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© Copyright Aidan Dennis
Description
The Push-Pull Factor is a podcast that bolsters the stories of migrants by allowing them to share their personal journeys, demystifying the idea that migration can be understood by a single story. Join Aidan and his rotating guest hosts as they tell their migration stories.
21 Episodes
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Despite Sierra Leonean and Nigerian heritage Nkechi ""Kiki"" Gillman was actually born in Germany and had quite an immigrant journey across a few countries before finding herself in the U.S. and becoming both a citizen and a lawyer. Currently self-employed and managing her own immigration law firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Kiki is no stranger to the immigration process as she has gone through it herself and has held several different statuses throughout her life journey.
We have quite the conversation in this episode and finally we get to speak with an immigration lawyer about their day to day! We touch on her life and her experiences coming from Sierra Leone initially to the Bahamas and then to the United States, what drew her specifically to wanting to be an immigration lawyer and how personal the work is to her, the nitty gritty detail of her Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) casework and the harsh reality of being an immigration lawyer in today’s America.
You won't want to miss a thing learning from one of the most informed and charismatic immigration lawyers in the States.
Learn more about Kiki and Gillman Immigration:
https://gillmanimmigration.com/
https://www.instagram.com/gillman_immigration/?hl=en
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/
From Nigeria to Canada - Lola's story starts in Lagos and ends up in Toronto with a few pit stops along the way. Currently working as an African Heritage Educator and leveraging her experiences back home to teach the youth, Lola supplements her time with a YouTube channel and is building a brand as one of the key voices providing educational content for new and prospective Canadian immigrants.
Our conversations spans many topics and leverages Lola’s myriad of experiences from working in a government school to being educated in the U.K. to seeing (and living) the difficulties of the black immigrant experience first hand. Find out what drew her to Canada, what’s kept her in a vibrant city like Toronto and the difficulties she’s had to overcome to start shining her light and helping others.
Discover more about Lola:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgD7ixLJ5Cdi6Ar3C61egnw
https://www.instagram.com/lolablackofficial/
Lola's Video What Racism in Canada Looks Like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbUiYF6-hk
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/
"From the suburbs of Kigali back to his home in Rwanda to the bustling city of Vancouver - Ezra Kwizera has had quite a journey.
Colonialism, power and greed are just part of the story that defines Rwanda in the late 20th century. They had a history of conflict rooted in the historical differences of power and access between Hutu and Tutsi groups. Not only did this stem as the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide but it also created a precarious push factor for the disadvantaged communities. Ezra himself was born to refugee parents living in Uganda.
Our conversation talks on a myriad of topics from the dimensions of tribalism in Africa and Ezra’s own perspective on it, identity building in refugee children, Ezra opening the first private studio in Rwanda and his expansive music career that led to performances with stars such as Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi, Mali’s late Farka Touré and Uganda’s Jose Chameleon. A lot is packed into this very informative episode and it’s not one that you want to miss.
Source:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/civil-war-erupts-in-rwanda
Learn more about Ezra Kwizera:
http://www.ezrakwizera.ca/
His organization Narrow Road Africa:
http://www.narrowroadafrica.com/
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/"
There were thousands of victims of the civil war that emerged in Sudan in the 1900s and many of them were young children who marched alone, thousands of miles, before arriving at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya that had a massive young population. The UNHCR quickly got involved and in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State approximately 3,600 young refugees were brought to cities all over the United States.
While this generation started to gain notoriety as the “Lost Boys of [South] Sudan” there were still an unrepresented group that got overlooked in the popular consciousness but was still part of the equation - The Lost Girls of Sudan. Of these 3,600 refugees less than 100 of them were women and one of them is speaking with us today.
Tabitha, photographer and pre-school teacher, earnestly shares her journey as one of the 89 Lost Girls of Sudan who found their way in the United States. Her cheerful demeanor and matter-of-fact recollection brings you on a story from her upbringing in Kakuma to her first arrival in Mississippi - which grew into quite a life where she has now married one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and currently resides in Houston. We have quite the conversation which stems culture, food, parenting and the trials and tribulations of life itself - you can’t miss this one!
Sources:
https://www.rescue.org/article/lost-boys-sudan
https://www.rotary.org/en/lost-girls-south-sudan
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/
From Kazakhstan to Singapore to the United States! Dina shares quite a lot about the truth on growing up in Kazakhstan and she definitely shares her opinion on the Borat films. An interesting journey of discovery not only do we get insight into a young country forging it's identity but also a young woman forging hers and choosing her own path. We have quite the conversation ranging from exotic meats to international student percepetions of LGBTQ+ life so you can't miss out!
Sources:
https://thediplomat.com/2019/06/why-is-kazakhstan-a-growing-destination-for-central-asian-migrant-workers/
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/
"From South Korea to the United States! Tony Lee takes us through his childhood migration from Seoul and touches on his relationship with his own Korean-American identity, education and pop culture! We talk everything from familial expectations to Kpop recs and you'll definitely walk away from this one knowing more about Korea and Tony.
