Immigration
Without immigration fix, dairies struggle
America’s dairies rely on immigrant labor to milk cows and care for the herd. Many owners of the country’s largest dairies say that they’re unable to find employees. A comprehensive fix to the immigration system seems like a longshot in the new Congress, leaving some dairies struggling to keep up.
Better or worse, for Latinos: The Caudillo Family, Part 3
Continue the conversation about race, immigration and the American Dream with the Caudillo family around the dinner table of Mac and Velia Salazar. Grandchildren Julian, Sophia, and Olivia all identify as Mexican-American, even though they don’t speak Spanish and don’t have firm roots to the Latino culture.
‘First of all, I’m an American’
Ryan and Irene Caudillo have three children – Julian, Sophia, and Olivia – all of whom identify as Mexican-American, even though they don’t speak Spanish and don’t have firm roots to the Latino culture. While the children understand that Ryan and Irene focused on teaching them English in order to provide them the best opportunities possible, they wish that they had stronger ties to their Mexican-American heritage. The family talks with KCPT’s Your Fellow Americans team about the importance of maintaining their Latino culture, the impact that learning Spanish has on maintaining that cultural identity, and the fact that the kids don’t feel as connected to the Latino culture as they would like.
Immigration is tough. Got a question?
In December of 2014, the Your Fellow Americans team talked with a Mexican-American family in the Kansas City area about their thoughts on race, immigration, and the American Dream. We joined the family around the dinner table of Mac and Velia Salazar, a husband and wife who were both born in Kansas on February 28th, 1925. Irene, one of their nine children, is married to Ryan Caudillo, a third-generation Mexican-American who was also raised in the Kansas City metro area.
Producer’s perspective: A Persian-American family balances assimilation with success
On Sunday, February 9th, 2014, the Your Fellow Americans (YFA) team had their first interview with a Persian-American family in the KC metro. Members of the family were asked to talk about their identity and the American Dream. To talk about issues of race and immigration. And boy … did they talk. We got about halfway into our tagline, “race, immigration, and th…” before Kian Shafé broke in with his experience as an immigrant.
Talking about race at a KC barbershop
This week’s Your Fellow Americans conversations lay out some of the toughest issues in today’s society, and reveal a desire to see change for the better. If this makes the conversation occasionally intense, that’s because this group considers the neighborhoods around Troost, and east of Troost, as theirneighborhoods. And if it’s considered a little bold, or silly, for me – a white guy – to walk in Diamond Cuts and ask probing questions, what does that mean for the thousands of adults and children who call Troost home? What does it mean for your fellow Americans? Have a look at these conversations, and let us know.
‘Racism … it’s not meant to be seen, but you can definitely feel it.’
Kian Shafé came to the United States in 1955 on a student visa from Tehran, Iran. The youngest of four children, he came to study in the U.S. after political shifts interrupted his education in Iran. In the video above, Kian, his children and his grandchildren share their thoughts on racism and prejudice in America.
Your Fellow Americans producer’s perspective: the Crouser family
Gaylene Crouser says she is 50 percent Lakota, 50 percent unknown lineage and 100 percent Indian. So much pain and trouble surrounds her identity that, when our production team at Your Fellow Americans asked her for her name, she cried. Just knowing that someone had approached her, wanting to learn about her and the way she is…
Ebola crisis hits home for KC’s West African community
Peteh Jalloh lives in Kansas City, but he lived in Sierra Leone until 1995. Lately, he has limited his communication with friends and family in Africa who are dealing with the Ebola crisis to messaging back and forth on Facebook. He says talking on the phone has become too painful. “Every day I get Facebook…
Kansas City Public Schools revamps approach to early childhood education
The Kansas City Public Schools Head Start classes for three and four year olds begin next week, and while the first day of pre-K is a momental occasion for students and families, it’s also an important day for the district. Just two years ago, the district was on the verge of losing its federal Head…