Change Agents The Podcast
Reparations Media & Juneteenth Productions
Are YOU a “Change Agent”? Organizer. Activist. Educator. Policy maker. Block club leader. Nonprofit founder. Religious leader. Business owner. Voter. Neighbor.
Change Agents is a documentary series revealing the power of community-driven activism told by those in the fight. These are the stories you aren’t hearing — told by and for communities of color and other marginalized communities that have long been overlooked, misrepresented and maligned.
Headquartered in Chicago and produced across the Midwest, we highlight authentic, actionable, grassroots solutions to society’s most pressing problems — including reentry after incarceration, homeownership disparities, anti-Blackness, the mental health crisis, and more.
Produced by a team made up of BIPOC, female, queer and disabled journalists, for Reparations Media, with support from Juneteenth Productions.
Executive Producers: Judith McCray and Maurice Bisaillon. Senior Producer: Mary Hall. Operations & Digital Manager: Nicole Nir. Head of Development: Alina Panek. Sound Design: Erisa Apantaku & Will Jarvis.
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Change Agents The Podcast
Finding Safety, Building Home
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This episode follows Emma Yaaka, a Ugandan refugee who arrived in the U.S. in 2017 and built a life centered on advocacy and community care. He shares his journey fleeing violence as a queer man, surviving displacement in Kenya, and starting over in the U.S. with almost nothing. Emma arrived in the States during turbulent times, as protections for immigrants were beginning to erode and Chicago’s migrant communities faced heightened ICE activity under Trump’s second term. Through his work with Heartland Human Services and the U.S. Refugee Integration Organization, we see how community networks step in where systems fall short. Hosted by Grace Asiegbu, this episode is a story about survival, belonging, and the ways people grow forward together, even when the ground keeps shifting.
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This is the country that people can pick you from zero and make you something. They saw the protection I have, but they just knew that this person, this young man, need a hand, need guidance, you know, pointing him on the right directions is gonna make it.
SPEAKER_03:When Emma Yaka arrived in the U.S. in 2017, the country still offered possibilities he hadn't had before, even as the Trump administration was already rolling back key immigrant protections.
SPEAKER_02:In a truth social post, the president wrote, quote, I love the smell of deportations in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War.
SPEAKER_03:Today, he sees those possibilities dwindling. A little over a year into President Trump's second term, threats of violence against immigrant communities are at an all-time high. Chicago, long in Trump's crosshairs, has become a city under siege, not only from ICE arrests, detentions, and acts of aggression, but also from the backlash they sparked through civilian-led protests and grassroots organizing. The government launched Operation Midway Blitz in September 2025, deploying ICE agents around the city and its immediate outskirts for roughly two months. According to the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 550 people were arrested. The majority of those detained, around 61%, do not have a criminal record. Masked agents have raided apartment buildings, caused traffic accidents, and even chased a teacher into a preschool in Roscoe Village, a neighborhood on Chicago's north side. Underneath all this is a network of community members, organizers, and advocates trying to provide resources for those most at risk. I'm Grace Isabu with Change Agents, the podcast. Emma is a Ugandan refugee who's been living in the United States for eight years. In 2023, he began working for Heartland Human Services, where he now serves as partnership developer. Heartland is a nonprofit organization that provides support services to marginalized communities like immigrants and refugees. Emma's passion for advocacy started nearly 30 years ago in his hometown of Munaba. He watched the impacts of mudslides and other natural disasters in the area's mountainous terrains and on his family and friends. Seeing the work of international aid workers, he started to think maybe this was something I could do too.
SPEAKER_01:So my own journey taught me how confusion, fear, and misinformation can isolate people. That's why I decided to step in to help others find like clarity, confidence, and community.
SPEAKER_03:Emma is the middle son in a large blended family. He told me that leaving home was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. As a queer youth, his family turned against him, threatening and ostracizing him. In Uganda, homosexuality is illegal with severe punishments including life in prison or even death. Ultimately, for Emma, finding refuge came at a steep cost.
SPEAKER_01:So now leaving my country or my home wasn't a choice. I did not wake up and make that decision, right? So the only way for me was to look for safety and protection somewhere else or anywhere else. Trust me, I left my country with nothing apart from one t-shirt which was red.
SPEAKER_03:When Emma crossed it to Kenya, Uganda's neighbor to the east, he arrived with no money, no shared language, and no idea of where to go next. That stigma made it even harder for Emma and his peers to get by. Mutual aid was a necessity, and it was the glue that held Emma's chosen family together. In Kenya, Emma realized he could advocate for others, like himself. He trained as an EMT, caring for refugees from all over the continent. However, for queer men, Kenya was just as dangerous as Uganda, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stay much longer.
SPEAKER_01:It's really very hard to live the life of not knowing where you are heading and where you are coming from. You don't define where you belong. It's really hard.
SPEAKER_03:Refugees in camps usually have three possible paths: returning home, integrating into the host country, or resettling in a third country, often in Europe, Canada, or the United States. In Kenya, refugees weren't allowed to work, so staying there felt like being stuck in limbo. And going back to Uganda wasn't safe.
SPEAKER_01:I also needed safety. That was not my home. And that is very close to my home. I cannot go back. And I cannot build life in Nairobi. It's not my country of bath.
SPEAKER_03:Emma found out he was coming to the US in 2017 after going through 46 interviews with the UN refugee agency. When he arrived in the States, he had nothing but a backpack carrying his legal documents and one small suitcase with a few clothes. The suitcase was lost.
SPEAKER_01:I reached in my apartment with only my papers. And then I started the building everything from scratch.
SPEAKER_03:When he arrived, one of the first things he needed was a source of income. His experience as an EMT led him to choose a custodial position in a hospital over a higher-paying job in a hotel. That decision would ultimately set Emma on the trajectory of advocacy he's on now. In addition to his work at Heartland Human Services, in 2019, Emma created the U.S. Refugee Integration Organization. His goal is to provide services in the gaps of other nonprofits, after hours, on holidays, and in emergency situations.
SPEAKER_01:My goal is to focus on integration. I am not coming in to compete with other organizations that are doing the same work that I'm planning to do. But I'm filling in the gap. You know, people's need does not start when you start your work from 8.30. And people's need does not end at 5 when you ain't work. The need continues.
SPEAKER_03:ID cards and driver's licenses are essential for work. Since 2023, the Illinois Secretary of State has used an appointment-only system, and those slots disappear fast, often within 30 minutes of its 6:30 a.m. opening. Refugees who often work in the service or labor industries can have long, irregular hours and rarely have the flexibility to grab one. But these IDs are crucial to finding and keeping a job. As part of his work, Emma has created a network of service providers. He and other volunteers are up as early as 5 a.m. waiting to snag appointments for clients. As a refugee who had to figure out the lay of the land himself, he's trying to do all he can to connect the web of services for people who are restarting from zero, much like he had to.
SPEAKER_01:Because I'm not alone. I'm not growing only by myself. I'm growing with the community that I'm serving.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for joining Change Agents, a podcast series looking at grassroots actions and solutions through stories told from the inside out. Change Agents is produced by Reparations Media. The music is composed by Sarah Abdullah. Funding support is provided by the Chicago Community Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, the Field Foundation, the Wayfarer Foundation, and the Lumpkin Family Foundation. Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever you find podcasts. And follow Change Agents on Facebook, Instagram, and our website, ChangeAgentsThepodcast.com.