Hearing Voices - Radio Stories / Queena Kim

Botanica El Congo Manuel 5:29 Queena Kim

Charles Gaulperin is a Santeria priest and the owner of Botanica El Congo Manuel. The shop sells religious items and is located in a strip mall on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. Outside, it's the kind of place Angeleonos drive by a million times and never notice. Inside the Botanica, are sacred Afro-Cuban ceremonies. We witness one involving the sacrifice of a hen and a sick man in New York.

Broadcast: Jan 1 2009 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Religious, Ethnic

Dr. King at Temple Israel 7:55 Queena Kim

In 1965 Martin Luther King. Jr. delivered a sermon at Temple Israel in Hollywood. King was invited to the temple by Rabbi Max Nussbaum, who himself used the pulpit to rail against injustices in Nazi Germany. King's sermon was recorded on an old-fashioned reel-to-reel audio tape and buried in a pile in the Rabbi's home. His widow Ruth, now 95-years-old, tells the story of that day. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jan 21 2008 on HV PODCAST; Jan 15 2007 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Historical, African American, Religious

Pastor Mike at Jordan High 4:06 Queena Kim

When the last school bell rings, Pastor Mike Cummings stands in front of Jordan High School in Watts, Los Angeles. Jordan High is next door to the gang-ridden Jordan Downs projects, which students have to pass through to go home -- sometimes with Pastor Mike at their side. [transcript]

Broadcast: Jan 7 2008 on HV PODCAST; Sep 5 2006 on NPR Day to DaySeries: Pacific Drift Subjects: Youth, Education, African American

Baptism Express 5:20 Queena Kim

Every Saturday, hundreds of Latino immigrants pilgrimage to Our Lady The Queen of the Angels, Los Angeles' oldest mission Church, to get their baby's baptized. The Church baptizes fifty babies an hour -- more than three hundred every Saturday. Unlike other churches, Our Lady doesn't require parents or godparents to take classes beforehand. All you do is sign-up. Abel Salas walks us through "the McDonald's of Baptism."

Broadcast: Mar 30 2007 on NPR Latino USA Subjects: Hispanic, Religious