Through the partnership of We Love Buford Highway and Open Table Community, Voices of a Highway returns to celebrate the people who make Atlanta’s most diverse corridor feel like home. Buford Highway is a community shaped by migration, resilience, and belonging. This series amplifies the everyday stories of neighbors, small business owners, and community leaders whose voices reflect the beauty, the struggle, and the complexity of immigrant life in the South.At a time when these communities continue to face pressure to assimilate or disappear, Voices of a Highway offers something different: a reminder that these stories aren’t on the margins of our city’s story, but the heartbeat of it.In this first episode of revitalized Voices of a Highway series, we sit down with Josh Owh, co-founder of Postern Coffee in Doraville, Georgia.What begins as a conversation about coffee unfolds into a reflection on creativity, calling, and community. Josh shares how his journey—from math major to music ministry to entrepreneur—has been shaped by both his Korean American heritage and the layered culture of Buford Highway.Through stories of family, risk, and resilience, Josh explores what it means to build something lasting: a space that honors where you come from while pushing the culture forward.“Our goal is to honor culture and push the future.”This episode was produced in partnership with We Love Buford Highway and Open Table Community as part of the newly relaunched Voices of a Highway podcast—spotlighting the lived experiences, wisdom, and resilience of Buford Highway’s immigrant and refugee communities.
As promised, Gabriela Duran's interview is now available in English as well (available in Spanish on this platform). Thank you to Westminster School and Dr. Estefania Olid's Translation class for making this episode possible. We wanted to bring Gabriela's words and thoughts to our English-speaking audiences, so this episode is a reading of the translated interview transcripts. Our Director of Development Natalia Garzón is reading Gabriela's dialogue and she invited her friend Juliana Arosemena to read the interviewer's part. We want to clarify that we took into consideration both racial and gender representation in the recording of this reading, and want to reiterate that the sole purpose of this is to bring our listeners closer to Gabriela's story. The words, thoughts, and feelings you will hear in this episode belong to Gabriela Duran.
*This episode is recorded in Spanish* En este episodio nuestra Directora de desarrollo Natalia Garzón se sienta a hablar con Aceli Zenil, una mujer dedicada a servir a su comunidad en Buford Highway. Aceli nació en México y llegó a Estados Unidos hace 20 años e immediatamente convirtió a Buford Highway en su hogar. La comunidad conoce a Aceli por su rol como Directora de Vivienda Equitativa en Los Vecinos de Buford Highway y por su participación en la junta de PATH Academy. En este episodio, Aceli y Natalia hablan de los cambios de Buford Highway, de las mujeres que nos inspiran a seguir adelante y de la importancia de apoyarnos las unas a las otras a través de comunidades y redes de apoyo entre mujeres. Aceli nos inspira con su tenacidad y su ambición por ayudar a los demás y por seguir siempre hacia adelante.
*This episode is in Spanish, but stay tuned for an English version soon!* En este segundo episodio de Voices of a Highway, nuestra directora de desarrollo Natalia Garzón habla con Gabriela Velasco, quien trabaja con Los Vecinos de Buford Highway y con el Centro de Mujeres Refugiadas. Gaby ha sido parte de la comunidad de Buford Highway desde hace 15 años y todo lo que hace para ayudar a los demás le nace del corazón. Natalia y Gabriela también hablan de lo rico que es comer, de la carga emocional de las mujeres y de la amabilidad que ha salido a la luz durante la pandemia.
Our Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down (virtually!) with Victoria Huynh, Vice President at the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, which is located on Buford Highway. In a conversation fueled by what love looks like to them in this community, Victoria tells us about her life, her background and the amazing work they do at CPACS. Victoria and Lily also talk about growing up on Buford Highway, common mispronunciations of Vietnamese food, and making eye-contact with strangers while you eat in your car.
We Love BuHi, a non-profit organization in Atlanta, GA. hosts two guests per months on Voices of a Highway, a podcast made to discover, celebrate and preserve the lives and stories of local advocates and daily heroes who are making a long lasting impact on our Buford Highway community. Buford Highway is a nine-mile corridor that crosses three counties and has been home to immigrants and their businesses, associations, and communities since 1946. If you like inspiring stories about real people, this is the place for you. With a mix of languages, cultures, and experiences, Voices of a Highway is here to document and preserve the courage and heart that lives and breathes on Buford Highway.
