Max is a 4-year-old with double vision. Her parents are navigating treatment through the complications of Covid.

This piece was produced and edited by H Conley with help from Veralyn Williams and Amanda Aronczyk. Music is from Sugartree by Blue Dot Sessions.

Seeing Double

At her home in Queens, NY, in April of 2023, Maria Del Rosario Duran described her first son, Alex Ramon Jimenez Duran, as the leader of the family. Alex was a Staff Sergeant for the U.S. Army who pursued a career in public service. On May 12th, 2007, Alex’s unit, the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was captured by enemy forces in Jurf Sakhar, Iraq, after his unit was attacked. His body was recovered in Iraq on July 8, 2008, confirming his passing 14 months after the capture. 

In this audio fragment, Maria recalls her firstborn son's memory describing why a military career attracted him. “For Alex the most important thing is family,” his mother explained.

Alex Ramon Jimenez Duran

As New York City continues to welcome migrants to the city, mutual aid groups are expanding networks they created in 2020 to respond to new needs within the city. Claire Kinnen connected with Sunnyside Woodside Mutual Aid member, Angela Callisaya, to learn more about how she is supporting the community by teaching an ESL class for new New Yorkers. Angela connects with both her Bolivian culture and love for Queens as she helps connect people and build community. We will also hear from the policy expert Sam Stanton and Make the Road’s Leslie Ariza.

Produced by Claire Kinnen
With editing by Veralyn Williams
Sound engineering by Amber Watson
Intro by Malik Brizan-Reed
Special thanks to Angela Callisaya

Being Human

This account showcases work produced by students in the Audio Journalism Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Being Human

Newmark J-School Audio Journalism

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