Wisdom Archives - Page 3 of 25 - StoryCorps

“Motherhood Is Not A Solo Journey:” A Daughter Reflects On Her Childhood

Luz Kenyon grew up in Mexico City, Mexico and in the mid 1980s she took a trip to New York City to celebrate her friend’s college graduation. She had no idea she would fall in love with a Jamaican traffic agent on the corner of 42nd street, and never go home.

She came to StoryCorps with her daughter, Anna Paloma Williams, to talk about this unexpected start to their family, and how she navigated raising mixed kids in America.

Top Photo: Anna Paloma Williams and Luz Kenyon at their StoryCorps interview in Columbus, GA on October 30, 2021. By Sarah Padgett for StoryCorps.
Middle Photo: Abuela Lucha, Luz Kenyon and Anna Paloma Williams in Stone Mountain, GA, in the early 1990s. Photo courtesy of the Kenyon family.
Bottom Photo: Luz Kenyon with Anna Paloma Williams and family celebrating abuela Lucha’s 90th birthday in Mexico City in April 2022. She passed away in December 2022. Photo courtesy of the Kenyon family.

 

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired Aug. 4, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Remembering A Father Who Fought For Fairness

Johnny Itliong grew up in the 1960s, surrounded by the agricultural fields of California.

Aleks Itliong and Johnny Itliong at their StoryCorps interview in Reno, NV on June 28, 2023. By Jerry Spikula for StoryCorps.

His father, Larry Itliong, was migrant worker turned labor organizer, who had come to the United States from the Philippines in 1929. Larry eventually led his fellow Filipino workers to strike for better wages and working conditions.

Known today as the Delano Grape Strike, it lasted five years and was one of the most successful in U.S. history.

 

Top Photo: Larry Itliong speaks to the United Farm Workers, undated photograph, courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.  

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired July 14, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

“He Was There In The Way He Could Be”: A Father Comes To Terms With His Own Dad

Tom Badgett grew up in small-town Tennessee during the 1950s. His father, Jim Patton Badgett was the president of a local bank and pillar of the community.

Tom’s father, James P. Badgett, in his late 50s. Photo courtesy of Tom Badgett.

Despite having a job where he had to be engaging and a good communicator, he was distant at home, which made Tom think hard about what kind of a parent he wanted to be.

He came to StoryCorps with his daughter, Jordan Perelle, to reflect on his complicated relationship with his dad.

 

Top Photo: Jordan Perelle and Tom Badgett at their StoryCorps interview in Knoxville, Tennessee on October 11, 2010. By Virginia Lora for StoryCorps.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired July 7, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

A Life In The Rodeo: A Bull Riding Champion Looks Back

It was a summer day in 1968 when a traveling carnival pitched its tent just outside South Central, Los Angeles. Then 11-year-old Charlie Sampson visited with his Boy Scout troop. He remembers the monkeys, bears and snakes. But it was the pony ride that really caught his attention.

“I gave the man a quarter to ride the ponies. Went around five times and that was the beginning of a lifestyle that I never dreamed of,” he said.

Charlie would later take a job cleaning horse stables in exchange for riding lessons. Eventually, a group of older cowboys took him under their wing and showed him how to rope and ride bulls. Years later, in 1982, Charlie became the first Black man to win the Professional Bull Riding World Championship.

 

 Charlie Sampson riding a bull in 1984. Bern Gregory, courtesy of the Dickinson Research Center at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. 1999.025.2422.33.

He came to StoryCorps with his son, Daniel Sampson, to talk about life as a father and a traveling cowboy.

Top Photo: Charlie Sampson and his son Daniel Sampson at their StoryCorps interview in Denver, Colorado on May 30, 2023. By Tamekia Jackson for StoryCorps.

“You Are Seriously Fearless”: A Niece Thanks Her Favorite Aunt For Her Wisdom and Friendship

Menaja Obinali was born in 1948 and grew up in Franklin, a small Louisiana town. She was one of eleven children, and loved dancing, reading and making art as a teenager. One day an unexpected event shifted the course of Menaja’s life.

Undaunted, Menaja went on to get a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and later moved to Dallas to get a master’s degree in theology. That’s when she moved in with her sister Connie and 5-year-old niece, Jarie.

Jarie, who still lives in Dallas, interviewed Menaja for StoryCorps when the Mobile Tour passed through in 2014.

Photo: Jarie Bradley and Menaja Obinali at their first StoryCorps interview in Dallas, Texas on December 13, 2014. By Callie Thuma for StoryCorps.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired June 23, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

“She Always Gave.” Remembering Shoshone Elder Lillian Pabawena Pubigee

Gwen Timbimboo Davis is a member of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. But she didn’t grow up on a reservation. In the 1950s, her family was part of the Indian Relocation program, where the US government sought to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream society by placing them in bigger cities across the country.

Gwen’s family migrated from city to city across the Wasatch Front region in Utah. They had a brief stint in Washakie, another in Layton, and ultimately settled in Brigham City.