Carlo Gan, Kamayan ATLWhen Carlo and his wife Mia opened Kamayan ATL, they weren’t just bringing Filipino food to Atlanta. They were creating a space where culture, memory, and community could gather around one table.In this episode of Voices of a Highway, Carlo shares how a craving for home-cooked meals grew into a Michelin-recognized restaurant. From hosting family-style feasts to providing meals for local nonprofits, Kamayan’s story embodies what Buford Highway is all about: resilience, generosity, and the power of food to make people feel at home — no matter where they come from.“Food is our medium to educate people. We’re not just chef-owners of a restaurant. We are advocates.”
In this episode we hear Delia Mendez-Valdez, We Love Buford Highway’s Program and Communications Coordinator. She shares her dreams and hopes for Buford Highway’s future, especially through the lens of her upbringing along the corridor. We hope you enjoy this final episode of the series Identities and Belonging. Thank you for listening to our stories this 2023. See you in 2024! Delia grew up along Buford Highway and she became a passionate advocate for community engagement. Starting as a youth program leader, she evolved into a community outreach coordinator, organizing health fairs and providing crucial health education and services to the local Hispanic and Latino population.
In this episode we bring back Jonathan Peraza, who has been a guest in this podcast before! Jonathan discusses his dreams for Buford Highway and how this vision is centered around building spaces that we don’t have yet. It is not only about questioning and advocating for institutions to be equitable and just, it’s also about going beyond and outside of these structures to build something new, powerful, and unapologetically OURS. Jonathan reminds us that it is good to be critical about the world but we also need to remind ourselves what is beautiful about us, what we should be proud of, what power and beauty already exists in our communities and start there. Jonathan Peraza Campos (he/him/él) is a Central American educator and organizer with the Buford Highway People's Hub. He has taught Latinx studies and political education classes for years to youth and adults on Buford Highway and beyond in schools, in movement spaces, and with nonprofit organizations. He supports teachers who want to incorporate Latinx and Central American studies across U.S. classrooms as the program specialist for Teaching Central America at Teaching for Change and an educational consultant.
In this episode Victoria García shares her stories about belonging on Buford Highway through the artistic medium she practices, photography. As a designer, visual artist, and community lover living along Buford Highway, Victoria shares her experiences discovering and deconstructing what art can mean, do, and foster for a community like this one. You can find Victoria on Instagram @vlgarcia_ @highwayinmigrante and find her work by going to vlgarcia.com
In this episode you will hear the voices of Natalia Garzón Martínez, Victoria García, Jonathan Peraza-Campos, and Delia Mendez. They come together to discuss the contradictions that exist with the term "Latinidad" and the importance of nuancing terms to include historically silenced and marginalized voices. When does fitting in become assimilation? How can we break the box instead of trying to fit into it? Listen to this episode to hear organizers and creatives discuss what it means to step into your own autonomy, create collective consciousness, and build power that centers both preservation and change. Victoria Garcia Victoria García is a Chicana visual artist and designer from Doraville, Georgia. She got her BFA in Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Atlanta and has been working in the creative industry for the last decade. Her upbringing in Atlanta’s "International Village", or Buford Highway, has led her to focus on the intersection of art and activism as it pertains to immigration policy, diasporas, and gentrification. Jonathan Peraza Jonathan Peraza Campos (he/him/él) is a Central American educator and organizer with the Buford Highway People's Hub. He has taught Latinx studies and political education classes for years to youth and adults on Buford Highway and beyond in schools, in movement spaces, and with nonprofit organizations. He supports teachers who want to incorporate Latinx and Central American studies across U.S. classrooms as the program specialist for Teaching Central America at Teaching for Change and an educational consultant. Delia Mendez-Valdez Delia Mendez-Valdez currently serves as We Love Buford Highway’s Program and Communications Coordinator. As she grew up along Buford Highway, she became a passionate advocate for community engagement. Starting as a youth program leader, she evolved into a community outreach coordinator, organizing health fairs and providing crucial health education and services to the local Hispanic and Latino population.
En este episodio Lorena Castro comparte sus experiencias con la superación personal y la salud mental. Además, comparte su visión para las personas y comunidades que viven en el corredor Buford. Lorena es originaria de México y ha vivido en Atlanta desde el 2002. Desde el 2018 trabaja con las comunidades del corredor Buford y lo que más aprecia de este trabajo es aprender sobre otras culturas y poder crear espacios para que la gente se conecte. En Enero del 2023 se volvió cofundadora de la organizacion Amigos de la Comunidad en Georgia junto a Cristina de la Cruz y Aceli Zenil.
