© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Migrants and immigrants across the region sought to share diverse experiences in 2021

Mai Lor is a Hmong American who moved to Ohio as a young child. [Reel Hoot Productions, LLC]
Mai Lor is a Hmong American who moved to Ohio as a young child. [Reel Hoot Productions, LLC]

For most Americans, you can look back at our lineages and find that our families and ancestors came here from somewhere else. Most of us are decendants of immigrants. 

OPAWL, the Ohio Progressive Asian Women's Leadership, a local social justice organization dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander women and non-binary people, recently released a new storytelling campaign called Love Has No Borders. 

In this project, immigrants in Ohio shared their personal stories of how they have been impacted by the U.S. immigration system, through photography, poetry, videos and even a podcast.

By sharing these firsthand accounts, OPAWL hopes to encourage its audience and lawmakers to push for more empathetic immigration legislation.

On the "Sound of Ideas," we'll start by hearing some of these immigrant stories.

Later in the hour, we discuss another anthology "Far From Their Eyes: Ohio Migrant Anthology". It also contains a collection of immigrant and migrant stories from individuals across the region.

We're joined by the editor - and with two of the contributors. A retired social worker and past president of The Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers, and a clinical social worker who has met with asylum detainees.

- Houleye Thiam, Love Has No Borders

- Tessa Xuan, Co-Director of OPAWL

- Mai Lor, Love Has No Borders

- Lynn Tramonte, Director, Ohio Immigrant Alliance and Editor “Far From Their Eyes: Ohio Migrant Anthology”

- Shari Nacson, Clinical Social Worker and Freelance Editor

- Michele Rudolph, Past President, Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers and Retired Social Worker

Gabriel Kramer is a reporter/producer and the host of “NewsDepth,” Ideastream Public Media's news show for kids.