WORDS OF PRESIDENT FR OM THE DES K O F LATI NA S O N TH E P LA Z A
I am kind of a history buff, so I remember when I rst learned about the Holocaust thinking how many of the German people hate the Jewish people so much that they would go along with a lunatic -Adolph Hitler's plans. Why wasn't there an uproar amongst the
Why didn't other countries respond to immediately stop the atrocities where 6 million Jews were killed: men, women and children. Those were country?
fl
fl
fi
fl
some of my questions in my teen years. And later while in graduate school at the University of Chicago, one Saturday morning, we were still asking ourselves how did Adolph Hitler accomplish demonizing and dehumanizing Jewish people? Sorry to say, no
greater answers came from the distinguished professors and my fellow classmates that day. Watching the storming of the capital on the television, it took me back to the days of horror of 9-11. But this time, the faces of the insurrectionist were Americans. T-shirts b r a n d i n g h at e f u l wo rd s, numerous ags represented hate groups and the ying of the many confederate ags even within the walls of the capital. There was army attire, spears, bear spray, and guns all signaling anarchy with hateful and distasteful words; and that echo in the halls of the capital calling for someone to die. Once again, my mind went back to Adolph Hitler, and I was wondering how so much hate and vitriol could cause an insurrection in the capital of the United States of America. We were already 10-months suffering a pandemic in which
fi
600,000 thousand lives have died, yet that did not cause an outrage of passion and anger. Having read a bit more, the insurrectionist stated they not only acted out of fear for their way of life but acted on the invitation of the sitting president. At least this time, I know why it happened and who spurred them on. And, then if that was not enough, for the sitting president to make his last public appearance at the border, claiming he built the wall, un nished of course, but he still took credit. Immigrants don't just come from Mexico, but he led the world to believe
that they did and that they were all murderers and exprisoners. Thus, the focus of this newsletter, we invite you to dinner with a Puerto Rican(me), a Mexican, a Columbian, and a Bi-racial Black and Puerto Rican via our stories. Yes, I am not an immigrant, my parents came from Puerto Rico, which was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898 as part of the treaty that ended the Spanish American
In 1917, Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Wa r.
Act giving Puerto Ricans automatic U.S. citizenship by birth. It became a commonwealth of the United States in 1952. But many did not know that when the Category 5 hurricane Mari knocked down the power grid for 3-6 months on the island. That meant, no water, no electricity, and massive road debris all over the island, and many homes with blue tarps as roofs. They did not understand why the United States needed to help Puerto Rico restore the power grid. In other words,
because only few k n e w t h a t U. S . citizens were Puerto Rican people, the island lived in darkness for at least 3 months. I was there the
night the lights turned on in
front of my mother's house in Puerto Rico, exactly three months long living with a generator. I had only been there a week, yet I was so exhilarated to see light again. I along with 5 of my siblings were born and raised in Chicago's southwest, now called the Little Village area, aka La Villita. I have my many stories of what it was like to grow up as the minority. Little Village was pretty much a white community with Latinos just beginning to move in in the early 70's, so my grammar schools was mostly white, so I was a minority. I was once again the minority when I a t t e n d e d Fa r r a g u t H i g h School, which was 98% black at the time. And, later in my banking career, I found myself in a white institution with most of the people of color in the back rooms, including me. So, although I was a United States citizen since birth, I was always
Unlike the immigrant stories I will share, we didn't walk around being afraid we were going to be deported, although the Feds did stop my brother one morning to try to deport him. But the story is the same when it came to how we felt. Being
fi
fi
fi
seen as the other means always being on guard, being followed in stores, having our back porch lit on re in the middle of the nights, having a big rock thrown at me and shifting behavior and speech to try to t it. So, if you wonder why race is such a big deal for us it's because every day, we lived with it. It's hard to just turn it off, and when we try, we are reminded as we all saw in our neighborhoods last year via the
fi
aware that people saw me as the other. I felt like the other.
Black Lives Matter protest that the hate continues. In this newsletter, I invite you to go to dinner with a Dominican, a Columbian, a Mexican, and a biracial black and Puerto Rican. They are my former students, now alumni of Latinas On The Plaza.
I believe that one of the ways to bridge the gap of diversity is to get to know the other. Inside each of us, you will nd red blood, and cells, and organs. Don't judge the outside just because of skin color or ethnicity if you rst have not gotten to know one another.
Join us for dinner.
Dinner with Gabriela Introduction
fl
Gabriela was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, with her younger brother Francisco. Her entire family worked in a family business, which was selling children's clothing. They were moderately successful until their country became a dangerous place to live. For those of you who only know about Bogota from the Net ix story Narcos, about drug pin Pablo Escobar, it is located in South America. The native population of Bogota is composed of two large groups: rotos (descendants of people who are not native to Bogota) and cachacos (children of bogotanos). Bogota has gone to great lengths to change its formerly notorious crime rate and its image with increasing
success after being considered in the 1990s to be one of the most violent cities in the world.
Please join me as we meet Gabriela for dinner:
My mother decided to travel to Chicago where some of her sisters lived in 1994; my father stayed behind in Colombia with me and my brother. Six months later, it was time for me to join my mother. I was 24 years old and in the middle of a psychology program in college, but I left leaving my father and brother behind.
“I left Colombia leaving my father and brother behind…. It was a dif
I believe that we can make this world a better Being in the United States place for all people. But to achieve that we need was a dif cult to be very intentional in connecting with people transition. who are not like us. We need to be deliberate to First off there forge relationships with enormous was the generosity. l a n g u a g e challenge. I had taken some English Latinos because they were a courses in Colombia, but I growing community in the h a d n ' t m a s t e r e d i t . country in the 90's yet few Additionally, I missed my knew how to understand and f a t h e r a n d m y b r o t h e r. engage this community. Nonetheless I was here and I thought to myself I bet there was no time for weeping. speaking Spanish must be It was time for me to nd valuable for someone. And so, courage and grit to make a I immediately started looking for a new job. I had a string of new life in the United States. positions that used my Spanish Soon enough, my mother and language. I also began to I found jobs in a factory, develop my sales skills, rst following the pathway of my working in a car dealership aunts. While working in the and then selling advertising for factory, I began to see a Latino newspaper. I even did tremendous opportunities for some telemarketing in Spanish.
fi
fi
fi
Yes, I faced discrimination many times, mostly due to my accent and broken English, but I decided to focus more on the opportunities I was given so I put aside those moments and chose to create more opportunities to succeed.
My vision for the future is to e x p a n d m y b u s i n e s s by opening other locations to have the opportunity to transfer the business or sell the business in 5 years. At the same time, I am opening a kitchen incubator (nonpro t) that can serve many entrepreneurs. My incubator w i l l h av e a n e d u c a t i o n component where we can help our customers to create the vision of their business and be with them along the way to help their business succeed.
In 2002, I got my rst job in the insurance eld where my Spanish was a true asset. I was astounded to learn that many Hispanics did not realize the value of life insurance for their family; this is truly a cultural aspect to see life as Si Dios Quiere(If God Permits) as not to worry about mitigating risk like providing for family after one's death. Soon after I was hired by a State Farm agency in Aurora, where I learned more about the insurance business, took classes and attended seminars. I now hold two important designations in the industry: the LUTCF ( Life Underwriter Training Council
Fe l l ow ) and the FSCP( Financial Services Certi ed Professional). In 2007, My brother and I opened an agency for Farmers Insurance. We grew very fast, in part because we concentrated our efforts on the growing Hispanic community.
fi
fi
fi
fi
I found out that by using my Spanish, I was able to do different things and I earned more money. My next opportunity was to help business owners relate to the Hispanic community, but I wasn't sure exactly how to do that, yet.
What are we having for dinner?
Ajiaco soup Bandeja Paisa-a platter that has: steak or ground beef, crunchy chicharron (pork crackling), chorizo sausage and served with rice and red beans, a fried egg, plantain, arepa, and fresh avocado.
