
In this second episode of the Freedom Road Podcast two-part series on Immigration, Exploitation and Labor in the U.S. join host, Lisa Sharon Harper, and company as they travel from The Alamo to the Borderlands; shining light on America’s labor system–a system perpetually dependent on the no-cost and low-cost labor of black and brown immigrant labor.
Listen in as Harper processes with conversation partner, Sandra Ovalle (Sojourners), sound engineer David Dault (Sandburg Media) and videographer Alize Jireh Yaccino (The Work of the People). Over the second half of their 1500 mile journey Harper and company unearth the true (and buried) reason for the battle at The Alamo and the establishment of the State of Texas. They illuminate the racialization of Mexican-Americans with Michael Mata (Transformational Development Specialist) and examine the conditions of the mid-20th century Bracero Program and subsequent migrant worker programs with Juanita Valdez-Cox (LUPE). Finally, they lament the death and exploitation of detained children–separated from their parents in the borderlands of McAllen, Texas with Sister Norma Pimentel (Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley).
NOTE: While at The Alamo, the Freedom Road Podcast crew was approached by the a member of The Alamo media team and asked to stop recording because we did not have a permit. We agreed and moved across the road to public land where we processed our experience of The Alamo and the carefully crafted narrative it’s owners protect and maintain. No images or sound recorded on The Alamo property are used in this production.

Show Notes
tan cierto que cuando le hablo Dios me puede oír.
God is here
So certain that when I call on God, God can hear me.
Funeral song
Aunque en esta vida
No tenga riquezas
Se que allá en la gloria
Tengo una mansión
Cual alma perdida
Entre las pobrezas
De mi Jesucristo
Tuvo compasión.
(Coro)
Más allá del sol, más allá del sol
Yo tengo un hogar, hogar bello hogar
Mas allá del sol.
Though I have no riches in this life
I know that in God’s glory I have a mansion.
A lost soul in lack received compassion from Jesus Christ
Beyond the sun, beyond the sun,
I have a home, a home sweet home,
Well beyond the sun.
Ave María / Hail Mary
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros, pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Amén.
Blessed are thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
now and at the hour of our death
Amen.
“America Cannot Bear to Bring Back Indentured Servitude” by Ariel Ron and Dael Norwood.
https://www.historynet.com/
“The horrifying conditions facing kids in border detention, explained” by Dara Lind
https://www.vox.com/policy-
https://thehill.com/opinion/
UPDATE: “Federal Judge Blocks Barr Order On Indefinite Detention for Asylum-Seekers,” by Jacqueline Thomse
https://thehill.com/
Full transcripts of both episodes will be released soon. Follow Freedom Road on social media and join our newsletter list at www.freedomroad.us for updates.
Click here to find out how you can join us on a Freedom Road Pilgrimage.
[…] Take the Freedom Road Podcast’s 2-part audio pilgrimage through American exploitation of non-citizen labor here: Part 1 and Part 2 […]