Assyrian Podcast

Dr. Christine Yalda grew up near Flint, MI with grandparents who immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. She currently serves as an associate professor at Grand Valley State University, located in West Michigan, where she teaches Criminal Justice and Human Rights courses. In this episode, we spoke about her family’s journey to the United States, her experience growing up Assyrian, her faith, her coming out story, and marriage to her wife. Listen to find out about her grandmother’s incredibly challenging immigration story, her experience as an associate associate professor teaching criminal justice courses, and how her Assyrian identity has influenced everything from her faith to her wedding playlist. Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.  This episode is sponsored by The Oushana Partners-- a husband and wife real estate team. Are you considering purchasing or selling a home in Arizona or California? John and Reata are available to help make your next real estate decision into a seamless transaction. Contact the Oushana’s at 209-968-9519. Get to know them a bit more by checking out their website TheOushanaPartners.com

Episode 138 - Ramel Nasseri was born in Tehran / Iran to his parents Nathan Nasseri and Rabi Bertha Shavel Okhsar. At an early age he learned to love and cherish his Assyrian heritage and his Church by the example of his parents and the benefit of growing up at the feet of his Grandfather Rabi Ammanuel Shavel Okhsar of Urmi and his late Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, two Giants of the Assyrian Community. Like many other families, Ramel and his parents left Iran during the war time for their final destination in the United States of America. He spent 8 years in Germany before settling in Plano TX. Here he finished his High school years and attended the University of Texas in Austin and the University of North Texas in Denton, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and minors in Geology and German. Later he received a Master’s degree in Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. His work and career spans across multiple fields; An IT professional specializing in customer support, project management, process improvement, process analysis and program design. An Educational Technology specialist. Licensed Family Mediator International Mediation with a focus on ODR And his latest venture in the Film industry in Special FX. As a Texas resident of 28 years, he has been active in the Dallas Fortworth area Assyrian community and the larger Texas Assyrian community, helping establish the Saint Jacob Mission of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East in Dallas TX and serving as the Vice President of the organization. He is also a proud member of the Assyrian American Association of North Texas. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rnasseri1 Instagram: @texaswanderlust Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.  This episode is sponsored by The Oushana Partners-- a husband and wife real estate team. Are you considering purchasing or selling a home in Arizona or California? John and Reata are available to help make your next real estate decision into a seamless transaction. Contact the Oushana’s at 209-968-9519. Get to know them a bit more by checking out their website TheOushanaPartners.com

Episode 137 - Warren Shabaz is the inventor of the American food staple the Pizza Puff, and head man in charge of Iltaco Food Company, which was started by his Grandfather in the 1920s. As a second generation Assyrian-American growing up in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, Warren eventually expanded his family's food empire, keeping it family owned, with his children next in line to take over the family business. Learn what it was like to be a pioneer in food, running a successful business, and being ingrained into the American identity and culture, while not forgetting your roots, at a time when assimilation was deemed a necessity.  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516. This episode is sponsored by The Oushana Partners-- a husband and wife real estate team. Are you considering purchasing or selling a home in Arizona or California? John and Reata are available to help make your next real estate decision into a seamless transaction. Contact the Oushana’s at 209-968-9519. Get to know them a bit more by checking out their website TheOushanaPartners.com  

Episode 136 – Benjamin Christophe Yalda is best known as Mr. Erbil. Born a refugee in Iran in 1985, his family and him moved back to Iraq in 1991, a time when the country was at war. Benjamin’s interest in rap took flight in 2004, and he started writing poems and lyrics. His mission: to become the voice of a silenced nation, provoking an awakening through lyrics and beat. Listen to this episode to learn about his experience as Mr. Erbil, his first song about Seyfo, and the next 11 songs he wrote in Spring 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdowns.   This episode is sponsored by The Oushana Partners-- a husband and wife real estate team. Are you considering purchasing or selling a home in Arizona or California? John and Reata are available to help make your next real estate decision into a seamless transaction. Contact the Oushana’s at 209-968-9519. Get to know them a bit more by checking out their website TheOushanaPartners.com  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.

Episode 135 - Sumer Homeh is the founder of the humanitarian aid organization “Local Aid” in Kenya. After working several years in the fashion industry in Australia, she decided to leave all that behind to dedicate her life for street children in Nairobi. Local Aid rehabilitates those children and provides them access to education and healthcare. Recently Sumer founded “Tribearth”, which is a socially conscious jewelry business that creates a community of empowered women and youth who produce handmade products in a sustainable and ethical environment. In this episode you will learn more about Sumer´s journey from Australia to Kenya and what led to this life changing decision, the world of humanitarian workers and the ups and downs Sumer went through in order to build a sustainable organization, and what it takes to truly follow your heart and not let doubts get into the way of you and your goals. Facebook: Sumer Homeh Instagram: @sumersoul Website: www.localaid.or.ke , www.tribearth.org Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.

