Com(m)unícate Magazine 2014-2015

com(m)unĂ­cate Volume 2 | Fall 2014-Spring 2015

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORS The Hispanic American culture has left and continues to leave an impact in this country. As the number of Hispanics increases, so does the need for content that communicates the beauty and uniqueness of our culture. We want University of Florida students to have a medium to share their professional work. Ultimately, we want to use this medium to open lines of communications across cultures. With this publication, we hope to foster diversity in the University of Florida.

The purpose of this magazine is to give students a platform to express themselves. This is a hands-on project that is meant to benefit students in the College of Journalism and Communications through storytelling.

This year’s theme focused on legacy. Legacy is something all humans leave behind, whether it is good or bad. People strive to leave an impactful footprint in the world. People want for their life and story to matter. Within these pages are the stories of legacies that have impacted the lives of millions, like the Uruguayan ex-President Mujica, lives of thousands, like UF’s Student Body President Joselin Padron-Rasines, or just the life of one family like that of Nené Chivas.

The Com(m)unícate team and the Hispanic Communicators Association would like to extend their appreciation to the students and faculty who contributed their work and time to produce this magazine.

MENSAJE DE LOS EDITORES La cultura hispanoamericana ha dejado y sigue dejando un impacto en este país. A medida que el número de Hispanos aumenta, también lo hace la necesidad de contenido que comunica nuestras historias y la belleza de nuestra cultura. Nosotros queremos que estudiantes de la Universidad de la Florida tengan un medio para compartir su trabajo profesional. Fundamentalmente, queremos usar este medio para abrir las líneas de comunicación entre culturas y promover la diversidad en la Universidad de la Florida.

El objetivo de esta revista es darle a los estudiantes una plataforma para expresarse. Este proyecto tiene la intención de beneficiar a los estudiantes del Colegio de Periodismo y Comunicaciones a través de estas historias.

El tema de este año está centrado en legado. Legado es algo que todo humano deja atrás, ya sea bueno o malo. Personas se esfuerzan por dejar una huella impactante en el mundo. Personas quieren que sus vidas no sean en vano. Dentro de estas páginas hay historias de legados que han impactado las vidas de millones, como el ex-presidente uruguayo Mujica, o han impactado las vidas de miles, como la Presidenta del Govierno Estudiantil de UF Joselin Padron-Rasines, o solamente la vida de una familia como la de Nené Chivas.

El equipo de Com(m)unícate y la Asociación de Comunicadores Hispanos expresa su agradecimiento a los estudiantes y profesores que han contribuido su trabajo y tiempo para ser esta revista una realidad.

CONTENT

COMMUNITY/COMMUNIDAD IS MORE 3 COLOMBIA CAROLINA CHAU de despide de “pEpe” 5 uruguay sofia costas

cultural legacies in the hispanic community GRETER GONZALEZ

régimen CUBANO 6 EL jordan fulkerson struggles 7 hispanic amaury sablon

the importance of gina rodriguez’s golDEN GLOBE sARAI CRUZ

LATINA MAKES HISTORY AT UF BRIANA LIRIO

STORIES/HISTORIAS maestro que impacta 8 un nicole parra

Un Micrófono Que Trataron De Silenciar patricia matamoros

de amor 9 caída briana lirio NARIZ 10 LA MARIAH MARTINEZ FUTURO INESTABLE 11 EL MARIA ESPINOZA 12 PALABRAS MELISSA MIRABAL aLZHEIMERS 13 NENé’S SARAI CRUZ THE COCOONS OF MIAMI TO THE COMMUNITIES OF NAPLES 14 FROM MELISSA GOMEZ HISPANIC COMMUNICATORS ASSOCIATION SARAI CRUZ PRESIDENT

AMAURY SABLON TREASURER

ANAGABRIELA MEDINA DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

BRIANA LIRIO

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

STEPHANIE BECHARA GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR

MONICA MORENO FACULTY ADVISOR

Com(m)unícate EDITORIAL BOARD CONTENT EDITORS SARAI CRUZ BRIANA LIRIO

Layout Editors ANTONY DARCE ANAGABRIELA MEDINA

COPY Editor STEPHANIE BECHARA

Com(m)unícate

Los Colores de Mi Colombia, Parque del Café, Montenegro, Colombia 2010.

