Ingrid Rojas Contreras searches for the forgotten magic in immigrant stories
For all thirteen years as an immigrant I have collected answers to this question: When you traveled over what special item did you bring? A poetry book. A dress. A father’s bow tie. I used to ask this more when I lived in Chicago, where I often found myself in the wee hours of the night waiting for the owl bus, huddling with strangers under the shelter of one heat lamp. I remember a young Mexican bartender who told me a flag and a...
Voice Recognition: Does how we sound determine who we are?
What do our voices say about us? On this edition we explore voice and identity. Lateef McLeod, our inaugural Community Storytelling Fellow, explains the everyday challenges that come with using a speech generating device. We’ll hear from someone who nearly lost their voice, and we’ll look at how voice contributes to trans women’s sense of safety and self. Featuring: Mya Byrne, singer-songwriter Kathe Perez, creator...
After 31 years in prison, Al Sasser is giving a voice to men still inside
My piece is everything about the relationships fostered while under the most traumatic circumstances of sensory deprivation, political pressure and uncertainty. The reality of human confinement is extremely difficult to describe adequately. However I will endeavor to share the Truth of our existence while we struggled to rise above it. I hope to honor each individual involved with the process of building us up. Encouraging us to...
Help our fellows tell real stories and diversify the media!
In 2014 we created our Community Storytelling Fellowship because media needs to be MORE diverse, MORE relevant and BETTER REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES THEY COVER. Over the course of a year our team worked with 3 vibrant, committed based storytellers. During their 10-week paid immersion in audio storytelling, each fellow turned their personal experiences into 8 minute radio segments-intense, moving stories you won’t hear anywhere else....
Beyond Stonewall: The Push for LGBT Civil Rights
We go back to the night in June 1969 at the New York City Stonewall Inn that sparked the LGBT rights movement. On today’s show we’ll hear about the day that galvanized a generation and the continued fight for LGBT civil rights. The first Pride parades took place in June 1970 marking the 1st anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Michael Schirker and David Isay bring us an oral history Remembering Stonewall: The Birth of a...
Announcing Making Contact’s 2015-16 Community Storytelling Fellows
In keeping with our mission of covering important issues and helping community media makers tell their stories, Making Contact is pleased to announce our 2nd class of Community Storytelling Fellows! Welcome Al Sasser, Alice Wong, Ivan Rodriguez and Ingrid Rojas Contreras! The fellows will work with us through early 2016 and will each produce an 8 minute radio segment in addition to blog posts and online content. This is a paid, 10...
Walking in Two Worlds
In this radio adaptation of the documentary film, Walking in Two Worlds, we bring you to Alaska’s Tongass Forest, where the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act turned tribes into corporations and sparked a lengthy logging frenzy. We meet a Tlingit brother and sister, who are trying to heal both the forest and their native community. Special thanks to Specialty Studios. Featuring: Wanda Culp & Bob Loescher, Tlinget brother...
Making Contact’s Violence Against Women of Color Live Chat
“This hierarchy of human life where if you are a woman of color and you’re impoverished, you’re at the very bottom and your life is seen as not worth anything.” –Margaret Prescod Join us on May 21st at 3pm PST as we discuss domestic, healthcare and police violence against women of color. This conversation continues our ongoing coverage on the cultural and structural dimensions of how violence against...
East Oakland Mural honors women effected by violence
Her Resilience, the arts organization featured in Not Throw Away Women is an art-based, women-centered project intended to honor, commemorate and celebrate the lives of women affected by violence in the Oakland community. The project was created by Hazel Streete in honor of Kimberly Robertson, a young Black woman who was raped and murdered in Oakland last spring. Participating artists include Kira Marriner, Melody Shaiken, Nicole...
Returning Home: From War Fighter to Student
What is it like to be a student who has fought in a war? Producers at The Stanford Storytelling Project’s podcast, State of the Human asked six Stanford students and recent alumni, all veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to tell their stories about “Returning Home.” Featuring: Dustin Barfield, Chris Clark, Josh Francis, Annie Hsieh, Russ Toll, and William Treseder, military veterans Heidi Toll, wife of veteran...