En este episodio hablamos con Aceli Zenil, quien comparte su historia de inmigrante con nosotros. Nos habla de la importancia de proteger y creer en los sueños y de cómo su vida en Estados Unidos ha cambiado con el pasar del tiempo. Aceli Zenil vive en Georgia desde hace 26 años y siempre le ha gustado apoyar e involucrarse en su comunidad y en las escuelas de sus hijos. A través de los años ha aprendido mucho y ha ayudado en diferentes organizaciones. En Enero del 2023 se volvió cofundadora de la organizacion Amigos de la Comunidad en Georgia junto a Lorena Castro y Cristina de la Cruz. Amigos de la Comunidad GA se dedica a ayudar a su comunidad brindando recursos, información y también tienen una bodega donde la comunidad que necesite puede buscar ropa y zapatos completamente gratis.
Join us for this English episode with Lina Vargas, creator and founder of @comadreandoatl, a social club for Latinx "Comadres" of all stripes in ATL. This conversation centers the importance of community building in private and public spaces, and centers words like "friendship," "company," and "gender." If you are interested in how to celebrate culture and beyond that, the people who create this culture, give this episode a listen and a share! Lina Vargas lives in Atlanta and enjoys connecting with the latin community through friendship, food, books, and art. Through the group Comadreando in ATL, Lina and her fellow comadres encourage latine amiguis to explore Atlanta in cozy and friendly group outings. You can find this group @comadreando.atl on Instagram.
En este episodio escucharemos las voces de Lina Vargas, Aceli Zenil, Lorena Castro y Natalia Garzón Martínez. Las cuatro mujeres comparten sus experiencias en Atlanta y hablan sobre cómo el contexto cultural de vivir en el sur de los Estados Unidos ha cambiado sus definiciones de “ser Latinas.” Abordan varios temas dentro de la noción de la cultura, incluyendo la importancia de no separar el objeto cultural del sujeto que lo crea. También hablan de la importancia de nutrir comunidades y redes de apoyo en Estados Unidos y comparten su trayectoria creando grupos para ayudar y unir a las personas. Sigan leyendo para aprender más sobre las voces de este episodio y no olviden compartir este episodio con sus familiares y amigos. Lina Vargas Lina Vargas es originaria de Colombia y trabaja en la Universidad de Emory. Durante su tiempo libre y motivada por sus intereses en la cultura y la latinidad, Lina fundó ComadreandoATL, una comunidad y grupo social para todas las personas latinas en Atlanta. Aceli Zenil Aceli Zenil vive en Georgia desde hace 26 años y siempre le ha gustado apoyar e involucrarse en su comunidad y en las escuelas de sus hijos. A través de los años ha aprendido mucho y ha ayudado en diferentes organizaciones. En Enero del 2023 se volvió cofundadora de la organizacion Amigos de la Comunidad en Georgia junto a Lorena Castro y Cristina de la Cruz. Amigos de la Comunidad GA se dedica a ayudar a su comunidad brindando recursos, información y también tienen una bodega donde la comunidad que necesite puede buscar ropa y zapatos completamente gratis. Lorena Castro Lorena es originaria de México y ha vivido en Atlanta desde el 2002. Desde el 2018 trabaja con las comunidades del corredor Buford y lo que más aprecia de este trabajo es aprender sobre otras culturas y poder crear espacios para que la gente se conecte. En Enero del 2023 se volvió cofundadora de la organizacion Amigos de la Comunidad en Georgia junto a Cristina de la Cruz y Aceli Zenil.
We are bringing back one of our former guests on this podcast, Luis Andres Andino! He joined us a few months ago to talk about mental health and machismo, and now he is here to tell us the story of his upbringing on Buford Highway and how his childhood has shaped the work he does today. In this individual story, Luis shares with us what being different vs. feeling left out can look like. He takes us back to his time in school, as he navigated cultural differences in the US, and how people who were comfortable and proud of being Latino helped him heal his feelings of discomfort. Luis works in the youth empowerment and education space with the Latin American Association, and a lot of his work now is informed by his experiences growing up. We have heard it before and you will hear it here again...representation matters!