Carolina Chau

CAROLINA CHAU

COLOMBIA IS MORE W

hen a person thinks of Colombia the first thing that enters their mind is a country torn by drugs and violence.

Pablo Escobar es el primer nombre que se les viene a la cabeza mientras yo nombro personas como Shakira, James Rodríguez, Gabriel García Márquez y Sofía Vergara. Yo no veo lo que mi país fue en un pasado, veo su potencial.

To me, Colombia is so much more than what the outside world paints it to be.

It is a country in transition, a beautiful land overflowing with potential, a people filled with love for their country, whose mountain range is the backbone of the continent.

Las cosas no son fáciles allí, pero su gente siempre logra sobrevivir y sobresalir. Su espíritu y pasión por la vida fue lo que me impresionó

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desde niña.

Visiting my mother’s country for the first time, the contrasts between my life and theirs were distinctly visible to me.

People’s everyday life without basic amenities, sin lujos y solo protegidos por sus santos y religión.

As I grew up these were the things that drew me in. I did not want to solely be an onlooker, but to contribute to the development of the country and its people.

That image of drug-traffickers and terrorists? Let’s change it.

Let’s paint a picture in people’s minds of a country—like any other in the world—with problems, but with the perseverance to overcome them with a smile.

Let’s make it universally known that Colombia is a one of a kind

Com(m)unícate

paradise and Columbia is a sportswear brand, university, space shuttle and a million other things. Let’s make it an impossibility to confuse the two.

People always ask me, “Why are you so passionate about a place you’ve never lived in?

You’re American, act like it!” And my answer is always the same: I feel whole there, happier than in any other place in the world. I—like many other foreigners—found a place where I felt I belonged wholeheartedly.

I might have been born in the U.S. but as my father reminds me time and time again, “Más Colombiana que la propia madre no pudiste ser.”

Those people full of life and passion I mentioned? They are my neighbors, my friends and most importantly: my family.

My mother has always said, “el que niega la patria, niega la madre.” Bueno, mi madre es de Colombia entonces eso significa que esa debe ser mi patria, no?

I might not have been born there, but I carry its spirit with me wherever I go and will continue doing so. It is a country that opens the hearts of those who discover its beauty and its people.

So go…

Explore.

“Yo no veo lo que mi país fue en un pasado, Veo su potencial.”

VERDE INTENSO, Parque del Café, Montenegro, Colombia 2010 Carolina Chau

Com(m)unícate

SOFIA COSTAS

URUGUAY SE DESPIDE DE “PEPE” E

l “presidente más humilde del mundo,” como es conocido en Uruguay, se despidió de la presidencia el pasado marzo 1.

Reconocido en toda Sudamérica por ser un político que practica lo que predica, José Alberto “Pepe” Mujica llegó a la Plaza Independencia en su Volkswagen Fusca de 1987 para entregar el mando al presidente electo Tabaré Vázquez.

Mujica, un ex-guerrillero que pasó 13 años en una prisión, dona la mayoría de su salario simplemente porque no lo necesita. También vive en una casa de un solo piso en las afueras de Montevideo, en vez de el Palacio Presidencial, con su esposa y compañera revolucionaria, la senadora Lucía Topolansky.

Peleó junto a un grupo de guerrilleros de izquierda durante los 60s y principio de los 70s hasta su encarcelamiento en 1972. Fue liberado en 1985, al finalizar la dictadura cívico-militar por la que pasó Uruguay. Las horrendas experiencias que vivió durante su encarcelamiento moldearon su forma de ver al mundo y su forma de hacer política.

Según Pepe, los políticos deberían vivir como la mayoría de su pueblo, no aspirar a ser como la élite. Cree que lo más peligroso son los políticos a los que “les gusta mucho la plata.”

Mujica, de principios socialistas, deja un legado de pragmatismo económico y políticas sociales controversiales. La economía uruguaya creció en sus cinco años de gestión un promedio de 5.6 por ciento según el Ministerio de Economía uruguayo, a pesar de la caída económica que sufren los vecinos Argentina y Brasil—los mayores consumidores de la región.

