Issue #1: This Week's Five
Hi mi gente,
Welcome to Issue #1 of The Latinx Collective: which exists to inspire, celebrate, and create thoughtful dialogue within the Latinx community. Due to our long and complex histories, Latinx are incredibly (and confusingly) diverse, whether it's our country of origin, the language(s) we speak, or how we look. With that said, my goal is to curate news, opinions and resources that celebrate us, despite our differences.
I would love to hear feedback and suggestions as I experiment with the format of the newsletter! Thanks for reading.
Con cariño,
Elisabeth
This Week's Five:
What does it mean to be Latinx? I went back and forth for awhile on whether I should use the term "Latinx" or Latino in naming this newsletter. While the term is on the rise, there's still a lot of debate about it. I recently read an op-ed by writer Mekita Rivas that I think did a great job of providing a look into what the term means in relation to the Spanish language and society. (The Daily Dot)
Junot Diaz writes a book for immigrant children: In March, Dominican-American author Junot Diaz released a beautifully-illustrated children's book called "Island Born" that stars Lola, a young Afro-Latina in the Bronx whose family moved from the Dominican Republic when she was a baby. When a class assignment asks her to draw the "country where she's from" Lola realizes she has no memories of the island. So she goes on an inspiring journey to ask relatives and neighbors what they know about the D.R. (The Washington Post)
Earlier this year, rapper Chamillionaire offered to help the family of a recently deported Mexican immigrant: I recently listened to this powerful podcast episode that looks at relations between African-American and Latino communities in the U.S., through the gesture made by Chamillionaire. It was a beautiful lesson of compassion and respect, and so interesting to hear the rapper's personal story, as his parents are immigrants too. (LATINO USA podcast and Latina.com)
Karla Monterroso was just officially named CEO at Code2040, a nonprofit that pairs black and Latinx students with internships at major Silicon Valley companies. She acknowledges how rare and exciting it is that someone like her - a Latina who grew up poor - is the CEO of a tech company in Silicon Valley. (Fast Company)
The Business of being Cardi B: TBH, I really had to restrain myself because I could make this whole newsletter about Cardi B, but I will limit myself to making this a three-parter:
It's been surreal to watch the rise of Trini-Dominican rapper Cardi B, the self-proclaimed "regular degular shmegular girl from The Bronx. (NPR)
Cardi's debut album just dropped and forecasters are already saying it's bound to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. If this does happen, she'll become just the 5th female rap artist with a No. 1 album on the chart, and the first since 2012 (Billboard)
This Saturday, while she was on SNL to perform songs from her new album, Cardi B announced her pregnancy! I'm not going to lie, I was hoping the rumors weren't true but this quote really enlightened me: "plenty of armchair skeptics criticized Cardi’s decision to have a baby at such a “pivotal” moment in her career: "Was she squandering her success? And yet there’s something quintessentially Cardi about it all, the blunt reminder of the facts of the female body, the yearning for traditional milestones even as she carves out her own unique path." (The Ringer)
Spotlight Series (every edition, I'll highlight a Latinx-owned business or project)
Written by Jamila Rowser and illustrated by Robyn Smith, this 27-page comic will follow one woman's natural hair journey. It stars Kim (a 26 year old African American girl) and her roommate, Cookie (her Dominican & Puerto Rican bestie). Go support the project (if you can't financially, share it with friends!). The Kickstarter campaign is live until May 4th: www.washdaycomic.com
Thanks for reading!