Dinner with Jacqueline Introduction
fi
It is not unusual to label people strictly based on their skin color and hair. My father's skin tone is a deep brown, but his hair is jet black and smooth as silk. I used to think he looked like Martin Luther King Junior, one of my heroes. My mother's skin tone was what we call white with curly hair; her father looked just like Jacques Cousteau, the famous oceanographer. She was also born in Puerto Rico. So, when they started to take me and my siblings to Puerto Rico when I was in 6th grade, I completely felt like the other there. I only knew Spanglish since English was my rst language. In Puerto Rico, I
was referred to as the americana because of that. I think I saw myself as the other here in the United States when in 6th grade I was assigned to translate for another new 6th grader in my class who had just arrived from Puerto Rico and she knew no English. I was furious of course, who wants that job in 6th grade said Luz Canino-Baker. As I read Jacqueline Allen's story it conjured up these memories. I also was saddened by the racism her family experienced but knowing that Jacqueline is an EMDR Mental Health Therapist shows us that she is a powerful biracial woman who overcame adversity and now is helping those who experience trauma. Please join me as we meet Jacqueline for dinner.
Jacqueline’s Dinner “Growing
up there were several experiences of injury…”
I am the youngest of three sisters. I grew up in a mixed home. My father is African American, and my mother is Puerto Rican. We grew up in a predominately white neighborhood. When I was a kid, I had the chance to observe my mom go through counseling. Watching her journey made me want to become a mental health professional. I am currently an EMDR Mental Health Therapist at a group practice in Chicago.
fi
Growing up I felt confused when it came to my identity.
Being African American, Puerto Rican, and growing up in a white neighborhood was a combination that caused me to feel like I didn't belong to any group. I was often told I spoke white, wasn't Puerto Rican enough, and experienced various micro aggressions towards my blackness. I constantly live with what W.E.B Du Bois calls double consciousness (holding in mind my true identity and how white America views me). This was stressful.
“Being
black in America is stressful. Stressful/ painful experiences and traumatic experiences can imprint on us negative beliefs about ourselves. My heart is drawn to support black/brown people towards mental tness and living lives that they love”.
fi
I am trained in a specialty called EMDR(Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing). This is a type of therapy that assists the brain in processing trauma/stress. Because of systemic racism the solution cannot be purely clinical, there has to be a community change as well. Dr. Joy Degruy says it best when she mentions that we cannot help heal an individual to put them back into a community that injures them. My father was a police of cer for 27 years. He went to assist on a call and had to enter the home of a white individual. This individual told him that he wanted the other police (in reference to a white cop). In grammar school I was called the Nword. My husband is dark-skinned with locs. We went to a water park (predominately white) and a white family accused him of trying to steal from them.
When my family and I moved to the North Side of Chicago, into a predominately white neighborhood, a white family moved out because of our race. In my job search, I often worried how I would be received, would they not accept me as a black clinician. Additionally, at school I was often the only black women in the classroom; this was very lonely. But as the saying goes It takes a village,' for me that village was a group of my girlfriends. They are a variety of ethnicities. I appreciate my sisterhood of friends that truly pull me up and encourage me. They are such a safe place for me. My black girlfriends are so embracive and a huge part of my story. As a mother of a beautiful little 18-month-old girl, and a wife it has become increasingly important to
fi
It is really hard to hate someone when you have built a relationship with them.
understand my story as a biracial woman. I try to respond to racism based on my experience. I think we rst have to provide ourselves with space to understand our own perspective and if we have the energy, we can hold space (in meaningful relationships) to seek to understand the others perspective. Those in positions of power should be in a p o s i t i o n o f l e a r n i n g by stepping outside of their experiences with intention to build relationships with those who are not like them.
Ok, let's eat: Menu: Chili Pot Roast Mean Grilled Salmon
Dinner with Amell Feliz Introduction
I met Amell Feliz a few years ago when I was a coach for the Mujeres De HACE program, the very rst program I created for Latina women. So, it did not surprise me when I was recruiting students to test drive a new program for young Latinas who had high aspirations to be visible, valued and paid equitably, when Amell immediately applied. And, in the very rst class I knew that Amell was going to rise above all the other
I want to introduce you. to Amell Feliz, so take a seat at our virtual dinner table.
fi
fi
students in the room.
