Why do immigrants come to the United States? Most people’s first thoughts involve economic reasons for a better life. But there is more to it than that. Harvest of Empire, a book by Juan Gonzalez that has been turned into a documentary, addresses the military, political and economic interventions that have spurred immigrants to look to life in the U.S. We speak to co-producer Wendy Thompson Marquez for an overview of the documentary.

Click here to download this week’s show.

Here is the full documentary, Harvest of Empire.

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Ms. Wendy Thompson-Marquez, is the President and CEO of the Onyx Media Group and EVS communications, Inc. Prior to joining EVS and the Onyx Media Group, she was the Vice President of ZGS Broadcast Holdings, a minority-owned communications company where she supervised the daily operations and advertising sales of eleven Telemundo network affiliates.
In 2004, she was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice with the Media and Community Service Award. She has been featured in numerous newspaper and trade publications, including the Washington Business Journal, and has made several appearances on television and radio stations throughout the country. In addition, she is actively involved with a number of academic institutions in the Washington, D.C. area that have invited her to speak at student and faculty conferences, including Montgomery College, where she was the 2002 commencement speaker.

She is currently a board member of Latino Public broadcasting, the Washington Performing Arts Society and the Community Foundation in D.C. she is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery (2000), and Leadership Washington (2001).