Shuka Kalantari

Shuka Kalantari is a San Francisco Bay Area journalist whose reports have taken her to Turkey, Cambodia, Canada and across the US. She was born near the Caspian Sea in Iran and raised in Northern California. Shuka primarily reports on refugee and immigrant communities in California and internationally. When she's not doing interviews, she likes to be outdoors or go dancing. Also, one day she will write a magical realism children's book.

Shuka Kalantari is a San Francisco Bay Area journalist whose reports have taken her to Turkey, Cambodia, Canada and across the US. She was born near the Caspian Sea in Iran and raised in Northern California. Shuka primarily reports on refugee and immigrant communities in California and internationally. When she's not doing interviews, she likes to be outdoors or go dancing. Also, one day she will write a magical realism children's book.

Kabul Dreams

Afghanistan’s first rock band wants to build a cultural bridge in the US

The singer of Afghanistan’s first rock band, now living in Oakland, California, talks about how music can bring communities together.

Afghanistan’s first rock band wants to build a cultural bridge in the US
Maritza Blandón, a coffee grower in the mountains of Nicaragua, got her first pap smear at the age of 47. She tested posted for HPV and get treatment. Blandón is a single mother. If she died of cervical cancer, no one would be here to take care of her eig

Nicaragua has a cervical cancer problem. A coffee farm is trying to help.

Nicaragua has a cervical cancer problem. A coffee farm is trying to help.
Teen pregnancy in Nicaragua is mostly caused by machismo culture and a lack of sex ed.

Nicaragua's teen pregnancy rate soars

Nicaragua's teen pregnancy rate soars
Franci Machado brings her four-year-old daughter to work every day because she can't afford childcare. She says if she died because she couldn't get chemotherapy to treat her cancer no one would take care of her two children.

Women in Nicaragua fight for the right to get abortions that could save their lives

Women in Nicaragua fight for the right to get abortions that could save their lives
Nieto

How artists in San Francisco are keeping the questionable police killing of a young Latino alive

How artists in San Francisco are keeping the questionable police killing of a young Latino alive
latino youth vote 1

They can't vote, but it's not stopping these Latino youth from registering others

Get out the vote. We’re hearing a lot those efforts this year. In Maryland, some people pushing to bring people to the ballot boxes can’t even vote themselves.

They can't vote, but it's not stopping these Latino youth from registering others
maryland high 4

Separate but equal? A school within a school for immigrant students brings help — and controversy.

There are about two dozen specialized high schools in the US that create separate spaces for immigrant students. But some critics say these schools are a form of segregation.

Separate but equal? A school within a school for immigrant students brings help — and controversy.
Diana Gameros

There’s so much more to immigrants than finding the ‘American Dream,’ says singer Diana Gameros

Her soulful songs — and her activism — are about the people she sees around her. And her own life as an undocumented immigrant.

There’s so much more to immigrants than finding the ‘American Dream,’ says singer Diana Gameros
Sonita

Outside of class, this Afghan teen rapper travels the world to end child marriage

Sonita Alizadeh escaped a teen marriage in Afghanistan by writing a rap song about it. She now goes high school in Utah, and travels the world campaigning against child marriage.

Outside of class, this Afghan teen rapper travels the world to end child marriage
Sonita Alizadeh sings inside of the recording studio at her high school in Utah.

Once a child laborer in Iran, now a high school student in Utah

Afghan teen rapper Sonita Alizadeh used to be a child laborer when she lived in Iran as a refugee. Now she's a junior at Wasatch Academy in Utah, and reflects on the difference between work and homework.

Once a child laborer in Iran, now a high school student in Utah
Sonita Alizadeh is an Afghan rapper singing about women's rights. She's also junior at a high school in Utah. New to the country, Sonita misses her family, who live over 7,000 miles away.

Starting school in Utah, wishing home wasn't 7,000 miles away

Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh is sharing her diary with us as she restarts life at a high school in Utah. It's not easy, when her family is 7,000 miles away.

Starting school in Utah, wishing home wasn't 7,000 miles away
Born in Afghanistan, Sonita Alizadeh got a full scholarship to go to Wasatch Academy, a boarding school in the heart of Utah.

Afghan teen rapper goes from poverty in Afghanistan to eating sushi in the US

Not having enough food to eat was normal for Sonita Alizadeh, an Afghan teen rapper who grew up as a refugee in Iran. Life at her new prestigious boarding school in Utah couldn't be any different.

Afghan teen rapper goes from poverty in Afghanistan to eating sushi in the US
Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh narrowly escaped a forced marriage at 16 by writing the song 'Brides for Sale.' She recently visited West Oakland, CA, and was surprised that the U.S., like Iran and Afghanistan, has poor neighborhoods and homeless people.

Afghan rapper escaped teen marriage by singing about it

A young girl from Afghanistan escaped being forced into marrying a man when she was 14 years old — by writing a rap song about it. The young rapper is now living and going to school in the US, and she’s still making music about social justice in Afghanistan.

Afghan rapper escaped teen marriage by singing about it
Shabe Yalda

Join in on a winter celebration that helps keep the evil spirits away

Munching on pomegranates and nuts, listening to music and poetry: It's all part of a winter festival that's celebrated in Iran and by Iranians abroad.

Join in on a winter celebration that helps keep the evil spirits away
Irma Vásquez, far right, during a Centering Pregnancy session at San Francisco's Homeless Prenatal Program, which collaborates with San Francisco General Hospital and offers space for the meetings.

For some, prenatal care is a community affair

Prenatal care consumes a big part of a pregnant woman's life. There are the monthly appointments, the tests — all on top of whatever is going on at home. And it can be overwhelming. But a new program, called Centering Pregnancy, tries to ease that burden by putting women in groups for their prenatal care.

For some, prenatal care is a community affair