Voices of a Highway

In this episode, Natalia Garzon sits down with Nicole Kang Ahn, a second-generation Korean American artist whose styles delve into love, loss, womanhood and her heritage. Nicole and Natalia talk about art, childhood, womanhood, motherhood, and the shared emotions of immigrant communities. They also talk about art and activism, the Atlanta Spa Shootings, Korean food on Buford Highway, and why Lizzo...

In this episode of Voices of a Highway, we celebrate the 6 days in April that honor languages. Executive Director, Lily Pabian, sits down with Nancy Tai, the Principal of Taiwan Mandarin Learning Center, right off Buford Highway. The Taiwan Mandarin Learning Center offers cultural programs in addition to Mandarin Chinese language classes and serve around 100 students at the moment. These students...

In this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down with Nury Castillo Crawford, a spirited entrepreneur, author of “3,585 Miles to be an American Girl” and founder of 1010 Publishing, a company that promotes a passion for reading by delivering bilingual stories that represent our immigrant communities. Nury shares her immigrant story, her journey as a Latina educator and writer, and her pas...

In this episode, Natalia Garzon sits down with Aixa Pascual, an organizational leader on Buford Highway. Aixa, a Puerto Rico native, is currently a senior communications marketing strategist for the Atlanta Regional Commission and most recently, was managing director of communications/marketing, advocacy, community relations and arts/culture at the Latin American Association, the largest agency in...

En este episodio Natalia Garzón se sienta con Cynthia Román Hernandez, una mujer de Puerto Rico que trabaja como directora del programa de bienestar familiar para la Asociacion Latinoamericana, la agencia líder de la región para las comunidades latinas en Georgia. En esta entrevista (en español) Cynthia y Natalia hablan de ser inmigrantes, del efecto que tuvo la pandemia en el equipo liderado por...

In this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down with James Han, a rapper and songwriter from Atlanta, GA. The son of Korean immigrants, Uzuhan raps about cultural identity, faith, and self-acceptance. Raised on Hip-Hop, Disco, and Korean folk music, Uzuhan explores his identity through his music. In this episode, James and Lily talk about AAPI identity, the importance of Buford Highway f...

To celebrate a full year of episodes, Voices of a Highway is having a special holiday season sit-down session with We Love Buford Highway's leadership. Executive Director, Lily Pabian, and Community Engagement Director, Natalia Garzón, talk about their upbringings, their journeys to Buford Highway, their must-go-to places along the corridor and what their hopes are for the organization's future. I...

October celebrates Filipino American History, a month to raise awareness on the significant role Filipinos have played and continue to play in American history. This time we invited Martin Gustilo, owner of Manila Mart on Buford Highway (5938 Buford Hwy NE). We also invited Jaren Abedania, a proud We Love Buford Highway Board Member. Both men talked about their traditions, their histories, and the...

In this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian interviews Angela Maria Vellino, a first generation Colombian-American who grew up on Buford Highway. This short and sweet interview to celebrate the end of Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month teaches us about preserving the cultural traditions and stories our immigrant parents and families raised us with. Angela talks all about being bilingual, fitting i...

In this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian speaks to Alnory Gutlay, Vicepresident of Health and Prevention for the Center for Pan Asian Community Services. Alnory shares the story of how she got to Buford Highway, what she remembers vaccines meant as a little girl, and some of the lessons she has learned in relation to Covid-19 vaccines this past year. Lily and Alnory also talk about the rece...

En este episodio de Voices of a Highway, Natalia se sienta a hablar con Dianne Román, Coordinadora de Salud y Bienestar de Latino Community Fund y de la Ventanilla de Salud en el Consulado General de México en Atlanta. Dianne y Natalia hablan de Puerto Rico, de lo lindo que es oír el mar caribeño y de lo que significa para ellas trabajar con comunidades latinas en Atlanta. En honor al mes de la co...

In this episode Lily Pabian talks to Stephanie Coreas, Director of Development for Los Vecinos de Buford Highway. Stephanie opens up and tells us about the journey her and her mother took to come to the United States, and what that journey means to her nowadays. As powerful women and leaders in the non-profit sector in Atlanta, Lily and Stephanie talk about COVID-19 and the impact it had on Buford...

En este episodio de Voices of a Highway invitamos a Guillermo Cesario, líder de la comunidad de Buford Highway e instructor de artes marciales en su estudio Warriors Forever (4300 Buford Highway, Suite #110). El mes de junio es el mes de la Salud del Hombre y Guillermo es una fuente de inspiración para todos sus alumnos y los miembros de la comunidad. Su compromiso con la disciplina, el bienestar...

In this episode of Voices of a Highway, Executive Director Lily Pabian meets with James Ro, Founder of Atlanta Run Club and the ARC Studio, which is located on Buford Highway. Since June is National Men's Health Month, James shares his insight on running, staying active, and being conscious about health and everyone's journey to longevity.  James is an inspiration to our immigrant communities...

*Episode in English* In this final episode of Voices of a Highway for the month of may, to celebrate AAPI voices, Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down with Tina Tsai, childhood friend and foodie blogger on Oh Snap! Let's Eat!. They both talk about growing up in Atlanta, attending the Chinese Cultural Center, partaking in afterschool Chinese and Taiwanese dances and activities with their famili...

*English Episode* In this episode of Voices of a Highway, our Executive Director Lily Pabian sits down with Van Galasso, local Asian-American artist and community member. Van Galasso is a familiar and beloved name for us at We Love Buford Highway since she has helped us with her art for many of our programs (We Are BuHi Gallery and Taste of BuHi Contest). In this episode she talks about generation...

*Episode Recorded in Spanish* En este episodio de Voices of a Highway, nuestra directora de desarrollo Natalia Garzón habla con Cristina de la Cruz Vaquero, quien es voluntaria de varias organizaciones como Los Vecinos de Buford Highway y madre de tres niñas. Cristina es una mujer valiente que continuamente logró sobrellevar las adversidades de la vida con fuerza y coraje, lecciones de vida que ap...

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 o...

*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...

In honor of International Women's Day (and Women's History Month), Voices of a Highway is highlighting empowering women that strengthen the communities of Buford Highway through their verve, their dreams, and their work. In this episode, Executive Director Lily Pabian interviews Natalie Keng, founder and owner of Chinese Southern Belle: a multi-faceted business that uses food to connect people and...

*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...

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 Hig...

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 thei...