Human stories that become bridges while others build walls. A podcast from Conecta Arizona with accents and talent that features voices and stories of independent journalists on both sides of the border between the United States and Mexico. Produced and hosted by award-winning journalist Maritza L. Félix
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 01: The Balloon
Three years ago on Christmas Eve, young Dayami Leyva launched a red balloon into the sky and excitedly watched it disappear, with that innocence that children feel when they send a letter to Santa Claus. There, flying in from Nogales, Mexico, was her Christmas Eve wish list. The balloon never reached the North Pole ... but that Christmas she received all the toys she had eagerly asked for. How? Journalist César Barrón, from Nogales, tells us.
Show Contributors:
César Barrón
Maritza L. Félix
Rubén Tapia
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 02: The Awakening
When she landed in Arizona, Rocío Calderón thought she had arrived in hell. She was in handcuffs, wearing a uniform, and desperately trying not to get deported. Six months earlier, a friend of hers had invited her to work in the United States and earn dollars; but she did not tell Rocío the high price she would pay for working without documents. Journalist Maritza L. Félix has followed this story and assures us that despite adversity, Rocío builds what for her is a happy ending.
Show Contributors:
Maritza L. Félix
Rubén Tapia
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 03: The Gloves
For Sulem Urbina, boxing is a profession and a therapy. She is Mexican and a migrant, always with one foot in Arizona, her home, and the other in Sonora, her homeland. She is one of the best in the ring and her strength lies in the many bouts she has had to fight: constant uncertainty about her immigration status, the violent murder of one of her brothers, being treated as a person who is neither from here nor from there but on both sides of the wall … just like millions of us. But today, Sulem knocks out stereotypes and does so from the first round. Mexican journalist Jesús Ibarra tells us her story.
Show Contributors:
Jesús Ibarra
Rubén Tapia
Maritza L. Félix
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 04: The seasoning
A grandmother used to say that when the language of love ends, that is when the language of the kitchen begins. There is something magical about healing the body, heart, and spirit with food, so much so that we take it to the grave even on the Day of the Dead. Food is one of the human bridges with which we circumvent walls and deserts, with which we are partners in history and at the same time, of yearnings for the future. Journalist Liliana López Ruelas, from Tucson, Arizona, an hour from the border with Nogales, takes us on a journey on that bridge where we come and go between two lands.
Show Contributors:
Jesús Ibarra
Rubén Tapia
Maritza L. Félix
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 05: Las cicatrices
Son miles los que buscan aún un refugio en Estados Unidos, desde Centroamérica hasta Ucrania; vienen de lugares en los que la guerra los obliga emprender una travesía. Cuando Ingrid comenzó la suya, no sabía que terminaría en Arizona y que su pasado serviría como un puente humano para que su hijo hiciera las paces con ese Guatemala armado del que su madre poco habla. Acompaña a Julio Cisneros, un periodista guatemalteco, también sobreviviente del conflicto armado, que nos cuenta la historia.
Show Contributors:
Julio Cisneros
Rubén Tapia
Maritza L. Félix
Artwork courtesy of Daniel Robles
Episode 06: El viento
Hay personas para las que las fronteras no existen, son seres que abren caminos, guerreros, mujeres con fuego; todos sentimos su fuerza y presencia… viven entre el mito y la realidad, son leyendas. La periodista y cineasta Valeria Fernández nos transporta a los Nogales, ahí donde el viento de una mujer se cuela entre dos países, donde su viento aún sacude la frontera.Show Contributors: