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Creciendo Juntos
LEARNING, LEADING AND GROWING TOGETHER.
CJ MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Stay up to date with what's happening at CJ an in our community!
Each month our newsletter is thoughtfully put together by our Youth Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Valtierra. Sign up to receive monthly updates about community events, resources and more!
Do you have an event, job opportunity or resource you would like to promote through our newsletter? Email it to us at: evaltierra@cj-network.org.
LATINX SPOTLIGHT
Every month we highlight different Latinx community members in our newsletter!
Check out our previous amazing leaders below! Click on their pictures to read their full interview!
Do you know any Latinx leaders that should get their spotlight? Contact Elizabeth at: intern@cj-network.org.
Rosie Sanchez - February 2021
Could we please start off with a quick introduction of yourself? Starting with your name, pronouns, school, and your occupation?
My name is Rosibel Sanchez but I prefer to be called Rosie. I use she/her pronouns. I am currently a full time student attending PVCC (Piedmont Virginia Community College).
How did you first come across Creciendo Juntos?
I found out about Creciendo Juntos last year from my friend/mentor Elizabeth who is the youth program coordinator at Creciendo Juntos.
You also happened to be a mentee of our program Si Se Puede! What pushed you to get involved in Si Se Puede?
I’ve always enjoyed being part of Latinx programs, and once Elizabeth told me about Si Se Puede I quickly signed up hoping I would be accepted. At the time, I just started my first year of college and, although the group was for High Schoolers, Karina and Elizabeth were able to adjust the program for me. What really pushed me to get involved was the fact that I am the first in my family's generation to attend college and I was clueless of what I was doing. Therefore, I thought Si Se Puede would be very educational and a great way of getting support while I began my first semester of college especially during the pandemic.
What was your experience as a mentee in Si Se Puede?
Si Se Puede offered so much more than what I could ask for! Although, I had already graduated high school, it was still very helpful to refresh my mind on how to fill out my FAFSA, how to look for the right college/university, and as well as how to apply for college. I really enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories that I could relate to as well. Sadly the pandemic didn’t let us meet up in person, but I think that Karina and Elizabeth outdid themselves with all the resources available that kept us all in touch.
What was your favorite workshop and why?
My favorite workshop was with Prisca Dorcas. She told her story about self preservation as a first generation student. Her storytelling was very inspirational and it even made me get emotional. I think it was important for me to understand that there are people who have the same skin tone as me, speak spanish like me, and grow up with the same stories that have been told for generations upon generations that also go through the same struggles that I have while seeking higher education for themselves.
One thing that people are probably unaware of is that you just launched an official website for your lip gloss business! Could you tell us how that happens?
Before my lipgloss business, I really enjoyed collecting makeup, especially lipgloss. I had grown a pretty big collection of colourpop lip glosses that had gone out of control and it almost became an addiction. I soon realized that I had to cut down my spending since I was thinking about attending college after graduating high school. During the end of my junior year I thought of starting my own business, and so I did some research on things I’d like to start a business on. While I was doing my research I came upon many lip gloss businesses on instagram, and that's when I knew what I wanted to do but with my own twist. I started my business planning in November of 2019 until I suddenly had to stop because of the pandemic in mid January. I ended up losing my job as a part time sales associate in the Fashion Square mall in March of 2020.
A couple months passed by and I was still without a job, so I decided that I would start my business plan from scratch.
Luckily I had support from my family and friends and I launched my business in November 2020. At the time I was only open for drop off orders locally in the Charlottesville,Va area.
My business was mainly based on instagram where I would take in orders, and then I decided to build a website for my business so I could ship anywhere in the U.S. Finally after three months of building my website, which is called Queen Rose Cosmetics, I was able to launch on February 10th, 2021 which was my birthday.
On my website, I sell products such as lip glosses, lip scrubs, lip balms, and I plan on adding so much more in the future. All my products are handmade by me and they are also vegan and cruelty free.
I am happy to say that I am my own boss and I plan to run a successful business in the future.
An additional skill you’ve been working on is becoming a nail technician as well, right? How do you manage handling both businesses on top of your school?
I am still currently studying cosmetology at CATEC and plan on taking my state board exam in May 2021 to earn my license. Becoming a nail technician was my dream job while I was growing up and it still is. I started to do nails about 2 years ago while I was ending my sophomore year of high school and I had two part time jobs at Panera and Justice.
I’ve always worked for my own money since my mother is a single mom of three. I was hoping that if I worked for my own money that maybe I’d relieve some stress off my moms back. Therefore, I had learned to manage my time wisely in order to not fall behind in school nor be late to work although it sometimes happened. It was pretty stressful sometimes trying to manage it all back then, but now that I am much more mature I learned to work smarter and not harder.
I was able to make my dreams happen in a matter of time while still attending school. I can say that my dreams and goals in life are what keep me motivated to keep pushing forward.
How could we support you in your business and academics?
If anyone wants to help me and my business I would really appreciate it if you can get the word out by sharing my website; (queenrosecosmetics0.bigcartel.com).
I also have an instagram which is also linked in the bottom on my website as well if anyone wants to contact me there or by email too.
This business was not created for money, but instead it is a way for me to help my family and pay off college debt in the future.
If anyone wants to help and donate to my studies or business don’t hesitate to email me at rosiesanchez209@gmail.com.
What are some valuable lessons you have learned within the past year?
A valuable lesson I learned was to have patience. Having patience is a big tool to have, especially now that we are all living during a pandemic. I also think that it’s a very helpful tool in order to own and run a business independently. Since I lost my job back in March I made my lipgloss business a big priority and I felt like I was rushing the process. I then realized that I had to take a step back and let the process flow on it’s own and It all came along since then.
What are some things you’re looking forward to in the year of 2021?
Things I’m looking forward to this year is finishing my first year of college, coming out with new products for my business, and just bettering myself in order to make this year a success.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
My name is Rosibel Sanchez but I prefer to be called Rosie. I use she/her pronouns. I am currently a full time student attending PVCC (Piedmont Virginia Community College).
How did you first come across Creciendo Juntos?
I found out about Creciendo Juntos last year from my friend/mentor Elizabeth who is the youth program coordinator at Creciendo Juntos.
You also happened to be a mentee of our program Si Se Puede! What pushed you to get involved in Si Se Puede?
I’ve always enjoyed being part of Latinx programs, and once Elizabeth told me about Si Se Puede I quickly signed up hoping I would be accepted. At the time, I just started my first year of college and, although the group was for High Schoolers, Karina and Elizabeth were able to adjust the program for me. What really pushed me to get involved was the fact that I am the first in my family's generation to attend college and I was clueless of what I was doing. Therefore, I thought Si Se Puede would be very educational and a great way of getting support while I began my first semester of college especially during the pandemic.
What was your experience as a mentee in Si Se Puede?
Si Se Puede offered so much more than what I could ask for! Although, I had already graduated high school, it was still very helpful to refresh my mind on how to fill out my FAFSA, how to look for the right college/university, and as well as how to apply for college. I really enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories that I could relate to as well. Sadly the pandemic didn’t let us meet up in person, but I think that Karina and Elizabeth outdid themselves with all the resources available that kept us all in touch.
What was your favorite workshop and why?
My favorite workshop was with Prisca Dorcas. She told her story about self preservation as a first generation student. Her storytelling was very inspirational and it even made me get emotional. I think it was important for me to understand that there are people who have the same skin tone as me, speak spanish like me, and grow up with the same stories that have been told for generations upon generations that also go through the same struggles that I have while seeking higher education for themselves.
One thing that people are probably unaware of is that you just launched an official website for your lip gloss business! Could you tell us how that happens?
Before my lipgloss business, I really enjoyed collecting makeup, especially lipgloss. I had grown a pretty big collection of colourpop lip glosses that had gone out of control and it almost became an addiction. I soon realized that I had to cut down my spending since I was thinking about attending college after graduating high school. During the end of my junior year I thought of starting my own business, and so I did some research on things I’d like to start a business on. While I was doing my research I came upon many lip gloss businesses on instagram, and that's when I knew what I wanted to do but with my own twist. I started my business planning in November of 2019 until I suddenly had to stop because of the pandemic in mid January. I ended up losing my job as a part time sales associate in the Fashion Square mall in March of 2020.
A couple months passed by and I was still without a job, so I decided that I would start my business plan from scratch.
Luckily I had support from my family and friends and I launched my business in November 2020. At the time I was only open for drop off orders locally in the Charlottesville,Va area.
My business was mainly based on instagram where I would take in orders, and then I decided to build a website for my business so I could ship anywhere in the U.S. Finally after three months of building my website, which is called Queen Rose Cosmetics, I was able to launch on February 10th, 2021 which was my birthday.
On my website, I sell products such as lip glosses, lip scrubs, lip balms, and I plan on adding so much more in the future. All my products are handmade by me and they are also vegan and cruelty free.
I am happy to say that I am my own boss and I plan to run a successful business in the future.
An additional skill you’ve been working on is becoming a nail technician as well, right? How do you manage handling both businesses on top of your school?
I am still currently studying cosmetology at CATEC and plan on taking my state board exam in May 2021 to earn my license. Becoming a nail technician was my dream job while I was growing up and it still is. I started to do nails about 2 years ago while I was ending my sophomore year of high school and I had two part time jobs at Panera and Justice.
I’ve always worked for my own money since my mother is a single mom of three. I was hoping that if I worked for my own money that maybe I’d relieve some stress off my moms back. Therefore, I had learned to manage my time wisely in order to not fall behind in school nor be late to work although it sometimes happened. It was pretty stressful sometimes trying to manage it all back then, but now that I am much more mature I learned to work smarter and not harder.
I was able to make my dreams happen in a matter of time while still attending school. I can say that my dreams and goals in life are what keep me motivated to keep pushing forward.
How could we support you in your business and academics?
If anyone wants to help me and my business I would really appreciate it if you can get the word out by sharing my website; (queenrosecosmetics0.bigcartel.com).
I also have an instagram which is also linked in the bottom on my website as well if anyone wants to contact me there or by email too.
This business was not created for money, but instead it is a way for me to help my family and pay off college debt in the future.
If anyone wants to help and donate to my studies or business don’t hesitate to email me at rosiesanchez209@gmail.com.
What are some valuable lessons you have learned within the past year?
A valuable lesson I learned was to have patience. Having patience is a big tool to have, especially now that we are all living during a pandemic. I also think that it’s a very helpful tool in order to own and run a business independently. Since I lost my job back in March I made my lipgloss business a big priority and I felt like I was rushing the process. I then realized that I had to take a step back and let the process flow on it’s own and It all came along since then.
What are some things you’re looking forward to in the year of 2021?
Things I’m looking forward to this year is finishing my first year of college, coming out with new products for my business, and just bettering myself in order to make this year a success.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
Javier Figueroa Ray - September 2020
Photo by Tom Daly
In our September monthly “Latinx Brillante” spotlight, we’ll be featuring Javier Figueroa Ray, the Owner and Executive Chef of a local restaurant, Pearl Island Foods. Pearl Island is located inside the Jefferson School City Center and has amazing Caribbean and Hatian cuisine to serve and cater. Their food brings a touch of love and sense of home to anyone who tries their food. Personally, I’m a big fan! My go-to dish is the ‘Caribbean Seasoned Slow Roasted Pulled Pork’ Platter with their tropical Lemonade drinks. If meat is not your thing, they also serve Vegan and Vegetarian platters!
It’s also worth mentioning that he's the winner of the Tom Tom Fest’s 2008 Iron Chef Competition.
All the way from Puerto Rico, Javier arrived in D.C., in the early 2000s, with his first job as a case manager with a non-profit organization, Community Connection. However, his wife at the time was pursuing a PHD at University of Virginia and this led them to make the decision to move into Charlottesville, Virginia in the summer of 2008.
Right on, I noticed that Javier’s working experiences were in the medical field and not in the culinary field. This prompted me to ask him “How did you become the Executive Chef of Pearl Island in Charlottesville?”
Javier paused and reflected. “Well, back home, to tell you the truth, I never cooked at all.” He admitted. “My mom cooked and [she] would do whatever recipes were like in the Cosmopolitan magazine.”
He explained that his grandmother was a traditional lady. He mainly focuses on attending school. “But then I moved. So, I started remembering the stuff that I learned from them.”
Javier explained that overtime he began to appreciate cooking and see it as his form of art. During the week, he would work at the health department and during the weekend, he would be cooking somewhere in some restaurant. “So, through my career,” he continued, “[I started] working first with adults and then moving into working with children and families.” Javier found cooking as a sense of comfort through many jobs over the years, it was a grounding activity.
In our September monthly “Latinx Brillante” spotlight, we’ll be featuring Javier Figueroa Ray, the Owner and Executive Chef of a local restaurant, Pearl Island Foods. Pearl Island is located inside the Jefferson School City Center and has amazing Caribbean and Hatian cuisine to serve and cater. Their food brings a touch of love and sense of home to anyone who tries their food. Personally, I’m a big fan! My go-to dish is the ‘Caribbean Seasoned Slow Roasted Pulled Pork’ Platter with their tropical Lemonade drinks. If meat is not your thing, they also serve Vegan and Vegetarian platters!
It’s also worth mentioning that he's the winner of the Tom Tom Fest’s 2008 Iron Chef Competition.
All the way from Puerto Rico, Javier arrived in D.C., in the early 2000s, with his first job as a case manager with a non-profit organization, Community Connection. However, his wife at the time was pursuing a PHD at University of Virginia and this led them to make the decision to move into Charlottesville, Virginia in the summer of 2008.
Right on, I noticed that Javier’s working experiences were in the medical field and not in the culinary field. This prompted me to ask him “How did you become the Executive Chef of Pearl Island in Charlottesville?”
Javier paused and reflected. “Well, back home, to tell you the truth, I never cooked at all.” He admitted. “My mom cooked and [she] would do whatever recipes were like in the Cosmopolitan magazine.”
He explained that his grandmother was a traditional lady. He mainly focuses on attending school. “But then I moved. So, I started remembering the stuff that I learned from them.”
Javier explained that overtime he began to appreciate cooking and see it as his form of art. During the week, he would work at the health department and during the weekend, he would be cooking somewhere in some restaurant. “So, through my career,” he continued, “[I started] working first with adults and then moving into working with children and families.” Javier found cooking as a sense of comfort through many jobs over the years, it was a grounding activity.
Andrea Negrete - August 2020
For this month’s newsletter ‘Brillante Latinx’ feature, I was able to sit down with a local community organizer and a Graduate student of University of Virginia, Andrea Negrete. She’s well known for her local activism and organizing with ICE Out of Cville, Hands Off Maria Sanctuary, and more. I was able to sit down with one of the Graduate students of University of Virginia, Andrea Negrete. All the way from a small town in Washington, with a Bachelor and Master from University of Washington in Seattle, she found her path and journey here since moving to Charlottesville in 2015.
Andrea migrated to the U.S. at the age of three years old with her family from Mexico and has grown up in Mattawa in Washington. She attended University of Washington in Seattle to get her Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Masters in Education Policy. After working for a few years as a research coordinator, she made the decision to get her PhD. She took a week-long road trip to attend UVA.
“It was me, my mom, and one of my sisters, Marcela, who drove all the way together.” Andrea recounts her stories of arriving in Charlottesville, Virginia. “But half of the way, my dad and my other siblings also joined us so that we can make different stops at different places. It was kind of like a family caravan!”
I started off the interview by asking her what brought her to Charlottesville and how long has she been here.
“I chose to live here specifically for the psychology department [at UVA].” She began. She explains that she moved into Charlottesville with little to no information about the city and even of UVA (outside of the Psychology Department). “…Basically in the application process, you know, you do an interview… So, you [traditionally] fly out and check out the school. But again, it was really focused [on the interviews]. My time, when I came to visit in February 2015, was very focused on meeting my potential advisors and like meeting other people in the program.”
However, she was able to try Bodo's Bagels, a local restaurant that is exclusive to Charlottesville. We laughed at how it was one of the small joys of being in Charlottesville.
After that, I asked “What sparked your inspiration and motivation in pursuing your current career? And has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?”
Andrea paused and answered, “I’ve always gravitated towards… some type of helping profession, right. So for me, going to college wasn’t just about me getting a degree… I was doing this with my parents, right, but I was also doing this for my community.” She explained. “So for me, I wanted the degree to be a reflection of that. And so, I always gravitated towards professions that I felt could help me contribute back.”
She moved on to further explain that psychology was one of the first majors that got her interests. She emphasized that her decisions also came from being a first-generation college student. “I didn’t know a whole lot about just different professions and different career tracks… The careers that I knew of were because of my interactions growing up.”
The professions she saw around her were limited to dentists, doctors, teachers and common one as such. It took her awhile to have a really good picture of different options that she can explore into.
“But one of the things,” She continued, “that sparked my interest was psychology. I also had an interest in health sciences…” Her interests in these majors comes from original interests in wanting to be a resource for anyone who was recovering from an injury. However, that soon started changing as soon as she got involved in advocacy in college. “I became more involved in efforts to increase access to higher education for First Gen Low-Income Students of Color.”
She gave the example of her previous university, University of Washington, being a predominately white institution. “So that means, the majority of the student body has historically [been white] and continues to be that way, you know, and that’s very intentional.”
These experiences sparked an interest in challenging Andrea’s thinking of creating changes in these social institutions and changing policy to better support youth of color.
For many first-generation and immigrant students of color, there are often many pressures to go to college. However, once in college, they end up being confronted with inequalities that exist in these institutions that no one prepared them for. As a result, this only adds up more stress for students of color.
“Right. It was through very specific initiatives and policies that created barriers for students of color to attend [and] we could also make very specific decisions to address those things and to change them.” Andrea finished.
This way of thinking is only emphasized by her experiences here in Charlottesville. Andrea has actively attended events in the community and on at UVA. So, I asked her how having lived in Charlottesville shaped her experiences as a Latinx individual.
“To be honest,” Andrea began. “I’ve become a lot more radical in my thinking since moving to Charlottesville… A lot of it is because of the other community activists and organizers that I’ve met through being involved in these different initiatives and learning from them.”
Andrea also pointed out that she moved into Charlottesville in 2015 has enabled her to experience historical moments; the election of Trump, the Summer of Hate, the global pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter uprising.
“In that context, I’ve been really [challenged] to push my thinking around social issues.” She continued. “For example, one concrete example was my stance on the police, you know, prior to moving to Charlottesville.”
Andrea explained that she was aware of the need to change law enforcement and policing back in Seattle. “I think I came to that analysis from more of a reformist perspective.” She admitted.
“And seeing [how] the police responded to the events surrounding the Summer of Hate was really a turning point in coming to realization that we needed way more than reform. I really started to take on more of an abolitionist perspective.” She said.
She finished off, “It’s been in a way hard to live in Charlottesville, to be a student. But at the same time, I think I’m really just thankful for the amazing community organizers that exist here and everything that I’ve definitely learned from them.”
This brought me to the following question, “How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within the Latinx community or in Charlottesville, in general?”
Andrea takes a moment to respond. “One of the things that I thought about in terms of when I first moved here- my approach was more of like ‘I am a new person here and I want to know who’s who..., and what’s going on.” She started off.
“I saw my role more as someone that really needed to, like, listen and learn from the community.” She emphasizes that whenever someone moves into a new community, the best thing to do is to know people and build relationships. “Okay, I have these skills or these interests, like, how can I best be of service? How could I fit in that?” She said to convey her point in how to be beneficial in a community you moved into. That was her approach originally when she moved in five years ago.
“I see myself as also part of the activist community here in Charlottesville.” She said.
As a trusted member of the organizing community in Charlottesville, Andrea has also taken initiative in doing a research project for her dissertation where she’s talking to young adult who are between the ages of 18 to 25 who have migrated to the U.S. from Latin America at some point in their life and currently live in central Virginia.
I asked her to go into more details behind the project and the goal of it.
“So, I’m having confidential interviews.” She clarified. “And so, during these conversations, I’m asking questions about their lives in central Virginia. Their experiences with discrimination, either experiencing it themselves or seeing it in their community, their views on immigration, race, identity, and other topics… One of the reasons I am focusing on eighteen to twenty-five years old is because this is a time when a lot of young people might have a lot of different life transitions.”
Andrea explained her decisions behind the age between eighteen and twenty-five; most individuals go through different types of rite of passage such as graduating high school or college, moving into their own places, marrying, creating a family, and more. “So, this project helps to tell their stories from their perspective about how they are navigating these life experiences in the context of an anti-immigration administration… how they live within this context, the way they’re resisting, the way they’re making contributions in their own community.”
This prompted me to ask her about her aim in what she plans to use this data for.
“I hope to turn these reports into publications to submit to journals that other researchers from all over the US can read and learn from. I consider myself an adolescent developer researcher.” She said. “… from what I’ve seen is that a lot of research can be used to inform programs and policies. But in a lot of ways, research has historically excluded young people of color.” She explained that people are making decisions based on research that can affect communities..
“I also hope to be able to write a report to provide to local organizations and have them use [her research project] in whatever ways they might find it helpful in their initiatives that they’re seeking to support.” She concluded.
As she explains her initiative and goals, I wondered how COVID-19 has impacted her research in general. “How has COVID-19 impacted the research process?”
At this question, she sighed and laughed a little. “Yeah… the governor issued this Stay-At-Home order and pretty quickly after… we also got the notification from the body at UVA that governs research and oversees research… They shut down all in-person research and we had to figure out how to readjust under a world where in-person contact was no longer allowed for good reason.”
Andrea started taking in-person interviews in the middle of January and had to transition into all phone interviews using Zoom. She also talked about how being quarantined had changed how information about the project had to be shared. “Before, I was making announcements in person, either in local churches or community events… that was really important to go out into the community, meet people in person and let them know who I am.”
After COVID-19, the way to spread information started to rely more on online and word of mouth.
As I was listening to how COVID-19 entirely shifted the process of the research, I became worried about how all this change impacted Andrea’s wellbeing. “How have you adjusted or cope with COVID-19?”
“It’s hard.” She stated. “It’s hard for everybody. And I think one thing I definitely acknowledge is that I do hold privileges-I have a job that has allowed me to work from home. And you know, as long as I know, I will continue to be able to do that through fall semester… I haven’t had to worry about job insecurity or those types of things. At the same time, I also live by myself and in the writing process for my dissertation combined with the pandemic, it’s pretty isolating.”
Andrea focused on the fact that she had to be really intentional about finding ways to cope with isolation and finding ways to stay connected. The pandemic made her rethink how to socialize in a responsible way and even navigate friendship. She even brought up how she initially was Zooming a lot but it became a fatigue for her.
“Taking the day, everything day by day. So, knowing that I can have a really good day and then the next day could just be really tough.” Andrea acknowledged. “I’m trying to be really kind to myself, even though I know I have specific deadlines. There’s no way I can be as productive as I was before, and so just letting go.”
Not only that, she mentioned that having a therapist she meets weekly has helped her a lot. “Having a therapist to work through… emotional highs and downs. I think those are kind of the key things for me.”
As we’re coming to the end of the interview, I wanted to make sure we left off on a light-hearted note, so I asked her what are her fun personal goals for the end of this year or following year.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily fun, but a personal goal for next year is to become a Doctor.” Andrea laughed a bit. “To get my paper done and finish the year with my Doctoral degree.”
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
Andrea migrated to the U.S. at the age of three years old with her family from Mexico and has grown up in Mattawa in Washington. She attended University of Washington in Seattle to get her Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Masters in Education Policy. After working for a few years as a research coordinator, she made the decision to get her PhD. She took a week-long road trip to attend UVA.
“It was me, my mom, and one of my sisters, Marcela, who drove all the way together.” Andrea recounts her stories of arriving in Charlottesville, Virginia. “But half of the way, my dad and my other siblings also joined us so that we can make different stops at different places. It was kind of like a family caravan!”
I started off the interview by asking her what brought her to Charlottesville and how long has she been here.
“I chose to live here specifically for the psychology department [at UVA].” She began. She explains that she moved into Charlottesville with little to no information about the city and even of UVA (outside of the Psychology Department). “…Basically in the application process, you know, you do an interview… So, you [traditionally] fly out and check out the school. But again, it was really focused [on the interviews]. My time, when I came to visit in February 2015, was very focused on meeting my potential advisors and like meeting other people in the program.”
However, she was able to try Bodo's Bagels, a local restaurant that is exclusive to Charlottesville. We laughed at how it was one of the small joys of being in Charlottesville.
After that, I asked “What sparked your inspiration and motivation in pursuing your current career? And has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?”
Andrea paused and answered, “I’ve always gravitated towards… some type of helping profession, right. So for me, going to college wasn’t just about me getting a degree… I was doing this with my parents, right, but I was also doing this for my community.” She explained. “So for me, I wanted the degree to be a reflection of that. And so, I always gravitated towards professions that I felt could help me contribute back.”
She moved on to further explain that psychology was one of the first majors that got her interests. She emphasized that her decisions also came from being a first-generation college student. “I didn’t know a whole lot about just different professions and different career tracks… The careers that I knew of were because of my interactions growing up.”
The professions she saw around her were limited to dentists, doctors, teachers and common one as such. It took her awhile to have a really good picture of different options that she can explore into.
“But one of the things,” She continued, “that sparked my interest was psychology. I also had an interest in health sciences…” Her interests in these majors comes from original interests in wanting to be a resource for anyone who was recovering from an injury. However, that soon started changing as soon as she got involved in advocacy in college. “I became more involved in efforts to increase access to higher education for First Gen Low-Income Students of Color.”
She gave the example of her previous university, University of Washington, being a predominately white institution. “So that means, the majority of the student body has historically [been white] and continues to be that way, you know, and that’s very intentional.”
These experiences sparked an interest in challenging Andrea’s thinking of creating changes in these social institutions and changing policy to better support youth of color.
For many first-generation and immigrant students of color, there are often many pressures to go to college. However, once in college, they end up being confronted with inequalities that exist in these institutions that no one prepared them for. As a result, this only adds up more stress for students of color.
“Right. It was through very specific initiatives and policies that created barriers for students of color to attend [and] we could also make very specific decisions to address those things and to change them.” Andrea finished.
This way of thinking is only emphasized by her experiences here in Charlottesville. Andrea has actively attended events in the community and on at UVA. So, I asked her how having lived in Charlottesville shaped her experiences as a Latinx individual.
“To be honest,” Andrea began. “I’ve become a lot more radical in my thinking since moving to Charlottesville… A lot of it is because of the other community activists and organizers that I’ve met through being involved in these different initiatives and learning from them.”
Andrea also pointed out that she moved into Charlottesville in 2015 has enabled her to experience historical moments; the election of Trump, the Summer of Hate, the global pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter uprising.
“In that context, I’ve been really [challenged] to push my thinking around social issues.” She continued. “For example, one concrete example was my stance on the police, you know, prior to moving to Charlottesville.”
Andrea explained that she was aware of the need to change law enforcement and policing back in Seattle. “I think I came to that analysis from more of a reformist perspective.” She admitted.
“And seeing [how] the police responded to the events surrounding the Summer of Hate was really a turning point in coming to realization that we needed way more than reform. I really started to take on more of an abolitionist perspective.” She said.
She finished off, “It’s been in a way hard to live in Charlottesville, to be a student. But at the same time, I think I’m really just thankful for the amazing community organizers that exist here and everything that I’ve definitely learned from them.”
This brought me to the following question, “How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within the Latinx community or in Charlottesville, in general?”
Andrea takes a moment to respond. “One of the things that I thought about in terms of when I first moved here- my approach was more of like ‘I am a new person here and I want to know who’s who..., and what’s going on.” She started off.
“I saw my role more as someone that really needed to, like, listen and learn from the community.” She emphasizes that whenever someone moves into a new community, the best thing to do is to know people and build relationships. “Okay, I have these skills or these interests, like, how can I best be of service? How could I fit in that?” She said to convey her point in how to be beneficial in a community you moved into. That was her approach originally when she moved in five years ago.
“I see myself as also part of the activist community here in Charlottesville.” She said.
As a trusted member of the organizing community in Charlottesville, Andrea has also taken initiative in doing a research project for her dissertation where she’s talking to young adult who are between the ages of 18 to 25 who have migrated to the U.S. from Latin America at some point in their life and currently live in central Virginia.
I asked her to go into more details behind the project and the goal of it.
“So, I’m having confidential interviews.” She clarified. “And so, during these conversations, I’m asking questions about their lives in central Virginia. Their experiences with discrimination, either experiencing it themselves or seeing it in their community, their views on immigration, race, identity, and other topics… One of the reasons I am focusing on eighteen to twenty-five years old is because this is a time when a lot of young people might have a lot of different life transitions.”
Andrea explained her decisions behind the age between eighteen and twenty-five; most individuals go through different types of rite of passage such as graduating high school or college, moving into their own places, marrying, creating a family, and more. “So, this project helps to tell their stories from their perspective about how they are navigating these life experiences in the context of an anti-immigration administration… how they live within this context, the way they’re resisting, the way they’re making contributions in their own community.”
This prompted me to ask her about her aim in what she plans to use this data for.
“I hope to turn these reports into publications to submit to journals that other researchers from all over the US can read and learn from. I consider myself an adolescent developer researcher.” She said. “… from what I’ve seen is that a lot of research can be used to inform programs and policies. But in a lot of ways, research has historically excluded young people of color.” She explained that people are making decisions based on research that can affect communities..
“I also hope to be able to write a report to provide to local organizations and have them use [her research project] in whatever ways they might find it helpful in their initiatives that they’re seeking to support.” She concluded.
As she explains her initiative and goals, I wondered how COVID-19 has impacted her research in general. “How has COVID-19 impacted the research process?”
At this question, she sighed and laughed a little. “Yeah… the governor issued this Stay-At-Home order and pretty quickly after… we also got the notification from the body at UVA that governs research and oversees research… They shut down all in-person research and we had to figure out how to readjust under a world where in-person contact was no longer allowed for good reason.”
Andrea started taking in-person interviews in the middle of January and had to transition into all phone interviews using Zoom. She also talked about how being quarantined had changed how information about the project had to be shared. “Before, I was making announcements in person, either in local churches or community events… that was really important to go out into the community, meet people in person and let them know who I am.”
After COVID-19, the way to spread information started to rely more on online and word of mouth.
As I was listening to how COVID-19 entirely shifted the process of the research, I became worried about how all this change impacted Andrea’s wellbeing. “How have you adjusted or cope with COVID-19?”
“It’s hard.” She stated. “It’s hard for everybody. And I think one thing I definitely acknowledge is that I do hold privileges-I have a job that has allowed me to work from home. And you know, as long as I know, I will continue to be able to do that through fall semester… I haven’t had to worry about job insecurity or those types of things. At the same time, I also live by myself and in the writing process for my dissertation combined with the pandemic, it’s pretty isolating.”
Andrea focused on the fact that she had to be really intentional about finding ways to cope with isolation and finding ways to stay connected. The pandemic made her rethink how to socialize in a responsible way and even navigate friendship. She even brought up how she initially was Zooming a lot but it became a fatigue for her.
“Taking the day, everything day by day. So, knowing that I can have a really good day and then the next day could just be really tough.” Andrea acknowledged. “I’m trying to be really kind to myself, even though I know I have specific deadlines. There’s no way I can be as productive as I was before, and so just letting go.”
Not only that, she mentioned that having a therapist she meets weekly has helped her a lot. “Having a therapist to work through… emotional highs and downs. I think those are kind of the key things for me.”
As we’re coming to the end of the interview, I wanted to make sure we left off on a light-hearted note, so I asked her what are her fun personal goals for the end of this year or following year.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily fun, but a personal goal for next year is to become a Doctor.” Andrea laughed a bit. “To get my paper done and finish the year with my Doctoral degree.”
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
Pilar M. Valtierra - May 2020
Recently, it’s been a hard battle for a lot of community members to adjust to the new life after COVID-19. Especially when it’s unstable, always changing, and it never seems to end. However, Creciendo Juntos has acknowledged many leaders brillante that shows resilience and resourcefulness that many can look upon to. Our leader for this month is Pilar Magdalena Valtierra, a member in our Education Workgroup and leader of De Raíces a Risas.
So we’re going to open this interview up with a quick introduction.
My name is Pilar Magdalena Valtierra. I am 27 years old and was currently working in Mountain View Elementary School (formally known as Cale Elementary) as a teacher assistant. I also help run a small remodeling/housekeeping company [as a part-time job].
Where did you grow up? What was it like growing up there?
I was raised in Deland, Florida for the majority of my life. Deland is a small city which has a warm and diverse inviting community. I grew up with my entire family around, both maternal and paternal, which made it easier for me to always have someone to reach out to. My family was always out and about- some days after school you could find us swimming in a nearby spring by my grandma’s house, other days we ended our nights walking on the Daytona Beach's boardwalk, or we’re just simply visiting grandma's house playing ‘Loteria’ [Mexican bingo] among other things. There was always family around.
What brought you to Charlottesville, Virginia?
The 2008 recession hurt Florida excessively badly. It took a few years to finally begin to show hopes of recovering but by then [my family and I] had already moved to Virginia. During that time, Charlottesville was growing and my in-laws along with my husband decided that the smart thing to do was to re-start their business company here all over again. The process was slow but we had bigger hopes here. The community was very warm and I loved how there were many family based events programs.
How has living in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
As I mentioned before, Deland is very diverse. Especially within the Latinx community. Spanish spoken everywhere, there were many Latinx grocery stores, and you could hear music in Spanish playing everywhere you went. When we arrived in Charlottesville, we noticed that the Latinx community was fairly small and it was really difficult to find the foods we missed eating. I began to seek and learn more about my traditions and culture since I wanted to bring them here and share them with our new home.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
I had the desire to be more involved with the community since I had began my own cultural journey. The more I got involved the more I learned not just about my own culture but of others as well. In the process I found out that I didn't just want to learn, I also wanted to help my community grow and help them feel proud of who they are as a whole.
What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
I never thought I'd work with children until I did. It's fun, challenging, and rewarding all at the same time. It's my first year as a TA [Teacher’s Assistant] and I'm in the kindergarten Spanish EMERGE class. I have two daughters so this job gives me the flexibility to learn and also have time with my family. I want to go back to school and major in business since my ultimate goal is to run my own business and others as well.
How did you hear about Creciendo Juntos?
I was attending a mental health class with Ingrid Ramos in The Women's Initiative. When that ended, she invited us all to a Creciendo Juntos meeting. I attended and well, I slowly got more and more involved.
Many do not know this but you’re the creator of De Raíces a Risas, what sparked the idea to bring this program to life?
I think there are many factors to how this idea came to me. My mother would take us to Mexico for summer vacations since I could remember and my most favorite memories are when all the children would come out and in the evenings and play all together. I learned games that had to do with rhymes and singing and lots of movement. I thought why not? Why not have the families bring that here? Let's teach our children the games from back home, let's be more interactive with them, let's play with them more, and let's pass on a little bit of our childhood to them.
How has Creciendo Juntos helped bring this program together?
Creciendo Juntos is all about how we can empower the community, I shared my idea and we began to work on it right away. The moment I shared my interest in creating De Raices A Risas, I had their support from finding a location, to creating flyers, creating a program, and reaching out to families.
Unfortunately, we are unable to recreate the same format of the program due to COVID-19, could you please talk about how De Raíces a Risas plan to overcome this?
Unfortunately, we are not able to gather and enjoy it all together. The team and I thought of creating this play kit package where we have families work on them together! We want to try to have parents and children involved in creating something fun. It won't be the same as last summer's event, it will be different. However, it will have the same intention and purpose of parent and children interaction as well as gaining knowledge of their own traditions. I am sure that this will bring many families memories of their own songs and games that they can share to their children.
As you’re a mother of two, would you like to share your experiences on how you’re battling COVID-19 in your own household? What are ways you’ve brought school to your children?
The panic is there and I think that every parent will be afraid because of their own children's safety. The first two weeks were challenging since schools were suddenly closed. My best friend has been Pinterest in the way of creating schedules, worksheets, and creative learning tools. Our teachers were always connected which was an enormous help. We are always learning and I say we because I also am learning with them. They both do what is asked in terms of school work but we are also doing it our own way the way we can.
What are some ways to encourage community and children to stay active during the pandemic?
That this shall pass, maybe not today or tomorrow or the next but it will pass and in the meantime do we want to shut ourselves down or do we want to find ourselves and learn? Let's empower our minds, our bodies, our spirit for a better and safer tomorrow.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
So we’re going to open this interview up with a quick introduction.
My name is Pilar Magdalena Valtierra. I am 27 years old and was currently working in Mountain View Elementary School (formally known as Cale Elementary) as a teacher assistant. I also help run a small remodeling/housekeeping company [as a part-time job].
Where did you grow up? What was it like growing up there?
I was raised in Deland, Florida for the majority of my life. Deland is a small city which has a warm and diverse inviting community. I grew up with my entire family around, both maternal and paternal, which made it easier for me to always have someone to reach out to. My family was always out and about- some days after school you could find us swimming in a nearby spring by my grandma’s house, other days we ended our nights walking on the Daytona Beach's boardwalk, or we’re just simply visiting grandma's house playing ‘Loteria’ [Mexican bingo] among other things. There was always family around.
What brought you to Charlottesville, Virginia?
The 2008 recession hurt Florida excessively badly. It took a few years to finally begin to show hopes of recovering but by then [my family and I] had already moved to Virginia. During that time, Charlottesville was growing and my in-laws along with my husband decided that the smart thing to do was to re-start their business company here all over again. The process was slow but we had bigger hopes here. The community was very warm and I loved how there were many family based events programs.
How has living in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
As I mentioned before, Deland is very diverse. Especially within the Latinx community. Spanish spoken everywhere, there were many Latinx grocery stores, and you could hear music in Spanish playing everywhere you went. When we arrived in Charlottesville, we noticed that the Latinx community was fairly small and it was really difficult to find the foods we missed eating. I began to seek and learn more about my traditions and culture since I wanted to bring them here and share them with our new home.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
I had the desire to be more involved with the community since I had began my own cultural journey. The more I got involved the more I learned not just about my own culture but of others as well. In the process I found out that I didn't just want to learn, I also wanted to help my community grow and help them feel proud of who they are as a whole.
What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
I never thought I'd work with children until I did. It's fun, challenging, and rewarding all at the same time. It's my first year as a TA [Teacher’s Assistant] and I'm in the kindergarten Spanish EMERGE class. I have two daughters so this job gives me the flexibility to learn and also have time with my family. I want to go back to school and major in business since my ultimate goal is to run my own business and others as well.
How did you hear about Creciendo Juntos?
I was attending a mental health class with Ingrid Ramos in The Women's Initiative. When that ended, she invited us all to a Creciendo Juntos meeting. I attended and well, I slowly got more and more involved.
Many do not know this but you’re the creator of De Raíces a Risas, what sparked the idea to bring this program to life?
I think there are many factors to how this idea came to me. My mother would take us to Mexico for summer vacations since I could remember and my most favorite memories are when all the children would come out and in the evenings and play all together. I learned games that had to do with rhymes and singing and lots of movement. I thought why not? Why not have the families bring that here? Let's teach our children the games from back home, let's be more interactive with them, let's play with them more, and let's pass on a little bit of our childhood to them.
How has Creciendo Juntos helped bring this program together?
Creciendo Juntos is all about how we can empower the community, I shared my idea and we began to work on it right away. The moment I shared my interest in creating De Raices A Risas, I had their support from finding a location, to creating flyers, creating a program, and reaching out to families.
Unfortunately, we are unable to recreate the same format of the program due to COVID-19, could you please talk about how De Raíces a Risas plan to overcome this?
Unfortunately, we are not able to gather and enjoy it all together. The team and I thought of creating this play kit package where we have families work on them together! We want to try to have parents and children involved in creating something fun. It won't be the same as last summer's event, it will be different. However, it will have the same intention and purpose of parent and children interaction as well as gaining knowledge of their own traditions. I am sure that this will bring many families memories of their own songs and games that they can share to their children.
As you’re a mother of two, would you like to share your experiences on how you’re battling COVID-19 in your own household? What are ways you’ve brought school to your children?
The panic is there and I think that every parent will be afraid because of their own children's safety. The first two weeks were challenging since schools were suddenly closed. My best friend has been Pinterest in the way of creating schedules, worksheets, and creative learning tools. Our teachers were always connected which was an enormous help. We are always learning and I say we because I also am learning with them. They both do what is asked in terms of school work but we are also doing it our own way the way we can.
What are some ways to encourage community and children to stay active during the pandemic?
That this shall pass, maybe not today or tomorrow or the next but it will pass and in the meantime do we want to shut ourselves down or do we want to find ourselves and learn? Let's empower our minds, our bodies, our spirit for a better and safer tomorrow.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
Rose Emily Gonzalez - March 2020
Tell us a little bit about yourself; your name, pronouns, where you are from, where you grew up, and where do you currently work?
My name is Rose Emily Gonzalez, my friends call me Emily. Only my Dad called me Rose (he also celebrated my birthday on a different day) and I prefer it that way. My pronouns are she/her/ella. I have two brothers and one sister. My father was from Vieques, Puerto Rico and my mother is from Cadiz, Spain. I am everything I am because of my parents.
What was your life like growing up in____?
I was born in the Bronx (New York, go Yankees), but we moved to Italy shortly after my brother Ralph was born. I grew up overseas, primarily in Germany (Baumholder, Wiesbaden) and Italy (Vicenza). My dad was in the Army, and we were fortunate to spend most of our childhood in Europe. My mom’s side of the family lives in Spain and so we spent many of our summers in Spain when I was growing up. Some of my best friends are the ones that I met in high school and college in Munich and Wiesbaden.
I received my Bachelors from the University of Maryland, my Master’s degree in Psychology from Loyloa College in Baltimore, and my Ph.D. doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from SUNY Albany. I completed by pre-doctoral training at the Mailman Center for Child Development in Miami and completed two postdoctoral residencies in child maltreatment/forensics before working for a couple of years at JMU teaching and working at the Child Development Center. I moved to Massachusetts in 2001 and had been working in the hospital and schools until about 5 years ago when I moved to Charlottesville. I moved here primarily to be closer to my mother and sister, who live about 3 hours away.
I currently work at UVA Children’s Hospital. I am an associate professor of pediatrics and pediatric psychologist. I provide services for the Divisions of Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. I provide assessment and intervention services for children experiencing a wide range of medical and developmental challenges; I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by superheroes of all ages all day long. I learn a lot from the children I work with, mostly about the power of the internal voice and the tenacity of the human spirit. Mostly, however, I learn about what it means to be brave and what it really means to not take anything for granted. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
What brought you to Charlottesville? Or what was your journey to Charlottesville like?
I moved to Charlottesville 5 years ago from western Massachusetts with my daughter Arianna and our two Airedale terriers Jackson and Ellie (who have since passed on to dog heaven and are probably teaching all the other dogs where the peanut butter is kept and where all the best raspberry bushes are). This year Ari and brought home another puppy named Archie. He also goes by Archie the Naughty One, or Archie Stop-it, or Archie-No-Bite. We love him so much.
What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
I’ve always been fascinated by human behavior, and by the experiences and personal characteristics/resources that help children overcome adversity. I’m interested in how different dynamics and interpersonal attachments contribute to children’s resilience. I am also interested in different cultural formulations of mental health and hope to continue expanding my work on developing improved culturally and trauma-informed care. The field of pediatric psychology has a way to go in developing appropriate assessment and intervention tools for diverse cultural, ethnic, and diverse populations but I am inspired by the advances in this area that I have witnessed over the last 20 years. If I had to choose a different pathway, I would probably still be a pediatric psychologist, but I would also have pursued a law degree and would practice in the area of immigration.
How has living in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
My childhood experiences shaped my identity.
How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within our community?
I would say that I consider myself to be a helper and an advocate for children’s rights. I am particularly invested in advocating for immigrant/refugee children’s rights and work to promote equity in their access to care and resources.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
I enjoy reading, cooking, growing flowers so that my dogs can snap them off and run around the yard like flamenco dancers holding the stems (I don’t grow roses and peonies for this reason, but this is what eventually happens to the flowers I grow – I need to get a bit more creative), taking walks with my dog, Sunday drives along Skyline drive, spending time with my daughter and my family and friends. My daughter (adopted from Guatemala) sings, plays piano, and plays lacrosse and field hockey, so I get to spend a lot of time watching her shine. We spend a lot of time in Massachusetts in the summers going to Cape Cod (Brewster) and visiting our friends in Amherst, Leveret, and Pelham. My best friend is my sister and I try to spend as much time as I can with her.
What are some challenges you faced working here in Charlottesville? How were you able to overcome it?
No challenges. UVA has been a wonderful place to work; I really appreciate its commitment to equity and inclusion, and my colleagues are all supportive of one another.
Do you have any fun or personal goals for yourself in this upcoming 2020 year?
I am hoping to add on to our family (another dog). I would like to find more time to travel. I hope to return to India (I do child development research in India), it’s a beautiful country and I’ve made many friends there over the last few years. I would like to introduce my daughter to this beautiful country, its culture and its people. In general, I am just hoping to travel more. And read more.
What are some life lessons you want to share with our community? My mentor once told me that I might have only five minutes with a child, and that I needed to make each minute count. I’ve never forgotten that, and this advice has helped me make sure that I’m always fully present with the children and families I work with. Another lesson that has resonated for me and remained strong in my heart is a conversation with an elderly man I once had when I was working on my dissertation almost 22 years ago. He had the most beautiful hands, the kindest eyes, and when he spoke it sounded like he sang. I was interviewing him and he was describing a pretty hard life, he was very poor, had many health problems, and had sustained many losses in his life. When I asked him to tell me what he was most proud of, he shared that he looked forward to eating a home-cooked meal once a week (spaghetti and apple pie) that he liked to make and share with his friends – most of the other days he ate at different shelters. He asked me to remember that I should always try to have something to look forward to, and that I should always be proud of what I could offer to others, no matter how small it might seem to other people. I guess another life lesson that I’ve been fortunate to receive has been the opportunity to witness the courage of children. I’ve met many children through the years how have witnessed or who have undergone or are facing/have faced some of the most unimaginable events – and yet through most of these children I have learned that what children want most of all is to feel that they matter, to feel that they are the center of someone’s universe, and to feel that there is an adult in their life that is in control of life when it gets hard. And Goldfish. I’ve learned that most kids will do a lot of things for payment in Goldfish. And Candy. Most kids like candy.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
My name is Rose Emily Gonzalez, my friends call me Emily. Only my Dad called me Rose (he also celebrated my birthday on a different day) and I prefer it that way. My pronouns are she/her/ella. I have two brothers and one sister. My father was from Vieques, Puerto Rico and my mother is from Cadiz, Spain. I am everything I am because of my parents.
What was your life like growing up in____?
I was born in the Bronx (New York, go Yankees), but we moved to Italy shortly after my brother Ralph was born. I grew up overseas, primarily in Germany (Baumholder, Wiesbaden) and Italy (Vicenza). My dad was in the Army, and we were fortunate to spend most of our childhood in Europe. My mom’s side of the family lives in Spain and so we spent many of our summers in Spain when I was growing up. Some of my best friends are the ones that I met in high school and college in Munich and Wiesbaden.
I received my Bachelors from the University of Maryland, my Master’s degree in Psychology from Loyloa College in Baltimore, and my Ph.D. doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from SUNY Albany. I completed by pre-doctoral training at the Mailman Center for Child Development in Miami and completed two postdoctoral residencies in child maltreatment/forensics before working for a couple of years at JMU teaching and working at the Child Development Center. I moved to Massachusetts in 2001 and had been working in the hospital and schools until about 5 years ago when I moved to Charlottesville. I moved here primarily to be closer to my mother and sister, who live about 3 hours away.
I currently work at UVA Children’s Hospital. I am an associate professor of pediatrics and pediatric psychologist. I provide services for the Divisions of Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. I provide assessment and intervention services for children experiencing a wide range of medical and developmental challenges; I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by superheroes of all ages all day long. I learn a lot from the children I work with, mostly about the power of the internal voice and the tenacity of the human spirit. Mostly, however, I learn about what it means to be brave and what it really means to not take anything for granted. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
What brought you to Charlottesville? Or what was your journey to Charlottesville like?
I moved to Charlottesville 5 years ago from western Massachusetts with my daughter Arianna and our two Airedale terriers Jackson and Ellie (who have since passed on to dog heaven and are probably teaching all the other dogs where the peanut butter is kept and where all the best raspberry bushes are). This year Ari and brought home another puppy named Archie. He also goes by Archie the Naughty One, or Archie Stop-it, or Archie-No-Bite. We love him so much.
What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
I’ve always been fascinated by human behavior, and by the experiences and personal characteristics/resources that help children overcome adversity. I’m interested in how different dynamics and interpersonal attachments contribute to children’s resilience. I am also interested in different cultural formulations of mental health and hope to continue expanding my work on developing improved culturally and trauma-informed care. The field of pediatric psychology has a way to go in developing appropriate assessment and intervention tools for diverse cultural, ethnic, and diverse populations but I am inspired by the advances in this area that I have witnessed over the last 20 years. If I had to choose a different pathway, I would probably still be a pediatric psychologist, but I would also have pursued a law degree and would practice in the area of immigration.
How has living in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
My childhood experiences shaped my identity.
How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within our community?
I would say that I consider myself to be a helper and an advocate for children’s rights. I am particularly invested in advocating for immigrant/refugee children’s rights and work to promote equity in their access to care and resources.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
I enjoy reading, cooking, growing flowers so that my dogs can snap them off and run around the yard like flamenco dancers holding the stems (I don’t grow roses and peonies for this reason, but this is what eventually happens to the flowers I grow – I need to get a bit more creative), taking walks with my dog, Sunday drives along Skyline drive, spending time with my daughter and my family and friends. My daughter (adopted from Guatemala) sings, plays piano, and plays lacrosse and field hockey, so I get to spend a lot of time watching her shine. We spend a lot of time in Massachusetts in the summers going to Cape Cod (Brewster) and visiting our friends in Amherst, Leveret, and Pelham. My best friend is my sister and I try to spend as much time as I can with her.
What are some challenges you faced working here in Charlottesville? How were you able to overcome it?
No challenges. UVA has been a wonderful place to work; I really appreciate its commitment to equity and inclusion, and my colleagues are all supportive of one another.
Do you have any fun or personal goals for yourself in this upcoming 2020 year?
I am hoping to add on to our family (another dog). I would like to find more time to travel. I hope to return to India (I do child development research in India), it’s a beautiful country and I’ve made many friends there over the last few years. I would like to introduce my daughter to this beautiful country, its culture and its people. In general, I am just hoping to travel more. And read more.
What are some life lessons you want to share with our community? My mentor once told me that I might have only five minutes with a child, and that I needed to make each minute count. I’ve never forgotten that, and this advice has helped me make sure that I’m always fully present with the children and families I work with. Another lesson that has resonated for me and remained strong in my heart is a conversation with an elderly man I once had when I was working on my dissertation almost 22 years ago. He had the most beautiful hands, the kindest eyes, and when he spoke it sounded like he sang. I was interviewing him and he was describing a pretty hard life, he was very poor, had many health problems, and had sustained many losses in his life. When I asked him to tell me what he was most proud of, he shared that he looked forward to eating a home-cooked meal once a week (spaghetti and apple pie) that he liked to make and share with his friends – most of the other days he ate at different shelters. He asked me to remember that I should always try to have something to look forward to, and that I should always be proud of what I could offer to others, no matter how small it might seem to other people. I guess another life lesson that I’ve been fortunate to receive has been the opportunity to witness the courage of children. I’ve met many children through the years how have witnessed or who have undergone or are facing/have faced some of the most unimaginable events – and yet through most of these children I have learned that what children want most of all is to feel that they matter, to feel that they are the center of someone’s universe, and to feel that there is an adult in their life that is in control of life when it gets hard. And Goldfish. I’ve learned that most kids will do a lot of things for payment in Goldfish. And Candy. Most kids like candy.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Valtierra
Carolina Medina - February 2020
Tell us a little bit about yourself, your name, pronouns, where you are from, where you grew up, where do you currently work?
I am Carolina Medina; I grew up in Estado de Mexico which is the suburbs part of Mexico City. I lived in Estado de Mexico for 15 years before moving to Fredericksburg, Virginia. My mom, brother and I settled in Fredericksburg because my dad had been working there for quite some years. After living in Fredericksburg for many years I decided to move to Charlottesville because there were more employment opportunities. Currently, I work as the Operations Coordinator for the non-profit organization Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), where we empower small businesses for big change.
1. What was your life like growing up in Mexico City, Mexico?
Growing up in Mexico was one of the best things that has happened to me. I absolutely love my childhood memories. They are all amazing! My childhood is one of those moments that if I could travel back in time, I'd definitely choose to experience again those moments growing up in Mexico because they were full of adventurous and creative moments along my five cousins who were of similar age. Our child games were creative, unique, innocent and lots of fun!
2. What brought you to Charlottesville? Or what was your journey to Charlottesville like?
After I graduate from University of Lynchburg I moved back to Fredericksburg to live with my parents but it was difficult to find employment in that area. Then through a friend I found a position as an insurance representative here in Charlottesville and that was the main reason why I moved to the area. I worked in this position for about four months and then I moved to the non-profit sector with CIC where I have been working for 2 years. Charlottesville is a small town with lots of things to do and it has such a wonderful community that makes it very appealing for young people like myself to make it our home.
3. What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
Once, I heard that we are here to serve others, we all do, in one way or another. I never thought my career would be in the nonprofit area but it is definitely a great fit! I truly enjoy serving the entrepreneur community of Charlottesville and I hope to be able to help more my Latino community.
2. How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within our community?
This is a difficult question to answer, it is difficult to define one’s self because we are all in constant change and trying to be a better version of ourselves, but I can say that I am a young professional who is trying to make a little bit easier the path of those who I serve, this through support, friendship, compassion and a lot of perseverance.
3. What are some challenges you faced working here in Charlottesville? How were you able to overcome it?
One of the challenges I currently face working here in Charlottesville is that I am not very well connected with my own Latino community. I want to have the chance to better serve and integrate myself with my people. I have also had challenges connecting with Latino professionals with whom I can partner and together strengthen the opportunities we can give to our Latino families.
4. What are some life lessons you want to share with our community?
This is another difficult question since I am really terrible at answering this type of questions but one thing I can say I do and would like for others to also is it: keep pushing, perseverance and hard work are key to achieving what you want and take you where you want to be.
Elizabeth Valtierra
I am Carolina Medina; I grew up in Estado de Mexico which is the suburbs part of Mexico City. I lived in Estado de Mexico for 15 years before moving to Fredericksburg, Virginia. My mom, brother and I settled in Fredericksburg because my dad had been working there for quite some years. After living in Fredericksburg for many years I decided to move to Charlottesville because there were more employment opportunities. Currently, I work as the Operations Coordinator for the non-profit organization Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), where we empower small businesses for big change.
1. What was your life like growing up in Mexico City, Mexico?
Growing up in Mexico was one of the best things that has happened to me. I absolutely love my childhood memories. They are all amazing! My childhood is one of those moments that if I could travel back in time, I'd definitely choose to experience again those moments growing up in Mexico because they were full of adventurous and creative moments along my five cousins who were of similar age. Our child games were creative, unique, innocent and lots of fun!
2. What brought you to Charlottesville? Or what was your journey to Charlottesville like?
After I graduate from University of Lynchburg I moved back to Fredericksburg to live with my parents but it was difficult to find employment in that area. Then through a friend I found a position as an insurance representative here in Charlottesville and that was the main reason why I moved to the area. I worked in this position for about four months and then I moved to the non-profit sector with CIC where I have been working for 2 years. Charlottesville is a small town with lots of things to do and it has such a wonderful community that makes it very appealing for young people like myself to make it our home.
3. What sparked your inspiration or motivation in pursuing your current career? Has it always been the same goal? If not, what was the journey like?
Once, I heard that we are here to serve others, we all do, in one way or another. I never thought my career would be in the nonprofit area but it is definitely a great fit! I truly enjoy serving the entrepreneur community of Charlottesville and I hope to be able to help more my Latino community.
2. How would you currently define yourself and the role you play within our community?
This is a difficult question to answer, it is difficult to define one’s self because we are all in constant change and trying to be a better version of ourselves, but I can say that I am a young professional who is trying to make a little bit easier the path of those who I serve, this through support, friendship, compassion and a lot of perseverance.
3. What are some challenges you faced working here in Charlottesville? How were you able to overcome it?
One of the challenges I currently face working here in Charlottesville is that I am not very well connected with my own Latino community. I want to have the chance to better serve and integrate myself with my people. I have also had challenges connecting with Latino professionals with whom I can partner and together strengthen the opportunities we can give to our Latino families.
4. What are some life lessons you want to share with our community?
This is another difficult question since I am really terrible at answering this type of questions but one thing I can say I do and would like for others to also is it: keep pushing, perseverance and hard work are key to achieving what you want and take you where you want to be.
Elizabeth Valtierra
Ingrid Ramos - December 2019
For this month’s Latinx Spotlight, I was able to interview Ingrid Ramos, director of Bienestar & Resilience programs in The Women's Initiative. She’s also one of our board members for Creciendo Juntos.
Her work in the community has been focused on moving our Latinx communities forward in healing and raising awareness for mental health resources within Charlottesville. For many years, her resilience and passion in working with understanding trauma and healing has made her a trusted and loved individual
I was able to sit down with her at her office just before the holiday week.
Ingrid received her bachelor’s degree from the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in Dominican Republic. She later on went to her master’s degree in Liberty University.
This brought me to ask her what brought her to Charlottesville? All the way from Dominican Republic?
“Let’s start with how I [arrived] to United States. When I was in my country back then, I was an account first.” She began. “After having some work experiences… I realized that I wanted to shift career so that I could be someone that helps people more directly” She emphasizes that she believes that we can help people from any [backgrounds] regardless of what’s their passion or who they love.
“However, at that time, I was trying to figure out what resonated with me, my passion, and staying true to myself…” She explains that this led her into pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology later on. “By the time that I [completed] my bachelor’s psychology, my husband received an opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in guitar performance as well as an assistantship program in Shenandoah University.”
This has opened up many doors as well for Ingrid. Soon, Ingrid found herself in the area of Winchester, Virginia. This prompted her into seeking for an online program that will allow her to continue pursuing her master’s while still being able to travel to the university whenever needed. She found Liberty University to be her best option.
After I heard that she had to navigate through these education systems in different countries, I asked her what was the experience like for her.
I made a comment about how difficult and intimidating it seems and she agreed immediately. “At the beginning… It sounded like I had a clear path, but I had headaches.” She laughed. “I had to figure out where can I go, where can I study, the legal requirements… It just depends on how you arrive [in the United States] that will affect where you can work or where you can study.”
She brings up how her working experiences as an accountant, as earlier mentioned, provided the requirement of speaking English in business environments. This was able to help her navigate easier than most individuals that arrives in the States with little to no English proficiency. “However, it’s very different to speak English that was meant for business on a daily basis.” She explains that her English skills were limited to being short and sweet, such as asking for what you need directly and being courteous. “I knew enough English to manage myself, but I had to write a lot of papers. That was a str
Her work in the community has been focused on moving our Latinx communities forward in healing and raising awareness for mental health resources within Charlottesville. For many years, her resilience and passion in working with understanding trauma and healing has made her a trusted and loved individual
I was able to sit down with her at her office just before the holiday week.
Ingrid received her bachelor’s degree from the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in Dominican Republic. She later on went to her master’s degree in Liberty University.
This brought me to ask her what brought her to Charlottesville? All the way from Dominican Republic?
“Let’s start with how I [arrived] to United States. When I was in my country back then, I was an account first.” She began. “After having some work experiences… I realized that I wanted to shift career so that I could be someone that helps people more directly” She emphasizes that she believes that we can help people from any [backgrounds] regardless of what’s their passion or who they love.
“However, at that time, I was trying to figure out what resonated with me, my passion, and staying true to myself…” She explains that this led her into pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology later on. “By the time that I [completed] my bachelor’s psychology, my husband received an opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in guitar performance as well as an assistantship program in Shenandoah University.”
This has opened up many doors as well for Ingrid. Soon, Ingrid found herself in the area of Winchester, Virginia. This prompted her into seeking for an online program that will allow her to continue pursuing her master’s while still being able to travel to the university whenever needed. She found Liberty University to be her best option.
After I heard that she had to navigate through these education systems in different countries, I asked her what was the experience like for her.
I made a comment about how difficult and intimidating it seems and she agreed immediately. “At the beginning… It sounded like I had a clear path, but I had headaches.” She laughed. “I had to figure out where can I go, where can I study, the legal requirements… It just depends on how you arrive [in the United States] that will affect where you can work or where you can study.”
She brings up how her working experiences as an accountant, as earlier mentioned, provided the requirement of speaking English in business environments. This was able to help her navigate easier than most individuals that arrives in the States with little to no English proficiency. “However, it’s very different to speak English that was meant for business on a daily basis.” She explains that her English skills were limited to being short and sweet, such as asking for what you need directly and being courteous. “I knew enough English to manage myself, but I had to write a lot of papers. That was a str
Sara Luna - November 2019
Our newest program, Social Justice through Creative Practice, came to an end in October. As many know, this program was created and organized to bring guest speakers from different creative fields to spark inspiration into youths of Charlottesville into taking initiative of practicing social justice in non-traditional methods. After a couple months, we were able to complete the first chapter of this program.
I was able to sit down with one of the students who attended to all the artist talks, poetry readings, and the workshop.
Sara Luna, a senior from Monticello High School and club leader of Latinx Unidos, took it upon her to spread the news of each artist’s visit through her networks and friends. Her presence beamed in each event she attended. She also bought poetry collections and books and participated in the discussions of each artist’s visit.
I started the conversation by asking Sara to going into her point of view of her journey of this program, as a young Latina living in Charlottesville.
Sara took a moment to reflect. “As a Latinx youth of Charlottesville, it feels really good to [experience] a speaker or an activity geared toward us. I’ve never been a part of something like that. So, it felt refreshing to automatically feel a sense of belonging that is connected to my culture.” She also feels that this sense of belonging is shared by her peers and friends that attend to the local high schools. “We just felt welcome, by language and culture.”
I asked her if she had known any of these guest speakers prior to their arrival.
“I didn’t know much about these artists originally,” She began, “but through this program, I was exposed to some of the most amazing people I know. For example, I had to look into José Olivarez when I first heard of him…. When I got a chance to see some of his poems being performed live, he just had a way with his words that his spoke to me and my Latinx culture.”
I wonder out loud to her if she had one poem in mind that she remembers the most.
“Oh yeah, the vaporub one.” She laughs. ‘Vaporub’ is Vicks Vapor Rub that is known to be used as the “cure” for anything within aunties and grandmothers of Latinx communities. “It was good and almost funny to hear that kind of talk being presented under the spotlight.”
I asked her if there was any artist guests in particular that resonated to her.
“With Javier Zamora, I was able to reflect a lot. I arrived to the States with residency. Through his experiences and words [in seeking asylum, refugees, arriving without legal status], I was able to recognize that there is a bigger portion of the Latinx community around me that shares his experiences. It put me in a sense of realization where I acknowledged my privileges.” She said.
With this in mind, I wondered if she felt any sparks of practicing social justice or taking initiative into becoming involved with activism.
“I’m starting to learn more about social justice issues that are happening around me.” She started, “I used to not be aware of it, but I’m glad that I’m being exposed to it because it makes me speak up more around my peers. Sometimes, I would start more conversations about other issues too!”
I was able to sit down with one of the students who attended to all the artist talks, poetry readings, and the workshop.
Sara Luna, a senior from Monticello High School and club leader of Latinx Unidos, took it upon her to spread the news of each artist’s visit through her networks and friends. Her presence beamed in each event she attended. She also bought poetry collections and books and participated in the discussions of each artist’s visit.
I started the conversation by asking Sara to going into her point of view of her journey of this program, as a young Latina living in Charlottesville.
Sara took a moment to reflect. “As a Latinx youth of Charlottesville, it feels really good to [experience] a speaker or an activity geared toward us. I’ve never been a part of something like that. So, it felt refreshing to automatically feel a sense of belonging that is connected to my culture.” She also feels that this sense of belonging is shared by her peers and friends that attend to the local high schools. “We just felt welcome, by language and culture.”
I asked her if she had known any of these guest speakers prior to their arrival.
“I didn’t know much about these artists originally,” She began, “but through this program, I was exposed to some of the most amazing people I know. For example, I had to look into José Olivarez when I first heard of him…. When I got a chance to see some of his poems being performed live, he just had a way with his words that his spoke to me and my Latinx culture.”
I wonder out loud to her if she had one poem in mind that she remembers the most.
“Oh yeah, the vaporub one.” She laughs. ‘Vaporub’ is Vicks Vapor Rub that is known to be used as the “cure” for anything within aunties and grandmothers of Latinx communities. “It was good and almost funny to hear that kind of talk being presented under the spotlight.”
I asked her if there was any artist guests in particular that resonated to her.
“With Javier Zamora, I was able to reflect a lot. I arrived to the States with residency. Through his experiences and words [in seeking asylum, refugees, arriving without legal status], I was able to recognize that there is a bigger portion of the Latinx community around me that shares his experiences. It put me in a sense of realization where I acknowledged my privileges.” She said.
With this in mind, I wondered if she felt any sparks of practicing social justice or taking initiative into becoming involved with activism.
“I’m starting to learn more about social justice issues that are happening around me.” She started, “I used to not be aware of it, but I’m glad that I’m being exposed to it because it makes me speak up more around my peers. Sometimes, I would start more conversations about other issues too!”
José Olivarez - October 2019
Recently, Creciendo Juntos has recently brought to life a program titled Social Justice Through Creative Practice. Karina A. Monroy, the person behind this program, reasoned that “from poets to podcasters, our goal for these guest speakers is to provide inspiration and motivation to the Latinx community to begin their own creative initiatives for social change.”
Our first guest was José Olivarez, a Mexican-American author, poet and educator based in Chicago. His most recent and well-known book is his collection of poetry “Citizen Illegal” that focuses on his experiences of identity of being a Mexican American son of immigrants and the overlapping identities that he explores over time in his writings. His writing also shares the hardships Latinx communities faces living in today’s times in America.
On the day of Olivarez’s first event, it was expected to be raining for the majority of the day. However, that didn’t discourage the upward of 50 people who piled into the small gallery of the Bridge Progressive Art Institute (PAI) to hear his readings.
At the beginning of the artist talk, Olivarez was also surprised by the presence of his family members, who had driven in from Richmond to see his live show. This perked up his energy but also made him nervous. In the end, he appreciated it more than ever.
The following day, Olivarez had a 3-hour long workshop with the youth of Charlottesville that featured several poems from different poets such as Marhwa Helal, Morgan Parker, and many non-traditional poets that have ventured away from the traditional academia style of poetry. Another interesting note to the workshop was the inclusion of Latinx music to provide influence or guidance in our brainstorming sessions.
Originally, I had wanted to sit down with José Olivarez to interview in person. However, with a tight schedule for both parties, it didn’t happen. Fortunately, we were able to schedule a phone call and have a conversation inspired by the artists talk and the workshop.
I started the interview by asking him about his experiences in Charlottesville and if there was anything that had stood out to him in particular.
Olivarez immediately jumped into answering, “There's two things. First, [in the] the writing workshop, I got to hear some of the stories that people have experienced in the city. [I was also able] to see the enthusiasm that people have for an open mic... I think there's a real hunger that people have in Charlottesville for poetry and for more sharing in community dialogue.” He continued, “The other thing that blew me away that was really special was my family coming to my reading. I wasn’t expecting that, so getting to see my family was really neat for me.”
Following his comments on the workshop, I was curious about what his goals were for the workshops and if he was satisfied with the outcome of it.
Olivarez wanted to introduce new exercises and voices into this workshop to encourage students and writers to explore outside their comfort zones. “Sometimes, as writers, we can get stuck in the same patterns, so I wanted to break those patterns a little bit... Poetry doesn’t have to sound one way. It can sound in a number of voices.”
As mentioned earlier, Olivarez brought non-traditional poems into the workshop. They were poems from Black people, Brown people, and immigrants. I also want to point out that the entire audience of the workshop were students of color from the Charlottesville community. As we were reading poems from poets as Eboni Hogan (Cardi B Tells Me About Myself) or Li-Young Lee (Immigrant Blues), the students were more inclined to share their stories and found more relatable content that they were able to discuss or perceive more depth into. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was intentional. I asked Olivarez for his reasoning in bringing in these poems for the workshop.
Olivarez simply said that he happens to really love and enjoy those poems deeply. “They have different voices, and they use different languages… The way we talk every day is already poetry.” He emphasized that it’s important to introduce new ways of languages into writing.
I brought up how the participants of the workshops continue to use the same practices and exercises after Olivarez’s visit. This reminded me of how he used music from different backgrounds in the space during the workshop. I proceeded to ask why he incorporated music into the brainstorming process.
Olivarez explains that music is another example of different pattern in writing. “I think sometimes, we can associate poetry with one particular style of writing. Bringing music helps break down those patterns.”
Bringing it back to the first event, his artist talk, we discussed the commentary among the group, after his readings. I asked him if there was anything he heard that made him reflect.
“Getting questions about translating the poems into Spanish…” Olivarez began. “That is something I had been wanting to do, so hearing that again, and having my family there, was a reminder that I want to work on that.”
This prompted me to ask him if he had a translator in the works or planned on getting one anytime soon.
It turns out that there’s already a translator, David Ruano, in Mexico that has been translating some of his poems selectively. “But,” Olivarez continues. “There’s no book contract that has him translating my whole book. But that’s something we can look at in the future.”
This made me wonder if he was nervous or scared that the translation could change the meaning or vibe of the poems. I asked him about this.
Olivarez quickly started that it wouldn’t scare him that the meaning or the atmosphere of the poems could change with the translation.“The poem changes every time someone reads it.” He explains. “Every time someone reads it, it’s different than the way I wrote it…. The poems seems to have [their] own lives that people can interpret it or hear it the way they need to hear it.” He went further, explaining what he’s more concerned with, “It’s figuring out the logistics, in the sense of figuring out the financial aspect or contract details that I’m more focused on.”
After his artist talk, some of the participants were inspired and wanted to have lunch with Olivarez. We invited him out to get some local pizza at a restaurant on The Corner, and several students ended up coming. I asked him for his thoughts on our community and the spaces we had set up, now that he had had some time with the group.
“It was cool to see that people were asking if anyone needed any help in splitting or paying for the pizza…” Olivarez started. “To see the community that you all have as student, taking care of each other.” He emphasized that in certain academic spaces that are predominantly white, it’s very important for a community like that to exist.
The person who sparked this spontaneous outing unfortunately was unable to make it to the event, but this reminded me of a question he asked after the artist talk that I wanted to bring up again. The question was ‘were there any concepts (or ideas) from your writing that brought up difficult conversations with your family or parents? How did you have these conversations with your family?’.
“It’s a process.” Olivarez began, “Relationships are always developing and changing. In a different point of my life, I felt that those conversations were very difficult to have.” He went on, “But the more we continue to have these conversations, sometimes it can get easier and sometimes it can still be hard… When you have parents that make an effort [to be involved in these conversations], it’s important to keep trying...”
He made sure to stress that it’s okay to take breaks in these types of discussions, “Sometimes, if you are tired of having the same conversation about certain topics, it’s okay to disengage.” He emphasizes, “You don’t always have to keep fighting.”
On that note, I asked if he ever had doubts in his writing and if he ever overcame them. Olivarez immediately said he has doubts to this day.
Even in recent experiences, he would question his title or his achievements. “What I’ve learned is that I’m not the only one. Part of what it means to be human is, even if you accomplish things, it doesn’t always reflect in our own mind state. In terms of how I overcome it… Overcoming it is hard because it makes it sound like you can finish a process, but to me everyday it’s on a spectrum.”
As we go into discussing his writing processes, I know that a lot of poems he has written have strong and subtle themes of living in-between identities. I wonder if he had any advice for the youth that are struggling in finding comfort within their identities.
“Identity is a lot.” Olivarez empathized strongly. “It’s more complex than we usually think about. I call myself a Latinx person or Chicano. But those terms are a wide umbrella and they could also erase some differences that are important…. In all of those experiences, we have to continue to illuminate one another, because even though we belong to similar group dynamics, we also have things that are very different from each other. We should celebrate those differences the way we celebrate the similarities.”
This encouraged me to ask him if any of his identities have changed since he began writing.
“I think that writing has allowed me to fully embrace all of my identities.” Olivarez admits. “I don’t have to pick and choose my identities. It helps me to express those identities a little bit more loudly and coherently.”
After a rather long conversation, I asked if he had any final words or advice he wanted to put out for youths of colors.
Olivarez began saying that this question is a hard one. More often than not, he tries to stay away from this idea that he naturally has tons of advice. “I’m just like anyone else… I’m trying my best. Sometimes I can find answers that feel good and sometimes those answers change.” He states. “But, I think what I would want to say is that you are loved, you are not alone, and if you feel isolated- there are many of us in the United States and this country belongs to us as much as it belongs to anybody.”
Written by Elizabeth Valtierra
Edited by Tiana Sigala
Our first guest was José Olivarez, a Mexican-American author, poet and educator based in Chicago. His most recent and well-known book is his collection of poetry “Citizen Illegal” that focuses on his experiences of identity of being a Mexican American son of immigrants and the overlapping identities that he explores over time in his writings. His writing also shares the hardships Latinx communities faces living in today’s times in America.
On the day of Olivarez’s first event, it was expected to be raining for the majority of the day. However, that didn’t discourage the upward of 50 people who piled into the small gallery of the Bridge Progressive Art Institute (PAI) to hear his readings.
At the beginning of the artist talk, Olivarez was also surprised by the presence of his family members, who had driven in from Richmond to see his live show. This perked up his energy but also made him nervous. In the end, he appreciated it more than ever.
The following day, Olivarez had a 3-hour long workshop with the youth of Charlottesville that featured several poems from different poets such as Marhwa Helal, Morgan Parker, and many non-traditional poets that have ventured away from the traditional academia style of poetry. Another interesting note to the workshop was the inclusion of Latinx music to provide influence or guidance in our brainstorming sessions.
Originally, I had wanted to sit down with José Olivarez to interview in person. However, with a tight schedule for both parties, it didn’t happen. Fortunately, we were able to schedule a phone call and have a conversation inspired by the artists talk and the workshop.
I started the interview by asking him about his experiences in Charlottesville and if there was anything that had stood out to him in particular.
Olivarez immediately jumped into answering, “There's two things. First, [in the] the writing workshop, I got to hear some of the stories that people have experienced in the city. [I was also able] to see the enthusiasm that people have for an open mic... I think there's a real hunger that people have in Charlottesville for poetry and for more sharing in community dialogue.” He continued, “The other thing that blew me away that was really special was my family coming to my reading. I wasn’t expecting that, so getting to see my family was really neat for me.”
Following his comments on the workshop, I was curious about what his goals were for the workshops and if he was satisfied with the outcome of it.
Olivarez wanted to introduce new exercises and voices into this workshop to encourage students and writers to explore outside their comfort zones. “Sometimes, as writers, we can get stuck in the same patterns, so I wanted to break those patterns a little bit... Poetry doesn’t have to sound one way. It can sound in a number of voices.”
As mentioned earlier, Olivarez brought non-traditional poems into the workshop. They were poems from Black people, Brown people, and immigrants. I also want to point out that the entire audience of the workshop were students of color from the Charlottesville community. As we were reading poems from poets as Eboni Hogan (Cardi B Tells Me About Myself) or Li-Young Lee (Immigrant Blues), the students were more inclined to share their stories and found more relatable content that they were able to discuss or perceive more depth into. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was intentional. I asked Olivarez for his reasoning in bringing in these poems for the workshop.
Olivarez simply said that he happens to really love and enjoy those poems deeply. “They have different voices, and they use different languages… The way we talk every day is already poetry.” He emphasized that it’s important to introduce new ways of languages into writing.
I brought up how the participants of the workshops continue to use the same practices and exercises after Olivarez’s visit. This reminded me of how he used music from different backgrounds in the space during the workshop. I proceeded to ask why he incorporated music into the brainstorming process.
Olivarez explains that music is another example of different pattern in writing. “I think sometimes, we can associate poetry with one particular style of writing. Bringing music helps break down those patterns.”
Bringing it back to the first event, his artist talk, we discussed the commentary among the group, after his readings. I asked him if there was anything he heard that made him reflect.
“Getting questions about translating the poems into Spanish…” Olivarez began. “That is something I had been wanting to do, so hearing that again, and having my family there, was a reminder that I want to work on that.”
This prompted me to ask him if he had a translator in the works or planned on getting one anytime soon.
It turns out that there’s already a translator, David Ruano, in Mexico that has been translating some of his poems selectively. “But,” Olivarez continues. “There’s no book contract that has him translating my whole book. But that’s something we can look at in the future.”
This made me wonder if he was nervous or scared that the translation could change the meaning or vibe of the poems. I asked him about this.
Olivarez quickly started that it wouldn’t scare him that the meaning or the atmosphere of the poems could change with the translation.“The poem changes every time someone reads it.” He explains. “Every time someone reads it, it’s different than the way I wrote it…. The poems seems to have [their] own lives that people can interpret it or hear it the way they need to hear it.” He went further, explaining what he’s more concerned with, “It’s figuring out the logistics, in the sense of figuring out the financial aspect or contract details that I’m more focused on.”
After his artist talk, some of the participants were inspired and wanted to have lunch with Olivarez. We invited him out to get some local pizza at a restaurant on The Corner, and several students ended up coming. I asked him for his thoughts on our community and the spaces we had set up, now that he had had some time with the group.
“It was cool to see that people were asking if anyone needed any help in splitting or paying for the pizza…” Olivarez started. “To see the community that you all have as student, taking care of each other.” He emphasized that in certain academic spaces that are predominantly white, it’s very important for a community like that to exist.
The person who sparked this spontaneous outing unfortunately was unable to make it to the event, but this reminded me of a question he asked after the artist talk that I wanted to bring up again. The question was ‘were there any concepts (or ideas) from your writing that brought up difficult conversations with your family or parents? How did you have these conversations with your family?’.
“It’s a process.” Olivarez began, “Relationships are always developing and changing. In a different point of my life, I felt that those conversations were very difficult to have.” He went on, “But the more we continue to have these conversations, sometimes it can get easier and sometimes it can still be hard… When you have parents that make an effort [to be involved in these conversations], it’s important to keep trying...”
He made sure to stress that it’s okay to take breaks in these types of discussions, “Sometimes, if you are tired of having the same conversation about certain topics, it’s okay to disengage.” He emphasizes, “You don’t always have to keep fighting.”
On that note, I asked if he ever had doubts in his writing and if he ever overcame them. Olivarez immediately said he has doubts to this day.
Even in recent experiences, he would question his title or his achievements. “What I’ve learned is that I’m not the only one. Part of what it means to be human is, even if you accomplish things, it doesn’t always reflect in our own mind state. In terms of how I overcome it… Overcoming it is hard because it makes it sound like you can finish a process, but to me everyday it’s on a spectrum.”
As we go into discussing his writing processes, I know that a lot of poems he has written have strong and subtle themes of living in-between identities. I wonder if he had any advice for the youth that are struggling in finding comfort within their identities.
“Identity is a lot.” Olivarez empathized strongly. “It’s more complex than we usually think about. I call myself a Latinx person or Chicano. But those terms are a wide umbrella and they could also erase some differences that are important…. In all of those experiences, we have to continue to illuminate one another, because even though we belong to similar group dynamics, we also have things that are very different from each other. We should celebrate those differences the way we celebrate the similarities.”
This encouraged me to ask him if any of his identities have changed since he began writing.
“I think that writing has allowed me to fully embrace all of my identities.” Olivarez admits. “I don’t have to pick and choose my identities. It helps me to express those identities a little bit more loudly and coherently.”
After a rather long conversation, I asked if he had any final words or advice he wanted to put out for youths of colors.
Olivarez began saying that this question is a hard one. More often than not, he tries to stay away from this idea that he naturally has tons of advice. “I’m just like anyone else… I’m trying my best. Sometimes I can find answers that feel good and sometimes those answers change.” He states. “But, I think what I would want to say is that you are loved, you are not alone, and if you feel isolated- there are many of us in the United States and this country belongs to us as much as it belongs to anybody.”
Written by Elizabeth Valtierra
Edited by Tiana Sigala
The Latinx Summer Baile - August 2019
The Latinx Summer Baile
Organizing a “baile” (dance party in Spanish) to raise money for our Latinx Student Art Scholarship was no joke. It had many errors, trials, and long nights, but most definitely worth it. The idea came to mind when I was brainstorming about what were some main thing that could bring Latinx members together.
Of course, a baile was one of the first things that came to mind because in my eyes dancing is a big part of my culture, something I’m always trying to show off because I'm really proud of it. As a Mexican, I grew up in the culture where dancing was the best way to celebrate a positive news. This influenced me to see dancing as unity and celebration rather than a sport. Not only that, in Latin cultures, we had several styles of dancing as well so there were several ways to bring our diverse cultures together.
I thought, why not? Thus, my decision to put the idea out there with some of the other members from the Latinx Leaders happened. So far, everyone saw it as a great idea and also as a way to raise money for a scholarship. The scholarship was proposed by another member who was struggling to find methods to fund it. It was suggested that we could combine our ideas together, therefore, the reason for the baile became more impactful. The scholarship is for Latinx students who are artists as well. As a person with artistic friends, this aligned with my mission goal in creating this baile even more.
We started working on it as soon as we could. It took a lot of pushing ourselves and disciplining our schedules as well to make it happen. It was overwhelming due to the fact we didn’t have that much time since we were preoccupied with many other projects and personal life until the last week of June. Once we were able to find the time, we sat down with some friends we sat down and planned the whole thing. It wasn’t overnight. It was multiple days and several distractions. We could have definitely done better in not being distracted, I think.
When the planning was over we went straight into action. What did that look like? It was a ton of asking for acting for donations, finding sponsors, getting volunteers, buying supplies, finding a location, all of that within a couple of months. That was overwhelming as it is. The location was a blessing as it was recommended by Karina, our coordinator of CJ, to ask The Art Bridge PAI in letting us use the building. They were amazing and donated their building and time.
Our next goal was to find DJs and figuring out the music. As I explained earlier, growing up as a Mexicana, my exposure to music has always been Latin-influenced. But that meant so many genres, the discussion was how to balance them all. I wanted to be inclusive with different genres as each is popular in different countries. After some discussion with the core team members, we were able to discuss with our DJs the music we wanted. The DJs were amazing and connected to us by volunteer members and asking around within our networks.
Before all of this, we were also struggling in finding a restaurant or taco truck but unfortunately, we were not as lucky as we were with DJs and location. We have contacted several taco trucks and each of them promised a call back or a meeting, but as it was delayed over time, we were becoming more stressed out. Personally, I was being pushed back or dismissed after several attempts of meeting or calling, until Super Almanacer provided us pupusas and ingredients to make dishes. However, as it was so last minute, we had to do the food on the day of the baile, which was made possible with our many friends and volunteers.
When the date finally came, it was intimidating. I did not sleep well and even had to do last minute shopping as my mind was still thinking of ways to make the event pop. A dance for the community to remember. It was the day to show the community what we have been planning for the last two months. In this moment I felt a little anxious what if no one showed? Or what if we didn’t have enough food? There was a ton of What Ifs going through my head and I was ready to snap. So, when I looked over and saw everyone else that was helping me I felt a sense of relief knowing I wasn't alone.
Overall, on the morning of the event, the volunteers and myself had to wake up early in the morning to get straight to cooking baleadas, taquitos, and tamales. It was a hot mess for sure. We also had to make sure we arrived to set up. Setting up in under two hours was not fun but we managed to do it and I was relieved that my friends and volunteers were able to help me through this. As soon as 6:30pm hit, I was anxious to see who were going to come but people started to show up and I felt as if I could breathe again. Before I knew it, I was dancing and having fun with everyone.
Everything was falling into place and people were having a good time. This is what reminds me of my culture, the dancing and the community coming together. I know people were asking questions about the food, asking questions about the scholarship, and even the meaning behind the word “latinx” which gave me hope that people are here to listen and we are here to grow together. It was a success even if we didn’t make it to our goal of making $400. At the end of the day, I got to see several people have fun and come together and as a result, I felt that we had pulled it off.
But through this experience, I learned that it’s really hard to plan an event in two months but that it’s not impossible. Although, next time in planning, I should definitely go into action several months ahead of time. But it’s a learning experience and as a first-timer in hosting a baile, I think I killed it. It’s really great to have people who believe in the unity and want to support you and that’s what I had. I learned that when the latinx communities come together we can be very powerful. I learned that sticking together is the most powerful tool of all and that we shouldn’t be afraid to use it.
Sofhia S. Pineda
Sergio Reyes
Junior Castro
Dulce Nova
Melanie Saravia
Veronica Espinosa
Alexandra Maldonado
Elizabeth Valtierra
Zach Davis
Pilar Valtierra
Jacinto Gonzales
Salvador Gaona
James Doenburg
Written by Alexandra Maldonado
Edited by Elizabeth Valtierra
Organizing a “baile” (dance party in Spanish) to raise money for our Latinx Student Art Scholarship was no joke. It had many errors, trials, and long nights, but most definitely worth it. The idea came to mind when I was brainstorming about what were some main thing that could bring Latinx members together.
Of course, a baile was one of the first things that came to mind because in my eyes dancing is a big part of my culture, something I’m always trying to show off because I'm really proud of it. As a Mexican, I grew up in the culture where dancing was the best way to celebrate a positive news. This influenced me to see dancing as unity and celebration rather than a sport. Not only that, in Latin cultures, we had several styles of dancing as well so there were several ways to bring our diverse cultures together.
I thought, why not? Thus, my decision to put the idea out there with some of the other members from the Latinx Leaders happened. So far, everyone saw it as a great idea and also as a way to raise money for a scholarship. The scholarship was proposed by another member who was struggling to find methods to fund it. It was suggested that we could combine our ideas together, therefore, the reason for the baile became more impactful. The scholarship is for Latinx students who are artists as well. As a person with artistic friends, this aligned with my mission goal in creating this baile even more.
We started working on it as soon as we could. It took a lot of pushing ourselves and disciplining our schedules as well to make it happen. It was overwhelming due to the fact we didn’t have that much time since we were preoccupied with many other projects and personal life until the last week of June. Once we were able to find the time, we sat down with some friends we sat down and planned the whole thing. It wasn’t overnight. It was multiple days and several distractions. We could have definitely done better in not being distracted, I think.
When the planning was over we went straight into action. What did that look like? It was a ton of asking for acting for donations, finding sponsors, getting volunteers, buying supplies, finding a location, all of that within a couple of months. That was overwhelming as it is. The location was a blessing as it was recommended by Karina, our coordinator of CJ, to ask The Art Bridge PAI in letting us use the building. They were amazing and donated their building and time.
Our next goal was to find DJs and figuring out the music. As I explained earlier, growing up as a Mexicana, my exposure to music has always been Latin-influenced. But that meant so many genres, the discussion was how to balance them all. I wanted to be inclusive with different genres as each is popular in different countries. After some discussion with the core team members, we were able to discuss with our DJs the music we wanted. The DJs were amazing and connected to us by volunteer members and asking around within our networks.
Before all of this, we were also struggling in finding a restaurant or taco truck but unfortunately, we were not as lucky as we were with DJs and location. We have contacted several taco trucks and each of them promised a call back or a meeting, but as it was delayed over time, we were becoming more stressed out. Personally, I was being pushed back or dismissed after several attempts of meeting or calling, until Super Almanacer provided us pupusas and ingredients to make dishes. However, as it was so last minute, we had to do the food on the day of the baile, which was made possible with our many friends and volunteers.
When the date finally came, it was intimidating. I did not sleep well and even had to do last minute shopping as my mind was still thinking of ways to make the event pop. A dance for the community to remember. It was the day to show the community what we have been planning for the last two months. In this moment I felt a little anxious what if no one showed? Or what if we didn’t have enough food? There was a ton of What Ifs going through my head and I was ready to snap. So, when I looked over and saw everyone else that was helping me I felt a sense of relief knowing I wasn't alone.
Overall, on the morning of the event, the volunteers and myself had to wake up early in the morning to get straight to cooking baleadas, taquitos, and tamales. It was a hot mess for sure. We also had to make sure we arrived to set up. Setting up in under two hours was not fun but we managed to do it and I was relieved that my friends and volunteers were able to help me through this. As soon as 6:30pm hit, I was anxious to see who were going to come but people started to show up and I felt as if I could breathe again. Before I knew it, I was dancing and having fun with everyone.
Everything was falling into place and people were having a good time. This is what reminds me of my culture, the dancing and the community coming together. I know people were asking questions about the food, asking questions about the scholarship, and even the meaning behind the word “latinx” which gave me hope that people are here to listen and we are here to grow together. It was a success even if we didn’t make it to our goal of making $400. At the end of the day, I got to see several people have fun and come together and as a result, I felt that we had pulled it off.
But through this experience, I learned that it’s really hard to plan an event in two months but that it’s not impossible. Although, next time in planning, I should definitely go into action several months ahead of time. But it’s a learning experience and as a first-timer in hosting a baile, I think I killed it. It’s really great to have people who believe in the unity and want to support you and that’s what I had. I learned that when the latinx communities come together we can be very powerful. I learned that sticking together is the most powerful tool of all and that we shouldn’t be afraid to use it.
Sofhia S. Pineda
Sergio Reyes
Junior Castro
Dulce Nova
Melanie Saravia
Veronica Espinosa
Alexandra Maldonado
Elizabeth Valtierra
Zach Davis
Pilar Valtierra
Jacinto Gonzales
Salvador Gaona
James Doenburg
Written by Alexandra Maldonado
Edited by Elizabeth Valtierra
Veronica Espinosa - July 2019
Could you tell us your name, age, what do you work in, where you are from?
My name is Veronica Espinosa and I am 33 years old, I am currently working as a cook in a restaurant and was born and raised in Mexico.
Could you tell us how you got here in Virginia? In Charlottesville?
I arrived to the United States in 2007 with my daughter who was four years old at the time. The reason we came was to reunite with some family members, but things didn’t go as I expected. So I went my way and decided to stay here to give myself and daughter a better life.
How has being in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
My experience here in Charlottesville has not been easy, as a Latina, I’ve faced a lot of changes and challenges living here. For example, learning a new language and getting used to a whole different culture. I’ve had to learn on how to be able to give sound and recognition to my own culture and voice.
My greatest desire, rather than interest, is that we are more and more united as a community, especially in these moments where we live in very difficult times.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
My greatest desire, rather than interest, is that we are more and more united as a community, especially in these moments where we live in very difficult times.
We know you’re an active volunteer member of Creciendo Juntos, could you tell us the experience of being with Creciendo Juntos?
My experience in Creciendo Juntos has been good since I have found a space where there are people who have the same interests that I do. A united, informed, compassionate, and educated community with more opportunities, respect, and courage.
What has helped you move forward and been a support on your path in being a community leader?
My number one passion is to help others and secondly, the desire to learn every day to be a better person for myself, my family, and my community. So, I have tried to take all the opportunities that have been presented to me such as being an active volunteer member for the community.
As you immerse yourself more in action and activism, what needs do you see in the community?
The needs are many and they are very clear. They range from better conditions of access to health, housing, and education. Even more awareness of the importance of factors as determinant for personality as emotional well-being or the recognition of our human rights and obligations as individuals.
How has being a parent made an impact in your community works?
As a mother, I feel worried about the future of this society where my daughter and future generations will continue to live. As a result, I feel a responsibility to do my bit to contribute in some way to leave a good legacy to future generations.
You’ve expressed strong interests in advocating for mental health resources being accessible for latinx community, could you explain why is that?
For me, it is one of the biggest pillars of change and the growth of community well-being. As we understand our emotions, we learn to accept them. We learn to manage them and channel them properly and then we will grow as a person. Over time, we become more compassionate and empathetic with ourselves and with those around us whether our own family and/or with society in general. Since majority of our Latinx community come from countries where the access of knowledge in mental health is almost non-existent, there has been more increases of depression and anxiety in children, youth, and adults. Also, the cases of bullying in schools and social networks and even at work in the case of adults. So, as a community, we should be more informed and aware of the help resources available to deal with this situation is that more and more frequently they are becoming present in our families and surroundings
As you are a strong community member, what are ways you feel we can learn to mobilize and advocate for the Latinx community?
I think the most effective way is unity, respect and education among ourselves as a community
Written by Elizabeth Valtierra
My name is Veronica Espinosa and I am 33 years old, I am currently working as a cook in a restaurant and was born and raised in Mexico.
Could you tell us how you got here in Virginia? In Charlottesville?
I arrived to the United States in 2007 with my daughter who was four years old at the time. The reason we came was to reunite with some family members, but things didn’t go as I expected. So I went my way and decided to stay here to give myself and daughter a better life.
How has being in Charlottesville shaped your experience as a Latinx individual?
My experience here in Charlottesville has not been easy, as a Latina, I’ve faced a lot of changes and challenges living here. For example, learning a new language and getting used to a whole different culture. I’ve had to learn on how to be able to give sound and recognition to my own culture and voice.
My greatest desire, rather than interest, is that we are more and more united as a community, especially in these moments where we live in very difficult times.
Could you tell us about your interests and passions both in working with the Latinx community of Charlottesville and anything else you enjoy doing?
My greatest desire, rather than interest, is that we are more and more united as a community, especially in these moments where we live in very difficult times.
We know you’re an active volunteer member of Creciendo Juntos, could you tell us the experience of being with Creciendo Juntos?
My experience in Creciendo Juntos has been good since I have found a space where there are people who have the same interests that I do. A united, informed, compassionate, and educated community with more opportunities, respect, and courage.
What has helped you move forward and been a support on your path in being a community leader?
My number one passion is to help others and secondly, the desire to learn every day to be a better person for myself, my family, and my community. So, I have tried to take all the opportunities that have been presented to me such as being an active volunteer member for the community.
As you immerse yourself more in action and activism, what needs do you see in the community?
The needs are many and they are very clear. They range from better conditions of access to health, housing, and education. Even more awareness of the importance of factors as determinant for personality as emotional well-being or the recognition of our human rights and obligations as individuals.
How has being a parent made an impact in your community works?
As a mother, I feel worried about the future of this society where my daughter and future generations will continue to live. As a result, I feel a responsibility to do my bit to contribute in some way to leave a good legacy to future generations.
You’ve expressed strong interests in advocating for mental health resources being accessible for latinx community, could you explain why is that?
For me, it is one of the biggest pillars of change and the growth of community well-being. As we understand our emotions, we learn to accept them. We learn to manage them and channel them properly and then we will grow as a person. Over time, we become more compassionate and empathetic with ourselves and with those around us whether our own family and/or with society in general. Since majority of our Latinx community come from countries where the access of knowledge in mental health is almost non-existent, there has been more increases of depression and anxiety in children, youth, and adults. Also, the cases of bullying in schools and social networks and even at work in the case of adults. So, as a community, we should be more informed and aware of the help resources available to deal with this situation is that more and more frequently they are becoming present in our families and surroundings
As you are a strong community member, what are ways you feel we can learn to mobilize and advocate for the Latinx community?
I think the most effective way is unity, respect and education among ourselves as a community
Written by Elizabeth Valtierra
Tiana Sigala - June 2019
Tiana Sigala is a 27 year old student who traveled from Phoenix, Arizona to Colorado to find the best fit for her academic career as a teen mom that dropped out in tenth grade. She is currently attending Piedmont Virginia Community College, and recently received an award (Kim Yoshiko Wright award for Sociology) for her academic accomplishments as well as being involved with the organization of Virginia Student Power Network.
Tiana is an independent woman who went through a lot growing up in Arizona. Coming from a background of abusive parents and a poor environment, she was forced to grow up around the age of 12, when she began raising her younger siblings. At the age of 15, Tiana had her own son to contend with, and due to challenges in the home, she was forced to leave high school in order to provide for her child. After a year of home-insecurity and moving from place to place, Tiana met her husband, and together they were able to secure a home and, eventually, better paying jobs, freeing Tiana up to focus on returning to academics.
When Tiana and her family moved to Colorado, she was mainly a stay-at-home mom, now taking care of two kids. It was during her time in Colorado that she felt the urge to return to school, which she had always seen as a way to better herself.
I asked her if she had any key passion that kept her motivation in attending school and she laughed, saying, “I’ve always wanted to become those lawyers you see on tv shows that made dramatic speeches. I’ve always felt an admiration for those people.”
So, when she was researching different colleges, she came upon the University of Virginia and saw the guaranteed admission program through Piedmont Virginia Community College. To Tiana, this was the only way she would gain admittance to a prestigious university having lived such a different life, with such an untraditional academic background. Charlottesville became her opportunity to overcome the hardships she faced in acquiring an education as a teen.
Tiana faced many issues at PVCC. She required developmental math classes in order to begin her required science credits, and her knowledge of basic skills often taken for granted (such as MLA citations or navigating the college’s learning management system, Blackboard Learning) was lacking entirely. She described her first couple of semesters as a “trial by fire”. “There’s definitely an expectation of knowledge there, like you should just know MLA or you should be familiar with online learning systems… you really have to become comfortable with admitting when you don’t know something and asking for help,” she said.
She also found that in college, self-advocacy had to be second nature in order to achieve success. Unfortunately, self-advocacy is not taught but rather expected knowledge. Tiana did not have the skills to advocate when she arrived at Piedmont Virginia Community College and would often struggle in communicating with several professors, something she credits to the way she was raised.
“I feel as though in latinx families advocating for yourself is a sign of arrogance or disrespect. We’re taught very strictly to be obedient, not to challenge rules or expect explanations from those above us,” she said, “But it seemed like the students around me who were doing well were students unafraid to ask questions, to ask for extensions, or to expect the professors due dates to fit around their situations.”
As a fellow Latina student that also struggles with self-advocacy, I asked her how she learned to advocate for herself.
“It was definitely self-taught,’ she said, laughing, “I learned through reading Latinx scholar’s experiences and books. It was really about believing in my right to take up space, my right to be considered. Through them I learned that my voice deserves to be heard, my needs should be considered. I wish that I had come across these authors before, because the trick was reading about the experiences of people like me.”
The discussion led to that fact that people of color often have to find books that correlates to their lives outside of the current academic studies. Tiana found comfort through authors such as Ana Castillo, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria E. Anzaldua, and eventually found her courage to speak up for herself.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Charlottesville inspired her to connect more intimately to her cultural identity as a Latina.
“Growing up in predominant-Latinx communities, identity is not a notable factor because it surrounds you-- latinx identity never felt too far from home,” she said. Arriving in Charlottesville was a stark change from the community she was accustomed to. “I think I felt inspired to stay connected with my Mexican identity because there was no one like me around. Everything I took for granted in Arizona was gone.”
Tiana arrived in Charlottesville in 2014 where the Latinx community was still relatively new. To her, Latinx communities residing in Charlottesville-Albemarle area had so little representation that it almost felt as if they were non-existent in the area.
But as she became more involved with the Latinx community overtime, she begins to appreciate many resources Charlottesville has to offer, such as Creciendo Juntos, Sin Barreras, and The Women’s Initiative.
Tiana’s familiarity with The Women’s Initiative came from her first experience with therapy, something she feels is too often stigmatized in latinx communities.
“It took me a while to get into therapy because in the Latinx community, it’s not a thing,” Tiana begins, “But now I know there’s a need in bringing awareness to Latinx community of mental health resources, there’s a generational of trauma that we never get the chance to address.”
As Tiana turns her sights to engaging with the community more, I asked her what she feels are some issues that need to be addressed in the Latinx communities.
She quickly makes the point that the Latinx community is not one-dimensional, therefore there’s always an issue to be addressed at every intersection of latinidad.
“When we talk about addressing the needs of youth (and) community, we need to focus on everything such as equitable accessibility in our education system, teaching self-advocacy, resources for food insecurity, housing insecurity, legal aid assistance, and so much more.”
In the end, Tiana states that the most efficient way to get things done is by getting the Latinx community together inclusively, and for allies to do a lot more listening.
I asked her to give a message to the Latinx youth, to which she responded with, “Education does not define you, navigating it is intimidating, but you’re not alone and you’ll succeed in the way you can, in a way that makes you happy.”
Written by Elizabeth Valtierra