Lilian Jimenez is an attorney who advocates for greater justice and equity in public policy.  She has extensive experience in direct services, community organizing, and policy advocacy, with a special focus on promoting the rights of immigrant populations and communities of color.  Lili works to ensure that government, as well as non-profit programs, are aligned with the needs of the communities that they are supposed to serve.  She has dedicated herself to the issues of immigration, health...

In this episode of Metropolis Rising, our guest is Victoria Cervantes.  Vicki is a lifelong activist who first became politicized in high school in the mid-to-late-1960s during the social upheaval of the Vietnam era's civil rights and anti-war movements.  Vicki has been a community and labor activist for decades in Chicago's Mexican community, where she has raised her family.  After the military coup in Honduras in June 2009, Vicki helped to found the Honduras Solidarity Network and serves as...

In Episode 2 of Metropolis Rising, my guest is Latinx artist Martin Sorrondeguy (also known as Martin Crudo). Martin is best known as the founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the Latinx hardcore punk bank, Los Crudos, who quickly came to have an impact around the world. The lyrics of the band’s songs spoke politically to the Latinx experience in the United States but also responded to popular struggles across Latin America. The band originated in the 1990s in the Pilsen neighborhood, the...

On the first episode of Metropolis Rising, our guest is Maya Shenwar. Maya is editor-in-chief of the social justice news website, TruthOut. Following the one-year anniversary of her sister Keeley’s death at the age of 29, Maya reflects on Keeley’s struggles with drug addiction, her life in and out of prison beginning when she was 14 years old, the delivery of her first child in prison, and the enduring inspiration of Keeley’s resistance against the cruel injustices that shaped her...