Category: News

Alexandra Whitbeck spoke with Rande Bynum, Chief Executive Officer at Girl Scouts of Nassau County about how local Girl Scout troops have adapted and persevered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Hear from a Girl Scout herself and her mother who volunteers as the troop’s leader on how their cookie sales have shifted due to virtual selling. After, Stephen Lewis, a recently retired dairy farmer, tells the tale of his generational farm. Alexandra speaks with a soy expert and a nutritionalist on this segment that was originally aired on GTTR last season.

On this edition, we introduce you to two creative innovators in their respective fields who released some incredible work last year, one in book form, the other as a musical recording. In the first half of the show, we hear from Veteran Public Radio journalist Maria Martin, the founding executive producer of the NPR show Latino USA, who’ll tell us about her new memoir Crossing Borders, Building Bridges: A Journalists Heart in Latin America. Then, in the second half, we speak to Colombian musician, pianist and arranger Pablo Mayor, whose latest album with the Folklore Urbano Orchestra pays tribute to the great sounds of the Nuyo-Rican Salsa scene that emerged in the 1960 and 70s. The album is called El Barrio Project Salsa, and we give you a taste of it right here…on Getting to the Root. Hosted by Mario A. Murillo.

On this edition, we take a look at the Biden administration’s initial steps at developing an immigration policy agenda. As you may know, President Biden signed three executive orders in early February that he said would lead to a more “fair, orderly, humane” immigration system.” But is it enough? We spoke with Patrick Young, who served as an immigration lawyer with the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) for 35 years. He is Special Professor of Immigration Law at Hofstra School of Law and he is currently the Downstate Advocacy Director for the New York Immigration Coalition; andNadia Marin Molina is Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), leading the Workers Center and Workers Rights areas of work.  An attorney who has devoted her career to advancing the rights of immigrants in the workplace, she was formerly the executive director of the Workplace Project, and served on Biden’s transition team.Then, in the second part of the show, we examined the so-called Latino voter, a few months after the historic elections of last November. A lot has been written and said about what some pundits described as new trends in the Latino electorate in 2020. We were joined by independent journalist Michelle Garcia, who’ll tell us why it’s not anything new, it’s just that mainstream media pundits continue to misunderstand the complex dynamics that make up the diverse Latino population in the US. Hosted by Mario A. Murillo.

On this edition, we explore an issue that has had a particular impact on Long Island: criminal justice, street gangs, and the history of MS-13. First we present highlights of a special panel held at Hofstra University last October called The Gangs of Long Island: Mythmaking, Policymaking and the Origins of MS-13. The panel featured two guests who know and understand from unique perspectives the history of MS-13: Steven Dudley, Investigative journalist and cofounder of InSight Crime, a think tank devoted to investigating organized crime and corruption in the Americas. He is the author of the just published book MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang. Also, Sergio Argueta, among the most influential community activists on Long Island. Sergio is the founder and Board President of S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth, Inc. (Struggling To Reunite Our New Generation), one of the leading gang prevention and intervention agencies in the northeastern United States. Then, we hear from award-winning San Francisco-based journalist Roberto Lovato, who tells us about his just published book UNFORGETTING: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas. The book tells the story of his life growing up between the streets of Los Angeles and the internal conflict in El Salvador, and how he has witnessed first-hand the emergence of MS-13 in both places. Hosted by Mario A. Murillo.

This week, the producers sit down for an exclusive interview with controversial Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera. During the discussion, Rivera talks about his commutation under President Obama, Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, and more. For every other episode of Getting to the Root, check out their show page here.

Originally aired on WRHU-FM on 11/13/2018.
Series episode #18.

Music featured in this piece:
Ryan Little: “West Coast” - https://soundcloud.com/iamryanlittle