StoryCorps Chicago: ‘I Can’t Wait To Build A Future With You’

By Bill Healy
Arianna and Irakere met in 2011 on their way to an anti-immigration protest. Seven years later, they got engaged at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago.
Arianna and Irakere met in 2011 on their way to an anti-immigration protest. Seven years later, they got engaged at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago. Courtesy of StoryCorps
Arianna and Irakere met in 2011 on their way to an anti-immigration protest. Seven years later, they got engaged at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago.
Arianna and Irakere met in 2011 on their way to an anti-immigration protest. Seven years later, they got engaged at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago. Courtesy of StoryCorps

StoryCorps Chicago: ‘I Can’t Wait To Build A Future With You’

By Bill Healy
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

A few years ago, Arianna Hermosillo boarded a bus going from Chicago to Alabama. She was working as a freelance journalist for a local bilingual newspaper, covering a group of Chicago protesters. They were headed to the Alabama state capitol to protest anti-immigration legislation.

While on the bus, Hermosillo interviewed a man around her age named Irakere Picon. They went on their first date six months later, and Picon was determined to be forthcoming about his life. Seven years later, the two got engaged at the StoryCorps booth in Chicago.

Earlier this year, WBEZ’s Odette Yousef featured Picon and his immigration law work in this story about DACA recipients and their ongoing uncertainty.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps for WBEZ. Follow him on Twitter at @chicagoan

.