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On today’s episode, we center, elevate, and amplify our stories from our own mouths. We take you on a tour of what it means to be Latina/e/o/x through the voices of previous The Nasiona Podcast guests. Our stories are complex, nuanced, and deserve to be heard. In the show notes, you can find links to the previous guests’ episodes, if you want to listen to the entire conversations and learn more about all guests. Also, we have a magazine series at TheNasiona.com that specifically focuses on personal essays, memoirs, and poetry about what it means to be Latina/e/o/x. Be sure to check those out, too.

Guests: Sylvia Salazar, Colette Ghunim, Alondra Adame, Eva Gonzalez, Diana Castellanos, Mireya S. Vela, Liza Ann Acosta, Alexandra Meda, Christina Igaraividez, J.L. Torres, Irma Herrera, Beezy Montaña, Ra Avis, Patrick A. Howell, Carlos Carrasco, and Deborah Taffa.

[00:02 – 00:14] Sylvia Salazar: Episode 24: Tono Latino

[02:18 – 03:00] Colette Ghunim: Episode 23: Traces of Home

[03:02 – 03:54] Alondra Adame: Episode 27: To the Border Crossers

[03:56 – 04:54] Eva Gonzalez: Episode 27: To the Border Crossers

[04:56 – 06:05] Diana Castellanos: Episode 27: To the Border Crossers

[06:06 – 07:14] Mireya S. Vela: Episode 2: Mireya S. Vela’s Vestiges of Courage

[07:21 – 07:40; 10:16 – 11:12] Liza Ann Acosta: Episode 36: The Sisterhood of Teatro Luna, Part 1

[07:41 – 09:16] Alexandra Meda: Episode 36: The Sisterhood of Teatro Luna, Part 1

[09:18 – 10:14] Christina Igaraividez: Episode 36: The Sisterhood of Teatro Luna, Part 1

[11:13 – 12:46] J.L. Torres: Episode 59 – The Nuyorican Hallway: Belonging & Living Between Worlds

[12:50 – 15:26] Irma Herrera: Episode 22: Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?

[15:28 – 16:37] Beezy Montaña: Episode 48 – BIPOC Musical Artists Showcase

[16:39 – 18:30] Ra Avis: Episode 34: Incarceration and Prison Abolition, Part 1

[18:32 – 19:23] Patrick A. Howell: Episode 31: Global International African Arts Movement, Part 2

[19:26 – 20:53] Carlos Carrasco: Episode 50 – Inside the Afro-Latino Actors Studio, Part 1

[20:54 – 24:02] Deborah Taffa: Episode 39 – Kwatsáan: Ancestral Land, Myths, & Reparations

HOST

Julián Esteban Torres López

Julián Esteban Torres López (he/him/his/él) is a bilingual, Colombia-born storyteller and culture architect with Afro-Euro-Indigenous roots. For two decades, Julián has worked toward humanizing those Othered by oppressive systems and dominant cultures. He is the creator of the social justice storytelling movement The Nasiona, where he also hosts and produces The Nasiona Podcast. He’s a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions nominee; a Trilogy Award in Short Fiction finalist; a McNair Fellow; and the author of Marx’s Humanism and Its Limits and Reporting On Colombia. His poetry collection, Ninety-Two Surgically Enhanced Mannequins, is available now. His work appears in PANK Magazine, Into the Void Magazine, The Acentos Review, Novus Literary and Arts Journal, Havik 2021: Inside Brilliance, among others. Julián is also a senior DEI consultant for Conscious Thrive Consulting. Julián holds a bachelor’s in philosophy and in communication and a master’s in justice studies from the University of New Hampshire and was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, where he focused on political science and Latin American studies.

The Nasiona Podcast amplifies the voices and experiences of the marginalized, undervalued, overlooked, silenced, and forgotten, as well as gives you a glimpse into Othered worlds. We focus on stories that explore the spectrum of human experiences—stories based on facts, truth-seeking, human concerns, real events, and real people, with a personal touch. From liminal lives to the marginalized, and everything in between, we believe that the subjective can offer its own reality and reveal truths some facts can’t discover. Hosted, edited, and produced by Julián Esteban Torres López.

Please follow The Nasiona on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for regular updates: @TheNasiona

Original music for The Nasiona Podcast was produced by the Grammy Award-winning team of Joe Sparkman and Marcus Allen, aka The Heavyweights. Joe Sparkman: Twitter + Instagram. Marcus Allen: Twitter + Instagram.

The Nasiona Magazine and Podcast depend on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners like you. We hope the value of our work to our community is worth your patronage. If you like what we do, please show this by liking, rating, and reviewing us; buying or recommending our books; and by financially supporting our work either through The Nasiona’s Patreon page or through Julián Esteban Torres López‘s Ko-fi donation platform. Every little bit helps.

Thank you for listening and reading, and thank you for your support.