Mid-Americana: Stories from a Changing Midwest explores the history and identity of the Greater Midwest through the lives and stories of individual people.

Always in the Gray Areas: John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas

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Season Two

Immigration

Our second season, Immigration, features eight stories from people who left their native countries to make a new home in the Greater Midwest. We ask our guests what pulled them from their homelands, what challenges they faced while making a home in the Heartland, and how they contribute now to a changing Midwest.

Season 2: Immigration

Always in the Gray Areas: John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas

All his life, Guatemalan-American John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas has lived in the gray areas between worlds. This has made him skillful at building bridges between white Midwesterners and immigrants in the Heartland, a calling that has been both risky and rewarding.

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Season 2: Immigration

America Looks Like Scotland!: Zoe Bouras

Zoe Bouras emigrated from England to Illinois when she was eight years old. She now thinks of herself as a Midwesterner, but it took fifteen years to begin her own path to American citizenship.

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Season 2: Immigration

Stick To Your Roots: Pavel Polanco-Safadit

As a kid in the Dominican Republic, Pavel Polanco-Safadit pounded away for hours perfecting his technique as a classical pianist. This passion led him to the U.S., and eventually to the Midwest, where he has rediscovered his Latin Jazz roots and the Indiana roots of American Jazz.

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Season 2: Immigration

America Has Its Own Ghosts: Kao Kalia Yang

Kao Kalia Yang was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand and settled with her family in Minnesota when she was six years old. She is now a writer, public speaker, and teacher based in St. Paul.

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Thanks to our Sponsors

This program is supported by Central College, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Central College, Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.