Discover more from Tony:
http://www.sheckii.com/
Source:
https://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Centers/RCKC/Documents/Koreans%20Immigration%20to%20the%20US.pdf
Check us out on more platforms:
https://pushpullfactor.com/
https://twitter.com/pushpullfactor
https://www.instagram.com/pushpullfactor/
From Lviv to New Jersey! Roman Prokopchuk takes us from his humble beginnings in the former Soviet Union, currently Ukraine, where he and his family of six people left to live in a two bedroom apartment in the New Jersey area. Learn more about his journey, launching his podcast Digital Savage Experience and agency Nova Zora Digital, cultural nuances and the tie to his homeland in the name of his own company - Nova Zora Digital.
https://www.novazoradigital.com/
Source:
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/losing-brains-and-brawn-outmigration-ukraine-0
From India to the U.S. to Germany! Swapnika takes us through her journey from her highly international education in Hyderabad to her college and career successes in the United States and a fresh perspective on her move to Germany… recorded less than two months after she’s officially landed in the country - right at the start of that culture shock curve. It’s a fresh perspective on Berlin and a fun conversation with one of Aidan’s close college friends!
It’s the Holiday Special! From Kenya to the United States (with a pit stop in South Africa) Norah steps into the studio to talk the holiday season in Kenya and the clothing expectations, her motivations to pursue higher education outside of her home country, how salient her blackness was depending on where she was and of course some discourse on whether or not ethnic group identity outweighs the importance of a national one on the continent. An interesting conversation with a fun holiday tie!
Source:
https://www.whychristmas.com/
From Iran to the United States! Aidan chats with Dahlia and uncovers the journey that she made from Tehran (yes like 1991 film Not Without My Daughter… but also 100% not) at the tender age of two and the life that she and her family have built for herself in New York City. Hear everything from falsified passports to the intricacies of Iranian parenting and probably the most complex answer to the Aidan’s flagship question we’ve had yet!
Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/iran-vast-diaspora-abroad-and-millions-refugees-home
From South Africa to the U.S.! Aidan meets up with Nick (@winnstagram9) and learns about both his moves a small town in the U.K. to various regions of Switzerland and through our conversation we cover anything from how truly international the population is, the mix of languages you’ll hear in Switzerland on a daily basis, the response to COVID and of course we cover skiing. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Switzerland before opening that Swiss bank account this is the episode for you.
From South Africa to the U.S.! Aidan meets Jarryd (@thebropair) and learns about the roots of his bro pair identity and why he decided to uproot his life in Johannesburg to work as an au pair in Austin, Texas. From the impact of American media to the telling the truth on kids this episode has everything - including comprehensive information on the au pair process so if you’re an aspiring au pair this is the one for you.
From China to India to the U.A.E. to the U.S. to Australia… and back to Dubai for the time being (COVID impact!) Aidan catches up with study abroad classmate Shruti to speak on her multi-continent migration journey and how her studies have truly taken her across the globe from an undergrad experience in Massachusetts to law school in Melbourne. She shares her view on the world, the intricacies of life the luxurious hub of Dubai and the one month of life she got down under before things shut down.
Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/labor-migration-united-arab-emirates-challenges-and-responses
Aidan meets the hosts of the Tokyo Fresh podcast (@tokyofreshpodcast) and gets their unique perspectives on their host country as citizens of Canada and the United Kingdom respectively. They share the intricacies of life in Japan, their experiences as English teachers and the day to day of life in Tokyo. If you’re interested definitely check out their podcast for a Western perspective of the Japanese experience.
From Prishtina to Boston to San Francisco and back! Monika’s story starts in a country that didn’t declare independence its until 2008 and she takes us through the history of a country that many may not have heard of and the peculiarities of traveling with a passport of a county that’s only formally recognized by half of the world.
Source:
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229345626.pdf
From Goiânia to Los Angeles! Abi’s (@theabimaria) journey has taken her from her home country Brazil across the world with a pit stops in Sweden and brief stays in both the Philippines and Cambodia to compete for a $1,000,000 (USD) prize on CBS’ Survivor. She shares her migration story, her thoughts on diversity in reality television and offers advice to anyone with a dream.
Research Source: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/hemispheres/_files/pdf/slavery/Slavery_in_Brazil.pdf
From Shanghai to Boston! Aidan chit-chats with close friend Tianshu over her educational journey from Shanghai to UVA, adapting a Chinese working style to a Fortune 500 company in the U.S. and the forwardness of American boys on dating apps.
From Massachusetts to Lebanon! Aidan catches up with one of his college professors, Jennifer Skulte, PhD, to get the truth on her migration story and the situation in Lebanon through a personal and academic lens!
From Germany to the United States! Aidan and Dre reflect on Dre’s collegiate soccer career and international student job hunt
From Venezuela and the United States to Chile! Aidan catches up with his old college roommate Andrew and his girlfriend Reichel to reflect on their journeys.
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