Grace Carlin
This interview is with Grace Carlin, a San Antonio-based environmentalist. Grace discusses finding her passion for nature through exposure to national parks and educational opportunities. She talks about her work coordinating the Urban Land & Water program with the Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, describing the impacts and challenges of community gardens. Grace also shares her interest in youth engagement, particularly the value of young people’s contributions and their right to a future with a stable global climate.
Hasan Abbas
This interview is with Hasan Abbas, a Pakistani first-generation American who works in accounting. Hasan talks about his interest in culture, from American pop culture to traditional Pakistani culture, and his continuing efforts to participate in and learn about both. He compares his experiences of different places, having lived in New York and Texas and visited Pakistan many times with his family. Hasan also shares how his religious, cultural, and family backgrounds influenced his life path and his values of empathy and respect for others.
Husaina Yusuf
This interview is with Husaina Yusuf, a young Muslim woman who was born in California and raised in Texas. In this interview, she discusses her upbringing in Houston, the cultural dynamics of her religious sect, and her life experiences. Yusuf was raised as a Bohri Muslim, a subsect of Shia Islam. She shares stories of her family dynamic, her community, and observations of Bohri culture. She also discusses her experiences as a woman navigating gender roles in her religion and personal life.
Jake Maxwell
This interview is with Jake Maxwell, Pastor of Second Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas. Jake is interested in contemplative or meditative practice within organized religion and uses that knowledge to run a progressive Baptist church. Jake also speaks to the struggles of maintaining one’s mental health during a global pandemic and the importance of recognizing his own privilege as a white man.
Jennifer Kamara
This interview is with Jennifer Kamara, an engineer living in Houston, TX. Jennifer describes the various cultural and religious influences on her life, such as the countries she has lived in, the Christian traditions she has been exposed to, and her marriage. She talks about her relationship with her husband and navigating an inter-religious, intercultural marriage. Jennifer also talks about her activity in supporting diversity in her workplace and gives her perspectives on prejudice and stereotypes.
Juan Coronado
This interview is with Dr. Juan Coronado, a professor from the Río Grande Valley. Juan reflects on growing up surrounded by Latino culture and on his exposure to migration and the presence of the border. He talks as a historian about his impressions of changes at the border and in the US at large that followed 9/11. Juan also discusses the effects of wars in the Middle East on Middle Eastern populations, American troops, and American culture.
Katy Murdza
This interview is with Katy Murdza, the Texas regional organizer for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, in Houston, TX. Katy describes her start in immigration activism during college, her work at a detention center through the Dilley Pro Bono Project, and her work with SA Stand Coalition and Houston Leads. She compares life in the places she has lived and also recalls her travels, including being in the Peace Corps in Panama. Katy describes the connections between the causes she organizes for and believes in, such as immigration reform, abolition, and transit.
Lily Trieu
This interview is with Lily Trieu, a first-generation Chinese-American and nonprofit director in Austin, TX. Lily shares her parents’ stories of coming to the US, living as a low-income family, and struggling with assimilation. She talks about her busy youth and her education. Lily describes her path from working in corporate marketing to working in policy advocacy and founding Asian Texans for Justice. She also shares her perspectives on anti-Asian racism and the needs of communities like hers.
Maesha Meto
This interview is with Maesha Meto, a public affairs grad student and activist in Austin, TX. Maesha talks about her childhood experiences as a young immigrant, such as learning English and feeling alienated from her peers. She shares stories of the Islamophobia she and her family experienced while she was growing up. She also talks about her political awakening and her activist involvement, including police reform work in New York City.
María Del Carmen Unda
This interview is with María Del Carmen Unda, a doctoral student and community organizer in Austin, Texas. Maria was born and raised in California, later moving to Texas when she enrolled as a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin. Through relationships with her professors, Maria was exposed to activist movements in Austin, inspiring her to join as a program coordinator at Academia Cuauhtli, a weekend cultural revitalization school. Maria shares her experiences as an activist, teacher, and her perspective on decolonizing education for students. She also discusses the ways in which the pandemic has affected Academia Cuauhtli and the community.