Este país de 3 millones y medio de habitantes ha visto desde un balcón como otros gobiernos en Sudamérica proclaman liberar la economía por medio de pólizas nacionalistas, sin embargo Mujica impulsó en Uruguay un camino moderado que lleva al país a ser reconocido entre los más aptos para hacer negocios.

GRETER GONZALEZ

CULTURAL LEGACIES IN THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY Can you imagine a Hispanic household without a lechón for Noche Buena, a party without salsa music or a girl’s Quinces not being the most important celebration of her life (aside from her wedding day)?

Claro que no.

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“Estamos muy acostumbrados en este mundo a ver que la economía y la desigualdad crezcan juntos,” dijo Mujica a la revista estadounidense Fortune. “En Uruguay no ha sucedido. La economía creció y la gente salió de la pobreza.”

Entre las políticas sociales impulsadas por el gobierno de Mujica, incluyendo la legalización del aborto y el reconocimiento del matrimonio homosexual, la que más representa el pragmatismo de su gestión es sin duda la legalización de la venta regulada de marihuana; la primera ley de su tipo en Sudamérica.

Mujica impulsó este cambio como respuesta a lo que considera la fracasada guerra contra las drogas. Con el fin de combatir el narcotráfico, la venta y distribución de cannabis será legal bajo ciertas regulaciones.

“No es bonito legalizar la marihuana, pero peor es regalar a la gente al narco. La única adicción saludable es la del amor,” Mujica dijo.

Está por verse cómo llevará a cabo estas políticas el gobierno entrante. El presidente electo Vázquez vuelve a la presidencia por segunda vez. Fue el predecesor de Mujica, junto al Frente Amplio. Es prohibido por la constitución que los presidentes sirvan dos términos consecutivos.

Mujica deja la presidencia con un 65 por ciento de aprobación según una encuesta presentada en el diario uruguayo República. Ya ha dicho en otra ocasión que a pesar del agotamiento no piensa en retirarse.

“Sí, estoy cansado, pero esto no para hasta el día que me lleven en un cajón,” él dijo.

FLAG OVER MONTEVIDEO, 2013 YANIRA STEPHANY ORTEGA

These Hispanic customs create cultural legacies worldwide. They have a long-standing history because they have been passed down from generation to generation.

Estas tradiciones son muy importantes because they are what help us stay connected even if we’re far away from our country o de nuestra familia. Each country has their own individual customs, a few that are recognized worldwide are the celebrations of the Quince Años, Noche Buena y El Día de los Muertos.

Many of these practices were established ages ago but are still around because they are what keep our Hispanic culture thriving.

These cultural legacies not only keep our culture alive but they also deepen our roots. In essence, they are what make us Hispanic.

Com(m)unícate

JORDAN FULKERSON

EL régimen CUBANO T

he following interview was conducted with Octavio Acosta, a Cuban revolutionary refugee, in which he talks about his life in Cuba and his experiences with the Communist revolution that occurred in 1960. Octavio Acosta was born in Cárdenas, Cuba, the youngest of eight, and later grew up to go to law school and teach history and government at a nearby high school. Having had an active hand in the revolution through his personal relationship with Fidel Castro, Octavio describes his encounters with Castro and his view on the events and policies that unfolded after the revolution.

JF: What can you tell me about Fidel Castro and your experiences with him in Cuba?

OA: What I can tell you? Well, I can tell you many things, but I will start by telling you that I first met Castro at the University of Havana in our first year when we were attending law school. I remember him and his aspirations to become a class delegate and I remember that he said, “Oye guajiro, ven acá para votar por mi.” Translated he said, “Listen, countryman come here to vote for me.” That was on election day. Castro was always a very persistent guy in his ideas and policies.

He was unwilling to accept a defeat in anything. I believe that as time went on he became more and more persistent in his goals and his ideas and he was willing to make whatever sacrifice was needed to achieve it. He was—as I told you—unwilling to take failure of any kind.

JF: How did this new form of government affect the daily life of the Cuban people?

