Vanessa Marcano-Kelly of Des Moines played a key role during the pandemic as one of the Spanish interpreters for Gov. Kim Reynolds’ daily news conferences, making sure Spanish-speaking Iowans stayed informed on the public health situation. Fluent in English,...
Some statements by Gov. Kim Reynolds make me question her level of knowledge about what happens on the US Southern Border. “Part of the problem is the Southern Border is open and we’ve got 88 countries that are coming across the border, and they don’t have vaccines...
Although the latest federal ruling on DACA does not affect enrolled recipients, many of them are still frustrated by the program’s instability. “Every time this program is challenged, we feel that they are playing with us,” said Juan Antonio Garcia. “I would like...
Henny Ohr has dedicated her life to empowering communities and showing what determination and caring for others can accomplish. She is the director and co-founder of Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center (EMBARC) in Des Moines. EMBARC is a...
“We are having another May 1st rally this year," Jose Alvarado told me a few months ago, about the event in support of immigration reform. During my conversation with Jose, I had a flashback from fifteen years ago, when I participated in “A Day Without Immigrants”...
The moment was finally here! I was eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and I was ecstatic. The opportunity to feel some safety against the virus and gain some sort of normalcy was within reach. It has been more than a year since the pandemic started and we...
America’s immigration surges are also an Iowa problem, say immigration experts, despite Gov. Kim Reynolds's recent admittal that she declined federal requests to accept migrant children in Iowa, noting their settlement in the U.S. is President Joe Biden’s...
This year has been a year of learning, of reflection, of putting things in perspective for many of us. Most of us learned about the importance of slowing down and to be grateful for what we have. We also learned to recognize other people’s important work and...
A year ago, as the pandemic started, we all watched how another story began to unfold; the former president kept referring to the coronavirus as the “kung flu” and the “China virus.” Ever since then, the racist acts and harassment against the Asian American and...
The months of February and March this year mark a grim reminder of how the coronavirus pandemic began to change our lives forever one year ago. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, yet the scars of loss, depression, anxiety and pain remain. A...