But Gwen continued to visit the tribe’s reservations for powwows, funerals, or basketball games, and during the summers she’d visit her grandparents. The time she spent with her maternal grandmother, Lillian Pabawena Pubigee, stands out the most.

Gwen came to StoryCorps with her daughter, Heather Timbimboo Jorgensen, to talk about those trips, and to honor the memory of Lillian.

 

Top Photo: Gwen Timbimboo Davis at her StoryCorps interview in Brigham City, Utah on August 9, 2007. By Rachel Falcone for StoryCorps.
Middle Photo: Gwen Timbimboo Davis (second from left to right) with the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation’s language preservation group at their tribal office in Ogden, Utah in May 2023. Photo courtesy of Heather Timbimboo Jorgensen.
Bottom Photo: Heather Timbimboo Jorgensen in Ogden, Utah in December 2021. Photo courtesy of Heather Timbimboo Jorgensen. 

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired June 09, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

“I Knew At That Moment That I Was Hooked:” Reflections On Love And Support

Julianne Larsen was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her early twenties, and she lived for a long time feeling alone in her struggle.

Until one evening, in 2008, when she walked into a support group for people living with mental illness in Logan, Utah. She laid eyes on Mar Fenix Nauta, who had been attending these meetings to manage her bipolar disorder and PTSD. 

They came to StoryCorps in May 2023 to remember that night.

Photo: Julianne Larsen and Mar Fenix Nauta at their StoryCorps interview in Logan, Utah on May 3, 2023. By Delilah Righter for StoryCorps.

 

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired June 2, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Twin Mortician Brothers Look Back On A Life Of Caring For The Dead

At 69 years old, twin brothers Melvin and Marvin Morgan have both served as mortuary technicians for New York City morgues. 

They’ve worked through some of the city’s most horrific events –  moments like 9/11 and the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Just before Melvin’s retirement in 2023, they came to StoryCorps to look back on a life of caring for the dead.

Melvin Morgan and Marvin Morgan at their StoryCorps interview in New York City on April 22nd, 2023. By Eleanor Vassili for StoryCorps.
Top Photo: Melvin Morgan and Marvin Morgan at their StoryCorps interview in New York City on April 22nd, 2023. By Isabella Gonzalez for StoryCorps.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired May 26th, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Volunteering at the US-Mexico Border Helped This Nurse Find New Meaning in her Work

Content Warning: This story includes mentions of rape and sexual violence.


Angelina McCall found nursing later in life, and quickly discovered she felt called to helping save people’s lives.. She graduated from nursing school in spring 2020—the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Angelina and Matt McCall at their StoryCorps interview in Tucson, Arizona on April 17, 2023. By Chapin Montague for StoryCorps.

She got her first job at a busy emergency room in Tucson, Arizona, but left after a little over a year and questioned whether she was cut out for nursing. “I was very embarrassed and ashamed,” Angelina says.

She stayed home to recuperate and care for her young daughter, but soon after she began to ask herself if there was a way she could continue to help. As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, Angelina is fluent in Spanish and knew that a humanitarian crisis was unfolding just over an hour away from her home.

“So I thought, ‘I can maybe help these migrants that are stuck at the border right now?’

Angelina McCall volunteering at the Kino Border Initiative clinic for migrants in Nogales, Mexico. Photo courtesy the participants. 

She came to StoryCorps with her husband, Matt, to share her inspiring experience volunteering at a clinic near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Top Photo: Angelina McCall after graduating from nursing school in the spring of 2020. Photo courtesy the participants. 

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Originally aired May 19, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

This Couple is Fighting for Equality and Safety For Two Spirit People On Tribal Land

Felipa DeLeon Mousseau Grew up in Manderson on the Pine Ridge Reservation. When she was young she knew a few gay people, including her cousin, and while they were accepted in the community they were not always respected.

Felipa Deleon Mousseau and Monique “Muffie” Mousseau in 2022 at a Two Spirit gathering at Flat Head Lake, Montana. Courtesy of the participants.

When she was in her 30’s Felipa went for out for a night with coworkers to a dimly lit, crowded bar in Rapid City, South Dakota. This is where she first saw Monique “Muffie” Mousseau. Muffie had also grown up on the reservation, but 16 miles from Felipa in a small town called Porcupine.

The hands of Felipa Deleon Mousseau and Monique “Muffie” Mousseau at their StoryCorps interview in Rapid City, South Dakota on January 31, 2023. By Savannah Winchester for StoryCorps.

A fast and intense love sprung up between them. And it took them on a journey that neither of them could have anticipated. They came to StoryCorps to talk about that night and what came next.

 

Top Photo: Felipa Deleon Mousseau and Monique “Muffie” Mousseau at their StoryCorps interview in Rapid City, South Dakota on January 31, 2023. By Savannah Winchester for StoryCorps.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This recording was made possible by a partnership with Uniting Resilience.

Originally aired May 5, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.