UpRooted Media

We’re excited to share that UpRooted Media will be presenting at University of Arkansas-Little Rock’s Arkansas Immigrant Stories and you’re invited.

Film Director Deah Partak will discuss Slovak-Arkansan heritage, UpRooted Media’s work on the Slovakia in the South documentary film and our collaboration with the Slovaktown community.

We’re honored to join a panel from across Arkansas, each sharing the stories and legacies of diverse immigrant communities. While she won’t be there in person, she will be joining virtually.

This event comes as we move toward the 2026 release of Slovakia in the South: The Legacy of Slovaktown, Arkansas.

We’ll share highlights from the film and explore how storytelling preserves history, strengthens identity, and supports the long term prosperity of immigrant communities.

If you care about heritage, community, or documenting the stories that matter, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

📍 University of Arkansas Little Rock; 333 President Clinton Ave, Little Rock
📅 May 6, 2026
⏰ 5:30 PM

Come be part of the conversation and connect with others doing this work.

Join the Uprooted Team!

UpRooted is looking for a Social Media Content Creator who is rooted in Slovak culture and wants to help share the living stories, traditions, and history of our community.

You will be the creative voice and cultural storyteller, working closely with our Social Media Lead Volunteer, who will handle the scheduling and publishing.

This is not a posting or scheduling role. Your role is to help gather, write, and shape the content itself, so a strong understanding of Slovak culture, heritage, and community is essential.

This is an opportunity to help uplift Slovak and Slovak diaspora voices, celebrate our shared history, and support the full work of UpRooted Media, from cultural events and archives to education and outreach.

What You’ll Do:
- Help identify meaningful cultural stories, traditions, and highlights from our community

- Create written posts, captions, and visual or short-form content that reflects Slovak heritage, identity, and Uprooted events / information

- Collaborate with our Social Media Lead Volunteer, who will take what you create and publish it across our platforms

- Share content that celebrates Slovak language, food, crafts, history, and the people keeping it alive

- Help us grow our presence in a way that feels authentic, warm, and culturally grounded

Who This Is For:
- Someone who is personally connected to Slovak culture and heritage

- Someone who enjoys storytelling, writing, and content creation

- Someone comfortable working collaboratively with a volunteer team

- Someone who wants to help preserve and celebrate Slovak identity through media

- This role is perfect for someone who wants to use their cultural knowledge and creativity to help our community stay visible, connected, and thriving.

If interested contact Deah Partak [email protected] and Kim Charlson [email protected]

Learn more about Uprooted at www.uprooted-media.com

Slovaktown Heritage Day 2026 was a wonderful celebration of culture, community, family, and heritage.

Mary Ann Hill, Stephanie Leach, and Paula Hooks put together a warm and celebratory event that would make their ancestors proud.

Slovaktown’s founding in 1894 set Arkansas on track to be the number one rice producer in America AND making Slovaktown probably the most Slovaks per capita!!

We are so excited to help bring this community’s amazing history and living legacy to the big screen!

Stay tune as we come closer and closer to release!

Help support us to get this film finished and screened across the world!
www.uprooted-media.com

Thank you greatly Kasigarda. Múzeum vysťahovalectva z územia Slovenska do Severnej Ameriky

We at Uprooted are very impressed with your museum and are grateful for your efforts and willingness to spread and preserve so many of our Slovak-American stories back in the homeland. ❤️

Dnes sme v Kasigarde natáčali pre UpRooted media pre ich dokument o meste Slovaktown v štáte Arkansas! Kristínka Horinková bola veľmi prekvapená širokosťou slovenského kultúrneho dedičstva v Amerike, ktoré v Kasigarde uchovávame :)

The man, the myth, the legend. Al Bednar(91) is the grandson of one of Slovaktown’s founding residents.

Not only that but he is the person who gets most all the credit for the birth of the Slovakia in South Documentary.

In early 2022, Al’s social media post of a family member in a Slovaktown baseball uniform started a beautiful friendship with Deah Partak. Their many conversations sparked the idea to make a documentary about Al’s cultural unique hometown.

Support us in bringing the documentary to life and learn more!
www.uprooted-media.com

Uprooted Media is a nonprofit promoting multicultural awareness and representation in history and media for the prosperity of the current and future generations

It’s one of my most favorite times of the year, Slovaktown Heritage Weekend!

