Listening to Language: Exploring Language Justice and Multilingual Media
December 6 & 7, 2019
Language is intrinsically connected to who we are and how we relate to one another. We express ourselves through the languages we sing in, the languages we dream in, and the stories we tell. Language holds knowledge, wisdom, and experience. When we break down language barriers, we are able to access new channels of communication and build directly with each other. This is what it means to create a multilingual space where no language is dominant and every language holds power. We can create these spaces in person and digitally. Join us for a Listening Lunch and Panel Discussion on Bilingual Podcasting and Multilingual Media to deepen how we listen to each other’s stories and embrace multilingual expression. All events will take place at the PRX Podcast Garage in Boston.
Language Justice is a movement with roots in the Southern United States and the Highlander Research and Education Center. Although there’s no one definition of Language Justice, you can learn more about its theory and practice by checking out this guide by Antena and reading or listening to this interview by Groundswell.
Listening Lunch: Multilingual Stories from Local Podcasters
Friday, December 6 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Hungry for mid-day community and conversation? Spend your lunch hour with us! As part of our Listening to Language series, we’ll listen to a selection of audio works recorded in multiple languages and made locally. Not a polyglot? That’s okay! We encourage you to treat your ears to the textures and tones of languages you may not be familiar with or accustomed to hearing. We’ll listen collectively and discuss the experience.
We'll provide gripping audio, great conversation, and, of course, lunch (with veg and gluten-free options). As always, the PRX Podcast Garage is wheelchair accessible and welcomes all people, whether listener or producer, novice or expert. Tickets are $5.00 and include lunch.
Panel Discussion: Bilingual Podcasting and Multilingual Media
Saturday, December 7 | 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Almost half of the world’s population speaks two or more languages fluently. Podcasts have become a medium for makers to challenge the monolingual norm in media. Join bilingual podcasters and media makers Iohann Vega, Ada Volkmer, Rafael Trujillo, Cynthia Lin, and Heloiza Barbosa in conversation about their work and what goes into creating a multilingual audio piece. We’ll listen to examples of various formats of bilingual podcasts and discuss the nuance in each. We welcome multilingual people new to podcasting who want to tell stories with their full selves and seasoned podcasters looking to incorporate multilingual content and broaden their audience.
These bilingual podcasters and language workers will share existing models for doing this type of work as well as their own experiences with media making.
Free and open to all.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Ada Volkmer is a native of Mexico who is proud to call the US South her home. Her multicultural, bridge-crossing experiences growing up on the US-Mexico border inspire and inform her language justice work. Ada has more than 10 years’ experience interpreting and coordinating interpretation in community-based settings, including interpreting at the Highlander Research and Education Center, the World Social Forum on Migration, and Mijente. Ada loves fried chicken, cumbia and summer. Ada coordinates the Language Justice Circle at the Center for Participatory Change, where she trains interpreters and is the host of Se Ve Se Escucha (Seen and Heard) a language justice podcast about language justice, interpreting what it means to be bilingual and an organizer in the South
Iohann Rashi Vega was born and raised in Mexico City, started music training at the age of six, and has a background on journalism and media. He moved to Puerto Rico, where he worked for 12 years in different roles as producer, on-air host, news anchor, promotion coordinator, and music program coordinator, at the University of Puerto Rico’s Public Radio Station, WRTU. Iohann has also worked as the Media Literacy Coordinator at the Gándara Youth Development Center, in Holyoke, MA, where he worked with youth, creating media content with social justice, and self-advocacy focus. Also, he is the producer of Radioplasma, a local podcast that is a workshop for the youth and community to share stories and discussion of topics of relevance and interest, not always covered by mainstream media. Currently, Iohann is the Director of Media Engagement with Holyoke Media,
Cynthia Lin is the creator and host of Taiwanese Diaspora, a bilingual podcast capturing conversations in Mandarin Chinese and English with sprinkles of Hakka and Taiwanese. Through interviews and personal storytelling, the podcast is a platform for building communities and preserving languages for people of Taiwanese heritage around the world. Topics include immigration across the decades, bicultural and third cultural identities, intergenerational expectations, mental health, non-STEM career paths, and more. Born and raised in the DC suburbs before working and living around the world after college, Cynthia currently resides in Boston and works in tech.
Rafael Trujillo is a recent graduate from Emerson College with a degree in Journalism. His interest has led him to produce stories in education, politics, and the lack of representation of Latinxs and Hispanics in Boston media. He has reported photography packages, audio stories, and anchored a Spanish-language newscast at Emerson. He is currently the Teaching Assistant for the Podcasting at the Library workshop series at East Boston Library Branch and recently assisted at the Community Podcast Lab. Rafael was born in Venezuela, so he speaks Spanish and English.
Heloiza Barbosa was born in Belém, a city in the mouth of the Amazon river, Brazil. Both of her parents are illiterate, her father a native from the forest, her mother a daughter of Campesino Portuguese immigrants. Heloiza migrated to Boston in 1994. In the city, she worked as a waitress, barista, and housecleaner. She marched through many classes of ESL and applied to graduate school. In 2004 Heloiza received her doctorate in Education from Boston University. She was a tenured professor of Education in Brazil for almost a decade. Today, Heloiza writes short-fiction and produces audio-documentary and is the creator of Faxina, a Portuguese language podcast telling true stories of Brazilian house cleaners living and working in the United States. She lives in Brookline with her husband and daughter.