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As Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, Rafael Zarama oversees a network of about one hundred Catholic churches in the eastern half of North Carolina. Parishioners in this region are diverse and include people who have immigrated from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, where Catholicism is a prevalent religion. He…

Lilibeth Andrés is the Engagement Coordinator for the Digital Equity Initiative in the NC Farmworker Health Program. Andrés was born in Chapel Hill and raised in Sanford, North Carolina, and remains committed to serving her community by working to increase access to healthcare. In this interview, Andrés reflects on her parents’ and grandparents’…

Julio Gutiérrez is an anthropology doctoral student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Julio was born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador, and held both U.S. and Salvadoran citizenship (the former was passed down through his mother who obtained it when living in Los Angeles prior to his birth). He migrated to the U.S. with his…

In this interview, interviewer Gabriella Montes learns about Venezuela’s recent history as experienced by her long-time friend, Andrés Cáceres. He describes the first ten years of his life in his city of origin, Caracas, Venezuela. He explains details about his family relationships, home life and school life as he grew up in the economic turmoil…

Ana Muñoz Molina is a student at UNC Chapel Hill from Cuba who shares her experience emigrating to the United States and her role within the Latino community in Chapel Hill and Miami, where she lives with her family. Ana discusses her family’s struggles to make ends meet in Cuba and discusses the challenges she faces to feel integrated within the…

Yazmin García Rico is Director of Latinx and Hispanic Policy and Strategy at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS). She recounts her activism during her tenure in college, helping Latinx youth navigate college enrollment and her outreach efforts to connect farmworker communities with healthcare and other resources.…

Born in Guatemala but raised in Siler City, North Carolina, Hannia Benítez currently serves her local communities as Deputy Director at El Vínculo Hispano/The Hispanic Liaison’s office in Lee County and as Chair of Siler City’s Immigrant Community Advisory Committee (ICAC). Hannia shares her foundational experiences, including the need to be her…

Adolfo Briceño is Program Manager of Human Relations and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the City of Winston-Salem. He shares his early life experience in Mérida, Mexico, where he was born and educated. Having studied economics, he grew disillusioned with the field while working as a mortgage analyst at a Cancún bank and switched careers to…

This oral history interview was conducted by Sophie Therber with interviewee Gayle Thomas via Zoom on July 19, 2021. The main focus of this interview is Gayle’s involvement with the Farmworker Health Program and her experience helping farmworkers mitigate the COVID pandemic and extreme weather. Gayle has known from a young age that she wanted to…

North Carolina resident Martin Luna recounts his experience moving to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico in 1985 as a recently-graduated food engineering student. Luna arrived to work at the Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina over the summer as an international student worker. Throughout the interview he describes the…