I was born in the Dominican Republic, one of Caribbean islands. They never see snow, but hurricanes are a threat. My mother had arrived in Chicago in 1996, she was following her brother who brought all her brothers and sisters to the United States legally. I stayed behind with my grandmother and aunts until she I was 7 years old. Here it is what I remember:
“I remember getting on the airplane. I wasn't afraid because I knew soon, I would be with my mother. Back then on the island, everyone wants to come to Nueva York (New York), it was the American Dream. It didn't matter that I was going to Chicago, it was like Chicago, New York same thing”. - Amell With green card in hand, I was considered a resident, so she went to school and really didn't know any better until she tried
to apply for scholarships to go to college, and she quickly realized she needed to get naturalized, or rather pursue becoming a U.S. Citizen. When I rst arrived, I was put in ESL prog rams at my school. I was living in the Irving Park area, which at the time was mostly a Latino community. Later, when my family moved to Cicero, I saw some inequity with some Latino students who did not quali ed for any scholarships because of their undocumented status.
fi
fi
fi
fi
Like many Latinas I've spoken to, college was limited to the local college. I felt I needed to stay close to home and not being able to get full scholarships so I opted to go to University of Illinois-Chicago. I really wanted to attend Loyola University, but she could not afford it. But later, Amell received her master's
degree from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
As I began my working career, I became aware that my skin color identi ed me as different. I am a dark-skinned Dominican, and many often thought I was black, which meant that I had to pay close attention to my interactions with others in the workplace. I didn't know how to be a professional woman, mostly because I never had role models that I could mirror. So, I went in full pursuit of those role models and that is when I met Luz in the Mujeres De Hace program. My con dence grew, I saw myself as valuable and decided to pursue more.
Who is Amell today?
I believe that we need to start the diversity and inclusion conversation in our homes. That may require you to correct a family member, which culturally is wrong, but we must be brave and speak up. Women of color need to reach their nieces and cousins and help them in their journey. And we also need to check ourselves.
fi
fi
I am a manager at an HR rm. I have a master's degree in industrial organizational psychology. In my spare time, I help lead an organization that is helping women be their best. She uses her training to coach women, and she wants to help women become nancially secure.
So, what are we having for dinner at Amell's house today? Platanos (mangu) Salami, egg, cheese (tres golpes) (Lunch is the bigger meal)
Dinner with Karen
fi
Introduction Having been born in the. U.S. as a Puerto Rican girl, I had a great deal of ignorance about the immigrant's story. Sadly, the schools that I attended never really taught me, or at least in a memorable way about the dangerous journeys immigrants face getting here and the long-term impact these children experience having faced dangers at such a young age. When I heard Karen's story the rst time, I was captivated by the intensity of her journey to America.
Here are her words:
My mom and I came to America when I was ten years old (1999). I vividly remember it like it was yesterday. The never ending walking, the exhaustion, and the lack of sleep are the most memorable pains I experienced. But I will never forget seeing the worry on my mom's face as we crossed the Rio Grande. She was holding my brother's hand with a death grip. It was a mother's worst nightmare, getting two children through a river. H o w e v e r, s h e w a s s o determined to give us a better life in America. This dangerous journey is something I will never forget, it helped me become who I am today.
I started working when I was 16 years old. My work ethic was work hard and give it my best and thankfully it has paid off. At my current job where I started as a general worker, fast forward 14 years and I'm now the Quality Manager of our
Woodridge/DownersGrove location for one of the 2nd largest American packing companies. I don't think I focused on the fact that I was a Latina, instead I used perseverance, grit, as the key to my success. So it wasn't so much that I was a Latina, I think for me the competition challenge was that
In my company 90% of management are white males. It's de nitely rare to I am a woman.
fi
see Latinos in high ranking positions. Not only do you have to prove yourself as hard worker because you are female,
but you have to work twice as hard.
What you want most people who hate black/ brown people to know?
I don't want them to know, I want them to understand that we are not here to take anyone's job. Everything that we have achieved has been t h ro u g h h a r d w o rk a n d struggles, nothing has been handed to us. Also, we are not so different, we like them want to strive for a better life for us and for our families. The only difference is that we are a different shade on the outside, that should not be a reason to hate us.
RSVP:
https:// www.paperlesspost.com/ go/ Mqjn7NQuG5e5Bof9Jemv
DONATE
www.latinasontheplaza.n etworkforgood.com/ projects/80953-everydaygiving
To learn more, go to:
www.latinasontheplaza.org/littlearrows-iii-program-application/
Little Arrows Squad - Go Ape Adventure
Escape Room- A Team building Challenge