STORYTELLING & PUBLIC PROJECTS
Voces Del Campo
Limited Podcast Series
The Voces Del Campo series is a storytelling project inspired by Oregon's agricultural industry workers who brought food to our tables or worked the lands with their essential hands to keep their contributions in the public memory. As an outgrowth of the Oregon COVID-19 Farmworker Study (OR COFS), the series was launched to center the testimonies of farmworkers who labored throughout the pandemic and are calling for political change to improve their working and living conditions of all farmworkers. The three stories are based on two years of research with farmworkers from all across the state collected from 2020-2021 by fourteen community-based organizations and researchers at Portland State University, Oregon State University, and the University of Oregon. A sub-group of promotoras, community educators, and researchers turned to a storytelling initiative to piece together three stories that in-depth capture the complexity and the nuance of the farmworker experience.
Photo Credit: Lizbeth Santana De La Cruz
The Leave No One Behind Mural Project.
The Leave No One Behind Mural Project is a storytelling project tethered with a political advocacy strategy centered on arts and stories targeting the Biden-Harris and Congress to enact immigration policy to repatriate Deported Veterans, protect Childhood Arrivals, end family separation, and reunite families.
Special Edition of Desolate at Walt Disney Family Museum
We recently published a special edition of Desolate in partnership with Veteran’s Alley in San Francisco to capture the voices of African-American Veterans, Rural Veterans and Deported Veterans of African and Latin Heritage. The Zine is featured in the Veterans' Voices: Painted Realities exhibit at The Walt Disney Family Museum. A virtual exhibit will launch soon.
Comunidades Amplifying Voices for Environmental and Social Justice
I joined Comunidades to contribute a political analysis and commentary. Listen here.
Global PDX: The Predatory Promise
I sat down with Andrea from Global PDX to talk about the predatory promise of military service concerning immigrant veterans. Listen to it here.
Storytelling with Cal Ag Roots
Looking Back to Look Forward asks why in California-- which has been the home of farm labor movements-- aging farm workers are not guaranteed any help in their retirement. The story centers farmworker voices and provides a historical approach to understand why little progress on this important right has been made. We dig into the history of how farm workers were excluded from key protections granted other kinds of workers in the New Deal-era National Labor Relations Act. This show was co-produced by Jennifer Martinez, in collaboration with Cal Ag Roots. (Photo is of Lola Martinez, a farm worker in Bakersfield, CA).
Ponte Al Tiro Podcast: Como termina un ex militar (Veterano) deportado de los Estados Unidos?
En esta entrevista, Jennifer Martinez, Futura Doctora en Política Publica, miembro de la Organización “Repatriación a Nuestros Patriotas” (Repatriate Our Patriots) nos comparte la historia de su familia, el mensaje de su organización, los problemas que nuestros Veteranos enfrentan en sus comunidades, y como es que terminan siendo deportados. Para mas referencias e información, visiten nuestra pagina web a: pontealtiropodcast.com
Desolate: The First Deported Veteran Zine
The issue of deported veterans is near and dear to my heart. One of my own siblings was deported after military service. Most people do not realize veterans can be deported. Despite the long standing service of immigrant service members, the U.S. has consistently created additional barriers for naturalization after military service. The issue is complex and has many barriers.
As a Board Member of Repatriate Our Patriots, I am proud of the launching of Desolate: The First Deported Veteran Zine that exclusively captures the lived experiences of immigrant veterans. As the Deputy Director, I work closely with our Editor in Chief, a deported veteran, to ensure that we capture the reality that veterans go through.
In November 2019 we self-published the first deported veteran zine. We created the zine because we think there is a gap in capturing the artistic expression of those experiencing or impacted by the deportation of immigrant veterans. And while there is no change without activism, there is no conception of possibility without art. Creativity allows us to unbox reality and engage in futuristic visioning. One that includes the repatriation of deported veterans that live all across the world.