OA: This change was done at the expense of life in Cuba: politically, economically, and socially. Not only were properties confiscated, but all main industries were destroyed, beginning with the sugar-making industry. I saw this myself when I went back to Cuba in the year 2000 to visit my family. I saw that the sugarmill that was located in the area

ACOSTA AT HOME, NOVEMBER 2013

where I used to live was completely destroyed. Only the tower stands. I also saw that the land that we used to grow sugarcane was now empty.

Only bad grass, called the marabú covered the whole area, which was very, very bad. The same thing done to the sugar industry was done to the entire agricultural industry. In a country where food and supplies had been abundant, people were forced to stand in line for hours and hours in order to get some food under the new government. In many aspects, it seemed that our country had returned to the middle ages.

The same thing can be said about communication and transportation, where many modern means of transportation had been replaced by horses and guaguas.

By ending the commercialization between Cuba and the U.S., all the attached benefits and comforts that Cuba enjoyed were taken away.

Before el régimen comunista, we had a lifestyle similar to the lifestyle that were in other prosperous countries like the United States. This was a benefit of Cuba being so close to the U.S.; that the distance from north Cuba to Key West is only 90 miles, which is less than the distance from Gainesville to Orlando in Florida.

JF: Would you ever move back to Cuba?

OA: I miss my country and its beauty very much. I miss the life I lived there surrounded by my family and friends. But I have lived in the U.S. for more than half my life and I have roots here. My children, grandchildren, and soon-to-be great-grandchild live here. Even after Castro’s death and the fall of los comunistas, I would not return to Cuba to live. I would return only as a visitor and to see my family.

Octavio Acosta: November 10, 1924 – November 5, 2014

Zalome Briceño

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? JUAN-CARLOS MOLLEDA

Professor and Chair, Department of Public Relations Director, MAMC Global Strategic Communication

“Legacy is what makes a person; therefore, my legacy is a combination of my traditions and the things I’ve accomplished. I would like to think that my accomplishments will contribute to humanity. That’s the legacy I would like to leave.”

“El legado es lo que forma a una persona; por lo tanto, mi legado es una combinación de mis tradiciones y las cosas que he logrado. Me gustaría pensar que mis logros contribuirán a la humanidad. Ese es el legado que me gustaría dejar.”

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Com(m)unícate AMAURY SABLON

SARAI CRUZ

“Was there a culture shock once you came to the United States?”

Arriving to the United States proved to be a challenge and a blessing for my family and I. When I got here, I had no idea what to expect, and what I was going to go through.

Awkward situations became the norm throughout my first few months in Miami. There were many failed attempts at ordering, but I slowly became accustomed with the term “comida rápida”. The first time I visited a Chinese buffet, I wasn’t aware that you could serve yourself food several times. Therefore, my plate quickly looked like a pyramid of food as the servers stared at me in disbelief. Coming from Cuba, I had never seen buffets chinos, or just even comida china. If it wasn’t arroz y frijoles, I was probably not familiar with it. Another shock I dealt with was the meat industry. In Cuba, beef is illegal for the everyday Cuban; only available for tourists. Because of that, I was completely shocked when I visited a supermarket in the U.S. for the first time (which happened to be Sedano’s!). “Wait. ¿Aquí se puede comer carne?,” I thought. After 12 years of living in a nation that forbade such product, it took me a while to get used to its legality here. Coming to a new country is always a difficult transition, and if it was hard for me, I can only imagine how hard it was for my mother and my grandparents. Although I am now completely accustomed to the culture—and feel that I am part of the American culture—every day is a learning experience and awkward moments are still part of my vida americana.

“This award is so much more than myself. It represents a culture that wants to see themselves as heroes. My father used to tell me to say every morning, ‘Today’s going to be a great day.

I can and I will.’ Well, Dad, today’s going to be a great day. I can and I did.”

–Gina Rodriguez at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards When Rodriguez accepted her award for “Best Comedic Actress in a Comedy or Musical TV Series,” I teared up.

