Latino USA

Latino USA goes inside the biggest free health clinic in the country, which serves only people without insurance. There are nearly 28 million uninsured people in the United States, and for some of them, free clinics are their safety net. For undocumented people, healthcare options are very limited. For this story, we spend three days behind the scenes at CommunityHealth in Chicago, where more than half of the patients speak Spanish. We shadowed doctors and patients to observe the daily dramas that unfold there and listen in on intimate conversations—all to try to capture a snapshot of how life as an undocumented person can affect an individual's physical and mental health.

On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds of people gather on Alcatraz Island, the famous former prison and one of the largest tourist attractions in San Francisco, for a sunrise ceremony to honor Indigenous culture and history. Fifty years ago, an intertribal group of students and activists took over the island for over 16 months in an act of political resistance. Richard Oakes, a young Mohawk from New York, was one of the leaders in this movement dubbed the "Red Power Movement." Latino USA tells the story of Richard Oakes' life, from his first involvement in activism to his untimely death at the age of 30. This episode originally aired on November, 2018.

When Gabby Rivera wrote her coming-of-age novel "Juliet Takes a Breath" in 2016, she didn't know that it would get her attention from an unusual place: Marvel Comics. They asked her to write for America Chavez, their first queer Latina superhero. Gabby said yes. But as she was writing for their superhero, she found herself swept up in #comicsgate, an online harassment campaign against the comic book industry's efforts to include more women, people of color, and LGBTQ characters. In this "Portrait Of," Maria talked to Gabby about her beginnings as a writer, her difficult experience with #comicsgate and about returning to comic book writing.

Over the last two years, reporter Sarah Fuss Kessler has been following the story of a Latina high school teacher in the farming town of Merced, California. The teacher reported being sexually harassed by a white basketball coach at her high school. What followed would shake up the entire school district. Latino USA sat down with Sarah to talk about what she found at Golden Valley High School, and what it shows us about the #MeToo movement beyond the national headlines.

Our miniseries about California's Proposition 187, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times, continues with a special bonus episode. Host Gustavo Arellano speaks with the former governor of California, Republican Pete Wilson. In 1994, Pete Wilson attached himself and his re-election campaign to Prop 187. Gustavo Arellano sits down with the governor to ask about his views on immigration, his involvement in getting Prop 187 passed, and the impact the measure had in California's political history.