology sectors by bringing non-traditional workers into the sectors. In many cases, these students have never used a computer or even had broadband access. So it follows that Byte Back meets students where they are. While the process may take longer, classes are rigorous and require discipline to complete. Byte Back cultivates teachers who are committed to their students' success. And it works. Students are graduating with certificates that make them valuable employees for companies that pay living wages and benefits. The issues that Byte Back addresses cannot be fixed by training alone. Byte Back is increasingly active in public policy advocacy. You will want to stay tuned for the next chapter of their work.

#78 Ali Noorani Sep 03, 2019

Show notes

When Ali Noorani visited Honduras, he met migrants desperate to escape poverty and violence for presumed safety and opportunity in the United States. As Ali sees it, this administration's hateful rhetoric and treatment of immigrants is robbing our entire nation of its dignity. The Forum was launched in 1982 to coalesce civil rights organizations in advocating for a just immigration system. After President Obama was elected there was growing optimism about the potential for a path to citizenship. When momentum for change came crashing down in 2010, Ali had a realization that defined the next generation of the National Immigration Forum's strategy. He noted that while political parties talked about immigration in political terms, the rest of the country viewed it in cultural terms. In 2012, Ali began engaging with cultural influencers: faith, law enforcement and veterans' leaders in traditionally conservative parts of the country. The resulting conversations about their fears, questions and concerns, have generated unprecedented trust. As a result, a collective willingness to stand for and with immigrant communities, has brought some of these leaders to advocate for pro-immigrant public policies on Capitol Hill.

#77 Solomon Greene, The Urban Institute Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

Do you envision think tanks to be old-school institutions far-removed from real life community experiences? Solomon Greene, Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute, will make you reconsider those assumptions. The Urban Institute was founded in 1968 by President Johnson to generate evidence-based strategies for ending urban poverty. It has evolved into an organization that partners with diverse stakeholders to tackle our nation's most intractable problems, primarily those founded in policies of racial segregation. Solomon talks about the potential of popularizing zoning strategies to create more racially and economically inclusive communities. Minneapolis is leading in this movement and the story of how it banned single-family housing development is both unexpected and inspiring. He is excited about the emergence of affordable housing, land use and zoning proposals by our presidential candidates. We await the moment when moderators ask candidates questions about those positions at the next presidential debate..

#76 Sookyung Oh, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium Aug 19, 2019

Show notes

As Sookyung Oh explains, Annandale, Virginia is much more than a destination spot for Korean BBQ and Pho. It is home to Korean and Vietnamese Americans and a new wave of Caribbean and African immigrants. Sookyung leads NAKASEC (National Korean American Service and Education Consortium) a grassroots organization with affiliate offices in Los Angeles, Orange County and Chicago. Its power building mission This mission is particularly meaningful for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, which sometimes feels invisible to the broader public. A small staff and a dedicated corps of young Korean American and Vietnamese American organizers, from local high schools and colleges, canvass neighborhoods and engage in one-on-one conversations with community members. They ask questions to gauge which issues are animating the community and then draw them into organizing efforts. Legal permanent residents are absorbing hateful rhetoric and policies by the Trump Administration and fear deportation. An uncertain future for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is another key concern. This scenario is causing young people get involved in the 2020 elections.

#75 Eshauna Smith, Urban Alliance Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

Eshauna Smith knows first-hand what it takes to break through barriers and achieve success. The eldest child in a family struggling with poverty, she forged a different future. This experience informs her leadership of Urban Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young people from challenging backgrounds attain economic success. As Eshauna learned, having adults stand up for her was transformation. Their support, from helping with Girl Scout camp applications, to summer jobs and internships, propelled her through degrees from UC Berkeley and UT Austin. Now Eshauna is persuading a new set of adults, in high schools and corporations, to stand up for the young people Urban Alliance serves. She does this by engaging them in a model that prepares high school students for higher education and successful employment. Urban Alliance partners with high schools to place motivated seniors into 9-month paid internships with corporations seeking good employees. Front line staff provide students with soft skills training and are available 24 hours a day to corporate supervisors. The model is working. Urban Alliance is celebrating the graduation of 500 high school seniors from these internships and expanding to new cities and industries.

#74 Ashley Harrington, Center for Responsible Lending Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

The numbers are staggering: 70% of American college graduates carry student debt and our outstanding national student debt level now exceeds $1.5 trillion. A new report, Quicksand: Borrowers of Color and the Student Debt Crisis, authored by Center for Responsible Lending CRL) and the NAACP describes the scope of the problem, identifies which communities are most impacted and recommends systemic reforms. Debt impacts which jobs borrowers take, communities they live in, schools their children attends and delays home purchases by 7 years. Ashley Harrington, CRL's Senior Policy Council and co-author of Quicksand, explains that our national narrative about education as a pathway for advancement is at odds with the lived experience of students who are not wealthy and White. If access to education is a national value, why has there been a steady disinvestment by the federal government in public colleges? The opportunity for higher education to lessen the racial wealth gap is undermined by federal policies that enable private colleges to manipulate their students and loan servicing that makes repayment almost impossible. Quicksand offers solutions and ways for us to support those solutions. Our voices matters and we need to use them.

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