Rodriguez won for her role in”Jane the Virgin,” a show based on a famous Venezuelan telenovela where a young woman is accidentally inseminated and becomes pregnant. As an avid consumer of TV shows and movies, I barely see Latinas like myself represented on screen. Latinas are more than the punchline of a joke, teenage mothers, maids, nannies, or hypersexual “spicy” women. We are career women, college students, mothers, business owners, doctors, lawyers, dreamers, hard workers, and more. According to a study by the University of Southern California, characters from Hispanic/Latino backgrounds were the most underrepresented in Hollywood in the last six years.

This is why Gina Rodriguez’s win was so important to me. The importance of her win is a sign that diversity is urgently needed in movies, shows, books etc.

the hispanic struggles

“What are some of the struggles you’ve faced being a Latino in the U.S.?”

As Latinos, stereotypes often surround us. I often get asked why I don’t sound Cuban, as if Cuban was a language. It’s hard for many to grasp the fact that Latinos are diverse. Someone can identify as a Latino without necessarily having Latin blood from both sides of the family. Another issue I’ve had to deal with was my accent. There’s a lot of stigma when it comes to Hispanics and their accents. While a European with an accent is just seen as a foreigner, and many times we even praise those accents (ex. Australian, British, French, etc.), a Latino with an accent is often thought of as uneducated, unintelligent, and someone that can’t speak English. In middle school, I struggled with this.

Some would be quick to mock me whenever I spoke without realizing that sometimes words have a tremendous impact on the individual. For some time, I tried to change my Hispanic accent, and to a point became embarrassed. However, as I grew older and more mature, I understood that my accent was part of who I was as a person and part of my diversity. However, even with all the struggles, I wouldn’t trade my heritage, and cultura por nada.

BRIANA LIRIO

LATINA MAKES HISTORY AT UF On the night of February 25, Access Party members held hands in anticipation at the Reitz Union Breezeway as the decision that would ultimately go down in University of Florida history was read out loud. Joyful screams and laughter filled the space when Joselin Padron-Rasines became the first Latina student body president.

Padron-Rasines, 20, is majoring in political science and international studies. Her role as vice president of operations for the Hispanic Student Association, along with her time spent as an ambassador for the Multicultural and Diversity Affairs, contributed to her expe-

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THE IMPORTANCE OF GINA RODRIGUEZ’S GOLDEN GLOBE

UF OVER TIME, CENTURY TOWER JORDAN FULKERSON

rience as a leader in the UF community. The Venezuelan hopes to make Student Government more accessible to students all over campus.

During a Hispanic Student Association meeting, Liana Guerra, president of the organization, asked Padron-Rasines what she thought about making UF history. “I didn’t make history. My community made history,” responded Padron-Rasines.

Com(m)unícate

NICOLE PARRA

UN MAESTRO QUE IMPACTA

A

las 11:45 a.m. empieza la primera clase de Antonio Sajid-López; Composición y Sintaxis para Bilingües. Es una de las varias clases que el profesor López enseña. Su día consiste en enseñar dos clases, la clase indicada anteriormente y también la clase de Servicio y Aprendizaje en Español.

López nació en Ponce, Puerto Rico el 6 de enero del 1980. Llegó a los Estado Unidos en julio del 2010. Él siempre soñó con adelantar sus estudios. Este sueño motivó a López a estudiar en la Universidad de Florida y recibir su doctorado en literatura Hispanoamericana con una especialidad en teatro.

“Siempre me gustaron [los estudios hispános]. Quizás por influencia de mi abuelo que era profesor de historia,” dijo López, “Él tenía una biblioteca en su casa que a mí me gustaba visitar. Entonces la imagen

PATRICIA MATAmoros

Un Micrófono Que Trataron De Silenciar

g

iovanni Montesano creció admirando el trabajo de su papá.

Su papá trabajaba como locutor de radio en La Habana, Cuba, y pasaba sus días entrevistando famosos e investigando política. Sin darse cuenta, Montesano empezó a enamorarse del periodismo. Cuando Montesano se graduó de secundaria, el decidió perseguir su sueño y ser como su padre, un locutor de radio.

Pero el gobierno Cubano no lo dejo. El gobierno de Cuba asignaba carreras basadas en condiciones políticas y Montesano califico para la carrera de economía. Odiando los números, acepto la realidad y entro al Instituto de Economía de la Habana para estudiar contabilidad. Una vez graduado, el se dijo a sí mismo, “Esto va a la pared, porque yo no quiero ser contador.”

