Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/nekessa/)
Julia Nekessa Opoti is the producer and host of Reflections of New Minnesotans on AM950 where she interviews immigrants from all over the world who have made Minnesota their home, temporary or permanent.As a writer, Nekessa has reported extensively on Somali, Liberian and other immigrant issues in the Twin Cities for the Twin Cities Daily Planet. She served as editor of Mshale, an immigrant African newspaper.Nekessa is the co-founder and publisher of the Kenya Imagine, an opinion and analysis portal that is on hiatus.For questions, tips and story ideas send her an email at nekessa@tcdailyplanet.net.
On this week’s episode, Julia Nekessa Opoti and guest Ahmed Tharwat discuss the recently released CIA torture report. Ahmed Tharwat also discusses his personal experience as someone who has been tortured. [Audio below] Continue Reading
This episode covers a wide range of current affairs, from police brutality and the pulse of the country to the United Nations’ ’16 Day of Activism against Gender-based Violence.’
This week’s guest is Emilia Gonzales Avalos. The discussion continues to explore President Obama’s recent executive order on immigration. How does the order figure into the criminalization of people of color? What does the Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict former officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Mike Brown mean for immigrant communities?
This week’s featured guest is local immigration attorney and activist Susana de León. The conversation focuses on Obama’s recent executive order on immigration, examining what it means for immigrant communities in Minnesota, and for immigration reform nationally. [Audio below]
Julia and guests LaBelle Nambangi and Wynfred Russell discuss the local impacts of Ebola, as well as global efforts to battle the epidemic in West Africa. Nambangi is with the Minnesota Task Force Against Ebola. Russell, a health care advocate and the executive director of African Career, Education & Resource, Inc., recently returned from a week-long trip to Liberia. The purpose of his trip was to conduct a research assessment to inform the possible deployment of an Ebola response team. [Audio below]
African World AIDS Day was started as a way to reach out to communities affected by the global AIDS crisis, who otherwise might not attend World AIDS Day events. The guests this week are Abdullahi Sheikh, Pillsbury United Communities community health organizer, and Tom Bichanga, Director of Outreach and Prevention for the Aliveness Project. [Audio below]
This week’s guest MC, singer, songwriter and activist Maria Isa. She discusses the women’s movement and other inspirations for her new album, Valley of the Dolls. [Audio below]
In this episode, Wynfred Russell joins Julia to talk about the current Ebola outbreak. Russell is a public health advocate, and the executive director of African Career, Education & Resource, Inc., in Brooklyn Park. Russell explains the outbreak, and delves into its implications for the Liberian diaspora, including Liberians in Minnesota. [Audio below] Continue Reading
Beyond thinking about immigration reform, what conversations are we having as a nation about advocating for Central American child refugees or turning them away? Navigate Minnesota’s Emilia Gonzalez Avalos joins the show this week to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis pushing thousands of children to make the dangerous trek into the United States, and the implications of national reactions to the situation. [Audio below]
This week’s episode features a discussion of the 2014 World Cup, as well as a round-up of refugee and immigrant-related news. [Audio below]