While Saturday (starting at 2pm) is all about celebration, Sunday and Monday will be focused on filming our final “visual storytelling” for Slovakia in the South. These are the everyday family and community moments that really bring a documentary to life.

It feels fitting that these final shots are happening this weekend as Heritage Day 2023 was the inaugural filming trip.

Sadly, that 2023 trip was a weather disaster! Camera crew snowed in, I was trapped at the airport for 48-hours, and hopes for production support was lost.

Yet despite many barriers, the town’s love and trust in my vision for their documentary made me decide not to give up.

Slovaktown’s historical and current resiliency was so inspiring that we formed Uprooted Media to make sure their real story gets recorded. Almost 3 years on and we can see the homestretch for the documentary!!

Your trust in a random loud, often joyfully-tearful, unknown Slovak-American back in 2023 set something beautiful in motion 🥰

With so much love, gratitude, and awe- Deah

Uprooted Media is a nonprofit promoting multicultural awareness and representation in history and media for the prosperity of the current and future generations

Support us and learn more!
www.uprooted-media.com

🇸🇰✨ Day of the Establishment of an Independent Czecho-Slovak State ✨🇨🇿

On October 28, 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, the Czech and Slovak peoples declared their independence and formed a new state, Czechoslovakia.

This wasn’t just a political act, it was a cultural milestone. For generations, Slovaks and Czechs had lived under outside rule, often with limits on language, education, and self-governance. The birth of Czechoslovakia meant the chance to shape their own democratic and cultural future.

📜 Did you know?
🇺🇸 The idea of the new republic was first outlined in America where Czech and Slovak immigrant leaders signed the Pittsburgh Agreement on May 31, 1918, promising Slovakia its own administration and schools within the future state.

👨‍🏫 The country’s first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, had spent years abroad gathering support from Allied nations for independence.

🎓 By 1930, Czechoslovakia had one of the highest literacy rates in Europe and became one of the most democratic and industrially advanced countries between the wars.

For Slovak Americans, this anniversary connects both sides of the ocean, from Pittsburgh’s immigrant halls to the farmlands of Slovaktown, Arkansas, reminding us that our community’s story is deeply woven into the global movement for freedom and cultural identity.

🕯️ Let’s keep this story alive.
Share this post to help more people learn how Slovak and Czech immigrants helped shape the course of modern Europe and the communities they built in America.
💬 Tag a friend or group preserving Slovak or Czech heritage today!

📚 Learn More About:
🔹 The Pittsburgh Agreement (1918) - ExplorePAhistory http://bit.ly/4nk8VtJ
🔹 Masaryk and the United States - Czech Center Museum Houston http://bit.ly/4oI9jnc
🔹 Expanded History of Slovakia - A History of Slovakia: The struggle for survival http://bit.ly/4o7jHVk

Learn More and Support Slovak Stories
www.uprooted-media.com

Calling all Washingtonians and Oregonians interested in getting their SLA or Slovak Citizenship by Descent!

Join us SATURDAY Oct 4th 9am-12:30
KISS Coffee 3016 NE Ainsworth Portland Oregon 97211

Jen, Deah, and others of the Slovak-Americans of Washington & Oregon community who have obtained their citizenship or SLA want to help you do it too!

Bring your questions and any documents or forms you're needing help with. Or if you have obtained or CBD / SLA or want to socialized and support come on down!!

We aren't legal experts just folks who've have been through the process.

Slovak PRO Summit 2025 was an amazing event to be part of!

Board President and Community Trustee, Deah and Jen, were grateful to be surrounded by such inspiring Slovaks.

The summit could not have felt more Slovak: powerful speeches, engaging panels, and the joy of connecting with both new and old colleagues and friends!

We were especially touched by how many people’s eyes lit up when we told them about the history, community, and people of Slovaktown, Arkansas.

Their excitement and interest reminded us of why the people of Slovaktown’s story is so important and worth telling on the big screen!

Thank you to Slovak PRO for inviting us, and thank you to all the amazing presenters and fellow attendees!

Learn more about the North American Nonprofit Slovak PRO - Slovak Professionals

Learn more about the In-Production Documentary, Slovakia of the South, UpRooted Media, and support us!

www.uprooted-media.com