Documentary Stories — landon cooper media.

a hopeful voice

There’s currently more than one million Venezuelan immigrants in Colombia. Nearly half are undocumented, deprived of healthcare, formal employment and any government assistance. Despite their struggles, many find ways to get by on the streets by selling candy, phone calls, fake jewelry or other goods. Others find ways to share their talents through performance.
This is the story of a woman whose livelihood relies on her voice and the speaker she drags behind her through the streets of Medellín. The piece is part of a multimedia documentary project entitled, “Uprooted.” We set out to document the crisis in Venezuela by listening to the stories of those who found their way to Colombia, as they searched for ways to survive, support their families and find a better life. See the full project at: https://uprooted.unc.edu.

Venezuela’s economic collapse has led to more than 7 million people having fled the country since 2015. Many had no choice but to sneak across neighboring borders. Some, however, were granted asylum from countries such as the United States. Though given a second-chance, these asylum-seekers still need to adapt to new places, cultures and lives, while grappling with the knowledge that they can never go home.
Mishell Thielen is a migrant from Venezuela who moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2017 to seek asylum. While in Venezuela, Mishell studied civil engineering. Now, she is learning to overcome both language and cultural barriers as she manages her studies at Wake Technical Community College, all while also working as a nanny in order to make ends meet.

At the age of 15, Samantha Marshall fell in love with music when she first heard Jackie Lee’s guitar solo in Ozzy Osbourne’s “Shot In The Dark." Immediately, music became an instrumental factor in her life. Later, Samantha began fixing and building her own guitars in North Carolina, soon gaining a reputation in the area of Hickory and even out to Greensboro.
Samantha struggled for a long time to feel comfortable in her own skin, never feeling like the person she physically appeared to be was the person she truly was. With courage, she came out to the public as transgender, and a new outgoing personality began to emerge. With her newfound confidence, she strives to put the very best guitar back into the hands of every customer, hoping to help others find catharsis, self-love and acceptance through music, the way that she has. Watch Samantha discuss her journey through music, self-discovery and the innate necessity we all feel to find who we truly are.