Drift: Immigration & Identity in America
In this interview series, Hawai`i-based artist and conservationist Melissa Chimera interviews immigrants, the descendants of immigrants and Native people to unpack how their homelands both new and old are shaped by their ties to land and transitional experiences. Music ”Raindrops” courtesy Lobo Loco.
Episodes
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
Neil Pendon, the self-described former military-teacher-pharmacist talks about the importance of family and education, as well as the long and winding path across many countries while navigating his "hybrid Chamorro, Filipino and military" identity.
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Sunday Nov 27, 2022
Kodiak Island, the U.S.'s second largest island is host to a large immigrant population of Filipinos/as including women and girls who immigrated since the 1980s from various islands in the Philippines. Nita Nicholas, Mary Jane Viray, Lisa Pascua, and Deneila Lyzah Betran speak to the challenges of learning more than one language (not just English!), adapting to many physical, cultural and school environments, all while caring for family members and their community.
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Sunday Nov 20, 2022
Kodiak's Filipino-American Association Vice President Bernadette Villaroya is a 51 year old accountant immigrated from the Visayan islands in the Philippines 20 years ago. Her life is one of struggle, resilience and overcoming many challenges not the least of which is the cold and distance from her family back home.
Saturday Nov 12, 2022
Saturday Nov 12, 2022
Linguist Kirk Gallardo helps us understand the plurality of new worlds he has immigrated to as well as those he’s left behind–and how he specifically navigates among Alaska Natives and his Filipino ancestry through his work with the Anchorage Museum.
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Illustrator and artist Rejoy Armamento speaks to what it's like breaking new ground as the first professional artist in her family, working to bridge gender and generational differences.
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
As a half-White, half-Filipino American filmmaker in Alaska, Joshua Albeza Branstetter speaks to his journey coming to understand both sides of himself through his work in creative film-documentary projects.
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Dr. EJR David speaks to his own immigration and identity struggles and his research into the psychological health of marginalized people (30 MINS).
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
EP 1 Dr. Gabriel Garcia talks Filipinx immigrant health
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
In this 30 minute interview, Dr. Gabriel Garcia of the University of Alaska at Anchorage reveals his own story of coming to Alaska from the Philippines, graduating college as the first in his immediate family, while turning his attention to immigrant health in risky Alaskan work environments.
Immigration. Globalization. Rapid changes.
What is causing the world's greatest movement of people since the last World War? Why are people leaving their homelands, families and all they know behind? In this series, Melissa Chimera explores why and how people leave, and who and what they find when they get there.