Our Stories, Our World
A Youth-Led Podcast Series in Parnership with Public Narrative in Chicago
Episode 5: On Public Health
Citizenship Is A Public Health Issue
In our fifth episode, we introduce our final topic, Public Health, as seen through the eyes of an adoptee and immigrant rights activist. This episode features Taneka Hye Wol Jennings in conversation with interviewer Kaylen Brandt. In the photo she shares, Jennings stands in front of the US Capitol Building, about to be willingly arrested as part of a Citizenship for All protest. For Jennings, citizenship is a public health issue, determining who does and doesn’t have access to health care. As a Korean American and a transracial, inter-country adoptee, she is dedicated to adoptee and immigrant rights work, as well as building authentic solidarity with others who have been marginalized by systems and structures that perpetuate injustice.
Photo Caption: Taneka Hye Wol Jennings (right) stands alongside her friend Janet at a Citizenship for All rally in Washington, DC. Note the Capitol in the backround right, as well as a bit of the green ribbon she wore signaling her willingness to be arrested. Jennings sees citizenship as inextricably connected to her core beliefs about Public Health, which starts with healthcare access for all.