A Peace of My Mind

Sebastian Quinac immigrated from Guatemala in his 20s to flee the civil war and threats to his life. After time in California and New York, he settled in Tucson, Arizona where he has lived for the past two decades. He is now a U.S. citizen and works with the Guatemalan consulate to help migrant families navigate the American immigration system. We talked about his journey from Guatemala, his sense...

Juanita Molina is the Executive Director for Border Action Network in Tucson, Arizona. Throughout her career she has advocated for LGBTQ communities and offered support to people with HIV/AIDS, those with terminal cancer and others facing domestic abuse and sexual assault. Her current role allows her to work for the rights of immigrants and while she often is responsible for holding immigration en...

Alvaro Enciso has been placing crosses in the Sonoran Desert for seven years to mark the sites where migrants have died on their journey into the United States. His goal is make the invisible visible, to honor the lives lost, and to point his finger at the policies that lead to unnecessary deaths. A Colombian immigrant himself, he finds that his land art project connects him to his own migration a...

Teresa Reyes was born in El Salvador and came to the United States in 1999 when she was 17 years old, nine months pregnant and spoke only Spanish. As she established herself in her new home, she packed lettuce in farm fields, worked in slaughterhouses and taught herself English. She eventually put herself through college and now works as an environmental scientist.  We talked about the search for...

Tony Sedgwick is the President of the Board for the Santa Fe Ranch Foundation , a working cattle ranch near Nogales, Arizona and just a few miles north of the U.S. border with Mexico. With a background in international business law, Tony offers a sweeping view of history and economics along the borderlands and sees a need to shift our international policies away from fear and protectionism and tow...

Jonathan Green is an acclaimed American painter from Charleston, South Carolina whose work centers on his Gullah tradition and the nearby community of Gardens Corner, where he grew up. We spoke of the path that led him to painting, the importance of representation and our need to cultivate an appreciation for the arts in our youth. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For pho...

Lee Bennet, Jr. grew up a few blocks away from Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and is a long-time member of the congregation. A retired Army officer, Lee spent several years as Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House Drug Control Policy Office and currently serves as a volunteer historian for his church. Mother Emanuel has weathered a long legacy of challenges around issu...

Trudy Grant is the Manager of Religious Affairs and External Relations for the National Action Network . I interviewed her at Charity Mission Baptist Church in North Charleston, where she serves as the assistant choir director. We talked about her childhood, where she was immersed in a culture of love, how that embrace led her to the civil rights work she does today, and the need to celebrate toge...

Alphonso Brown is the founder and owner of Gullah Tours , in Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in Rantowles, a dozen miles south of Charleston, he is a retired band director. With a deep love for his city, Alphonso started a tour company dedicated to telling the stories of the many contributions Black Charlestonians made to the area. We talked about the Gullah language, how Sunday mornin...

Dr. Elijah Heyward III is the Chief Operating Officer for the International African American Museum being built in Charleston, South Carolina, and due to open in 2022. The museum is being built on the site of the historic Gadsen's Wharf, where up to 40% of enslaved Africans brought to America against their will disembarked after the transatlantic journey. We talk about the importance of telli...

Rev. DeMett Jenkins is the granddaughter of businessman, preacher and civil rights activist Esau Jenkins. She works as the Lilly Director of Education and Engagement for Faith-Based Communities for the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. We spoke of civil rights activism, historical traumas and the ability to resist learned behaviors that may not lead to just outco...

Joseph McGill is the founder of The Slave Dwelling Project. I interviewed him at the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina. Ten years ago, Joe started spending the night in historic slave quarters and has slept overnight at more than 150 such sites across the country. He uses the experience to talk about the importance of preserving these historic structures so that we may...

Jillian Peterson teaches Criminology and Criminal Justice at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She co-founded The Violence Project with James Densley. We talk about their Mass Shooter Database, understanding the conditions that lead to violence and the power we have to prevent it. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For photos, videos, and additional content, visit...

I spoke with Michael Brown Sr. and Anthony Shahid as they were in Minneapolis to support the movement of protests following the police killing of George Floyd. We talk about the 2014 killing of Michael's son, Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, Anthony's life-long activism, and this moment's balance of hope mixed with a long history of mistrust. Thanks for listening to A Peace...

Nate Houghton is an entrepreneur based in Boston, Massachusetts. We talk about his long-time diagnosis of depression and OCD and how he feels like his history with mental health issues has helped prepare him for some of the challenges of the pandemic and actually even helped him to thrive. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For photos, videos, and additional content, visit...

Bryn Baertlein is an elementary school teacher in Winona, Minnesota. She married Matt Baertlein on April 18, 2020. We talk about how they reduced their wedding from 350 guests to a party of 10, how her mother also stepped in as the piano player, and how the quiet gathering seemed just perfect in the reflective season of COVID-19. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For photo...

Andrew Waite is the 5th generation of his family to run the Waite & Son Funeral Home in Medina and Brunswick, Ohio. We talk about the ways the grieving process has changed during the pandemic, their efforts to families navigate the difficult adjustments and the loss of his own grandfather just weeks before social distancing became the norm. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's pod...

Kristin Schenck is the co-owner of Log Jam, a bar and grill in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Last week when the state's supreme court overturned the the extension of Governor Tony Evers' stay at home orders, many bars threw their doors open to large crowds, but the Log Jam decided to take a slower process. We talk about the snags in their supply chain for both food and sanitizers, their concern...

David Smith is an American living in Moldova, and is one of the founders of Smokehouse, an American BBQ restaurant in the capital city of Chișinău. We talk about starting a business without making any bribes in a landscape that expects them, the early but sometimes awkward lockdown of the former Soviet satellite and the view of the American response to coronavirus from abroad. If you happen to fin...

My longtime friend Wade Barry turns the tables and interviews me for How Life Changed. We talk about how COVID-19 has impacted my home and work life, the value of documenting stories of hope and our propensity for breaking into song during the long road trips we have shared over years of working together. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For photos, videos, and additional...

Christa Goodwin is a middle school teacher and mother of two in Elberta, Alabama. Her husband Nate was diagnosed with cancer on June 4, 2019 and passed away at home April 9, 2020.  We talk about how she and Nate met, how she has been supported by community during a difficult time and the ways we are all grieving as a result of COVID-19. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. Fo...

Jen Beck Seymour and Greg Seymour are long distance hikers who go by their trail names, Chica and Sunsets. For the past year, they had been renovating a hostel in Franklin, North Carolina along the Appalachian Trail and had opened to hikers just five weeks before the pandemic closed all short term rentals in the state. We talk about their love of the Appalachian Trail community, some of the hikers...

Ryan Silverman is a Broadway actor who was playing the role of Billy Flynn in the hit production of Chicago when the coronavirus closed down New York City's theater district. We talk about how he learned of the closure, the quietness of the city these days and how he and his wife have used this time to teach their daughter to ride her bike and tie her shoes. To learn more about Ryans work, yo...

Kari Rada lives in Chetek, Wisconsin. We talk about her weekly trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for chemotherapy treatments, her enormous collection of pig figurines and her love of riding motorcycles. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's podcast. For photos, videos, and additional content, visit our website and follow us on Instagram .

Neal Hagberg is a singer - songwriter in Minneapolis and also the director of Tennis and Life Camps for Gustavus Adolphus College. We talk about the process of deciding whether camps can be held this summer, the many lights he sees on in houses during his 4 am walks with his dogs, and the collective suffering he sees in our journey with COVID-19. Thanks for listening to A Peace of My Mind's p...