En este episodio (¡completamente en español!) hablamos con Ludemar Ball-Mora, quien nos comparte cómo se sintió al llegar a Estados Unidos desde Puerto Rico. Durante nuestra charla, Ludemar también habla de los idiomas, incluyendo el idioma Taíno, una lengua indígena de la familia arawak que se habló en las Antillas por la época de la conquista española. Aquí resalta la importancia de honrar y celebrar nuestras raíces indígenas y cómo su experiencia en Atlanta la ha ayudado a aprender sobre otras culturas indígenas en Latinoamerica. También hablamos del acento boricua, de la comida de la isla y de las ranitas coquí. Ludemar Ball-Mora nació y creció en la hermosa isla de Puerto Rico. Un mes antes de cumplir 30 años, se mudó a Massachusetts donde empezó a trabajar en una organización sin ánimo de lucro para familias hispanas. Llegó a Gerogia en 2018 y comenzó a trabajar como Administradora de Casos en Ser Familia en 2021. Ludemar disfruta ayudando y abrazando a la comunidad, especialmente a los latinos.
In this episode we sit down with Angelica, who was one of our guests in last week's group discussion. She describes some of the places in her life that make her feel a sense of belonging. The conversation touches on finding family and building family when you are new to a city or space, and Angelica shares beautiful stories about her young adulthood and what Doraville looked like some years ago. She also gives us her best recommendation for Buford Highway and shares a story about a restaurant on the corridor. Angelica grew up in El Paso, Texas, a border town to Mexico and New Mexico where the mountains serve as a background. Working with the Hispanic community for the last 18 years has been an eye opening as well as challenging and rewarding. She comes from a very close-knit family and has two beautiful daughters who mean the world to her.
In this episode you will hear from Luis Andino, Angelica, Ludemar Ball-Mora and Natalia Garzón Martínez. They all spend some time discussing their definitions of Latinidad and how Atlanta has changed their sense of belonging over the years. Other topics discussed include language (loss and acquisition) for new generations of Latinos, educational gaps for communities, and much needed investments for communities in need. Read below to learn more about the people participating in this conversation and don’t forget to share and rate this podcast! Luis Andino Since joining the Latin American Association (LAA), the region’s leading agency representing Latino issues in Georgia, Mr. Luis Andino has led youth-focused initiatives meant to foster hope and provide impactful outcomes, while building meaningful connections to empower and inspire the youth and families of Buford Hwy. Today, Mr. Andino humbly serves as the Managing Director of Youth Services for the LAA. His team hosts the Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference, an event that sees hundreds of Latino students from schools across the state, that aims to bridge the gap between access to higher education opportunities and funding for students in attendance. Angelica Angelica grew up in El Paso, Texas, a border town to Mexico and New Mexico where the mountains serve as a background. Working with the Hispanic community for the last 18 years has been an eye opening as well as challenging and rewarding. I come from a very close-knit family and have two beautiful daughters who mean the world to me. Ludemar Ball-Mora Ludemar Ball-Mora was born and raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. A month before turning 30 years old, she moved to Massachusetts where she started working at a non-profit for Hispanic families. She arrived in Georgia in 2018 and started to work as Case Manager at Ser Familia in 2021. Ludemar enjoys helping and embracing the community, especially the Latinos.
Latino identities exist beyond margaritas, taco Tuesdays, and mariachi bands. With over 21 countries and territories identifying as Latin American or Latino, and over 30 million individuals from these places living outside their country of origin and creating diasporas in many different parts of the world, Latino/Hispanic identities are important and here to stay. In an effort to highlight these complexities, we created the “Identities and Belonging” series, a collection of group discussions and individual stories from advocates, leaders, community members, and creatives who identify as Latino/Hispanic and live in Georgia. We hope this series allows you, our listeners, to expand your vision of what identity and belonging can mean for Latinos here in the United States. We hope you can listen to, learn from, and celebrate the incredible people that shared their experiences with us. Join us for weekly episodes every Friday starting September 22nd. Don’t forget to follow us and to be notified when a new episode comes out. ***this series would not be complete without a special message on terminology. We acknowledge that people choose to use different terms to refer to their identity. Some prefer Hispanic, others prefer Latino, Latinx, or Latin/e. We hold space for all of these terms and respect the people who use them. We will primarily use Latino but may use them interchangeably throughout our content.