APEX Express – 2.13.25 – Arriving APSC4 Maria’s Story

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists.

Tonight on APEX Express Host Miko Lee continues the series on the Asian Prisoner Support Committee’s campaign for justice for the APSC 4. The APSC4 are Ke Lam, Peejay Ai, Chanthon Bun and Maria Legarda. All are formerly incarcerated folx who have served their time and are currently incredibly valued leaders, advocates and healers in the community. They are also part of the staff of Asian Prisoner Support Committee and all are at risk of deportation.  In our most recent episode we showcased an interview with all of the APSC4, in our upcoming shows we will center on each person’s individual story. Tonight we focus on Maria Legarde. Thank you to the HHREC Podcast for allowing us to re-air a portion of their show, which will be linked in our show notes. Maria’s story is also featured in the zine we was girls together by Trần Châu Hà. The zine is on display in the Walking Stories exhibit at Edge on the Square in San Francisco Chinatown until February 28th. 

For more information:

Thank you to the HHREC Podcast for allowing us to rebroadcast part of their interview with Maria.

Asian American Histories of Resistance timeline

For tickets to Edge on the Square event

APSC 4: https://action.18mr.org/pardonapsc3/

APSC Website: https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/

APSC Donation Page: https://donate.givedirect.org/?cid=13…

APSC Get Involved Page: https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/apsc-4

Appreciation to the HHRC Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@thehhrecpodcast83

Twitter:   / asianprisonersc  

Facebook:   / asianprisonersupportcommittee  

Instagram:   / asianprisonersc  

SHOW TRANSCRIPT: APSC4 Part 2: Maria’s Story

Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It’s time to get on board the Apex Express.

Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:02:01] Thank you for joining us tonight on Apex Express. Welcome to the second part in our series on the Asian Prisoner Support Committee’s Campaign for Justice for the APSC4. The APSC4 are Ke Lam, Peejay Ai , Chanthon Bun, and Maria Legarda. All are formerly incarcerated folks who have served their time and are currently incredibly valued leaders, advocates, and healers in the community. They are also part of the staff of Asian Prisoner Support Committee, and all are at risk of deportation. You can help today by urging Governor Newsom to pardon APSC4, and protect them from deportation, which you can find the links for in our show notes. In our most recent episode, we showcased an interview with all of the APSC4. In our upcoming shows, we will center on each person’s individual story. Tonight we focus on Maria Legarda. Thank you to the HHREC podcast for allowing us to re-air a portion of their show, which will be linked in our show notes. Maria’s story is also featured in the zine we was girls together by Trần Châu Hà. The zine is on display in the Walking Stories exhibit at Edge on the Square in San Francisco Chinatown until February 28th. You can come view the zine in person at the Walking Stories closing event, arriving with our stories on February 28th, 2025, at Edge on the Square in San Francisco, Chinatown, from 6 to 8 pm. Co presented by Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, Asian Prisoner Support Committee and Edge on the Square, featuring readings from Asian Prisoner Support Committee’s recent anthology, Arriving, Freedom Writings of Asian and Pacific Islanders, along with a panel discussion with the APSC4. Maria’s story, the one we’ll hear tonight, that is also featured in the exhibit, echoes the broader themes of the Arriving anthology, Where AAPI community members share their journeys through criminalization, deportation, and reentry. These narratives expose the deep entanglement of the prison and immigration systems while humanizing and making visible the resilience of those impacted. The link to RSVP for the event will be included in the show notes, where you can also choose to donate 25 and receive a copy of the anthology. this event marks the closing ceremony of the yearlong exhibition walking stories, but also a commitment to the ongoing work to center the voices and stories of system impacted individuals through the oral testimonies of those still incarcerated and the panel discussion with community leaders of APSC4, a space where storytelling is not just a practice of remembrance, but a demand for justice and an ongoing continuing call to action is created. So join us at arriving with our stories on February 28th, 2025, from 6 to 8 PM at Edge on the Square, 800 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, California. Find the full details in our show notes and at edge on the square. org. Now let’s listen to Maria Legarda share her journey content warnings for mentions of sexual violence, substance abuse, death, incarceration, and trauma.

Maria Legarda: [00:05:10] So I grew up in the Philippines, with my grandparents. My first years had the fondest memories there. Couple of years later, we moved to our new home. Had my baby brother and we moved and a couple years later, my sister was born. She had a medical condition when she was born and I saw the change in our household. You know, as she got older, her condition worsened and it took a toll on our family slowly. I withdrew from my folks, detached and I, I built a resentment towards my parents. I was young, this is what we used to have. And this is what’s happening now, what’s going on. You know, there was no emotional support when we were growing up, me and my brother. The focus was, Trying to get my sister better, you know, but I was young, I was young, and my brother was young for us to understand, you know, what was going on in our household, and, that started the separation between me, my parents, It was tough growing up, I’m the eldest and so I had to be responsible, you know, for my younger siblings and I didn’t know. I didn’t know what to do. so. When I got older, you know, my dad urged me to go to the U. S., you know, years where our family was in debt. And when I came to the U. S., I saw the opportunity to help my parents actually get out of debt, and help them. I didn’t know the cost, the burden that it’s going to cost me. being in a different country, and supporting my family alone. And I did everything that I could to help my parents and my siblings, not be in poverty. Not live day to day and have a future for them. but at the same time, being a young adult in America, when I immigrated here, it was after 9/11. So there was a lot of, society was different at that time and finding my place during that time was hard, you know, and I was alone, I was working hard. I was stressed, you know, I didn’t have much help. ,and that started the drug use. it was hard for me to assimilate into a culture that it just looks, it’s great. You know, being free and being able to experience a lot of different things, but deep down, I don’t know