Episode 134 - Dr. Amir Harrak is a professor of Aramaic and Syriac at the University of Toronto and the President of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. In this episode, we discuss the importance of Syriac, Syriac Christianity, and the distinctions between Aramaic, Syriac, Neo-Aramaic, and Assyrian. If you’re a lover of language, history, and religion, this episode is for you.  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.  www.nmc.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/amir-harrak  a.harrak@utoronto.ca   

Episode 133 - Qasha (Pastor) Younan Shiba was born and raised in Kirkuk, Iraq in 1964. His humble beginnings in Kirkuk, and a speech impediment at a young age, led Younan to find his own language through art. Younan received Christ as his Savior in 1990 while serving in the Iraqi army.  In 1995, Younan and Layla moved to Amman, Jordan to both obtain their seminary educations at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary (JETS). At that time there were approximately 500,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan due the Persian Gulf War and the closure of borders by Syria and Turkey. While a student at the seminary, he was asked by the Alliance Mission Christian Church in Amman to consider leading a ministry to Iraqi refugees. Qasha Younan was ordained through the Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Baghdad in 2003. After receiving four death threats in three years, and finally, a voicemail from a member of the jihad demanding money and threatening to kill his family, they were forced to flee to the United States.   He is currently a member of the Chicago (IL) Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He and his wife established the Family Life Development Foundation (FLDF), and through which they minister to over 120,000 Assyrians through a two-hour radio ministry every Saturday evening. They also host a worldwide satellite TV ministry that reaches thousands more. Now he serves with the Navigators Nations Within, reaching out to immigrants from his culture who haven't heard the good news of Christ. Based out of Chicago, Illinois, Qasha Younan and his wife, Layla, have been married since 1994 and together they have two daughters, Joy and Grace. Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516. 

Episode 132 - Dante is a Life Coach who is passionate about helping people who feel stuck in their jobs, master their mindset so they can get clarity about their next career move and go after it. Her lifelong obsession with all things personal development and her own experience receiving coaching services and the life changing impact it had on her, lead her to create her own coaching business. Dante loves to help people learn new mindset tools and techniques to improve their work and personal lives. She has her B.A. in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and her M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Fresno Pacific University.  Instagram: danterosh Website: www.dantenoelle.com  Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.

Episode 131 - Petrus Afrem-Barsom is an Assyrian living in Duisburg (Germany). Professionally he works as a tax specialist and devotes his free time for the assyrian causes. Petrus is the chairman of the cultural association “Suryoye Ruhrgebiet” and one of the driving forces in the organization “Save Our Souls - 1915.de (SOS)”. In this episode you will not only hear about his volunteer journey, but also what led to the decision to form an activism group like “SOS”, that later also became an humanitarian aid organization, who caught the attention of many media outlets in Germany. You will also question yourself, how far you would go to bring awareness to your cause? Facebook: @1915.de Instagram: sos_1915 Website: www.1915.de Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast is brought to you by @TonyKalogerakos and the @InjuryLawyersofIllinois and New York.

Episode 130 - Frank Gilbart was born in Kirkuk, Iraq in the early 80s. From an early age, he realized the importance of language, civic engagement and the cultural arts scene. According to Frank, this mosaic led to a special bond amongst the Assyrian inhabitants of his hometown Kirkuk.  Frank’s life led him to study his true passion, directing, film and screenwriting. Completing studies both in Kirkuk, and continuing for another two years in Baghdad.  Fueled by a love for his nation and his childhood friend Nineb Yousif Toma, Frank began the rigorous process of filming and producing Journey of Eternity. Between gofundme, Assyrian organizations, a handful of amateur funding raising individuals, and organic donations, Frank was able to muster up roughly $300,000 to film and produce Journey of Eternity. This true story is about the three Assyrian heroes; Youbert Benyamin Shlimon, Youkhana Esho Jajo, and Yousip Toma Hermis, who were imprisoned and later hanged without a fair trial on February 3, 1985 by the Iraqi Baath regime. Support for this week’s episode of The Assyrian Podcast programming is brought to you by Tony Kalogerakos and the Injury Lawyers of Illinois and New York. If you know anyone that has been in a serious accident, please reach out to Tony Kalogerakos. Tony has been recognized as a Top 40 lawyer, and a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Publication and has obtained multiple multi-million-dollar awards. Tony can be reached at InjuryRights.com or 847-982-9516.