El sueño comienza En 1989 logró entrar al Centro de Estudios de Radio y Televisión de Cuba. Ahí comenzó a vivir su sueño de estudiar el trabajo periodístico, investigación de la música, cultura y folklore de Cuba.

A sus cortos 24 años de edad, el obtuvo su primera posición como locutor en la cadena de radio C.O.C.O. Para suerte de Montesano, la directora provincial de la radio escuchó su voz y lo dejo audicionar. Al escuchar su timbre de voz, la directora, sin pensarlo dos veces, le ofreció el trabajo de locutor. En C.O.C.O., le ofreció su propio programa llamado “Noche Cubana” y segmento “Así Cantaba Cuba.”

13 de julio de 1994 Desde pequeño Montesano siempre supo la realidad de la situación de su país.

“Todo era una mentira. Se violaban muchos derechos y nadie tenía la oportunidad de decir la verdad,” Montesano dijo.

El 14 de julio de 1994, a Montesano le asignaron leer las noticias

del libro me acompañó desde la infancia. También por mi amor por el teatro que es uno de los géneros literarios.”

De todas las clases que López enseña, la clase de Servicio y Aprendizaje es su favorita, “Porque integra la enseñanza tradicional de la sala de clases con el servicio comunitario. Los estudiantes realmente aprenden cuando logran conectar lo intelectual con lo afectivo,” dice López.

El profesor es un personaje muy interesante. No solo es profesor pero también es un amante de la música, le encanta el cine en español y es un poeta.

“Diría que la poesía es mi pasión y la música y el cine mis pasatiempos,” López dijo.

Hablando de poemas, el profesor empezó a escribirlos a los ocho años. Siempre tenía su mesita de noche llena de papeles. “¡Lástima que los boté todos! Pensaba que no tenían ningún valor,” dijo López, “Ahora me arrepiento. Luego a los 23 años empecé a escribir poesías con mayor conciencia”.

A él no solamente le encanta la poesía, pero ha escrito y publicado libros sobre el tema. Unos de sus más recientes libros de poesía incluyen, “Entre mi Sexo y mis Nervios” y “Efímeras Instancias.” López dijo que mientras la vida le de fuerza, va a publicar más libros.

Además, López es considerado un profesor muy trabajador y alguien quien se preocupa por sus estudiantes.

Para más información sobre López, puede visitar su página web www.AntonioSajid.com.

de última hora. A el le instruyeron a leer los paquetes de noticias exactamente como estaba escrito, sino tenía que enfrentar la ley y ser despedido de su trabajo. Ese día Montesano se negó a leer la noticia y les dijo que él no quería leer una barbaridad.

Inmediatamente, despidieron a Montesano.

La noticia que se negó dar fue la del hundimiento del remolcador “13 de Marzo,” que fue hundido por el gobierno. Más de 40 personas, 10 de ellas niños inocentes perdieron su vida.

Este día se quedará en la memoria de Montesano HAVANA, CUBA 1975 para siempre.

El decidió dejar a Cuba, la patria que lo vio nacer, sus raíces y sus logros que con tanto trabajo logró adquirir. No fue una decisión fácil pero era lo necesario. Un 27 de diciembre de 1994, Montesano y su esposa logran irse de Cuba por medio de sus suegros.

“Al periodista no se le calla, el periodista calla!”

Montesano dice que el mejor consejo que podría dar a los estudiantes latinos que quieren ejercer en el mundo de comunicación es tener honestidad.

“Honestidad en lo que haces, dar la noticia como es, si la noticia es roja, es roja, si la noticia es verde, es verde,” Montesano dice. “Las palabras ‘yo creo’ no existe para un periodista. Se siempre fiel a tu profesión y no le mientas a tus oyentes. Y el día que te traten de callar, haz lo que yo tuve que hacer y vete de ahí.”

Actualmente, Montesano se encarga de vender la casa de los sueños a otras personas. El reside en Port St. Lucie, Fla. y es agente de bienes raíces. El es feliz junto a su esposa Araly y sus dos hijas, Liara y Gianna.

Montensano se llena de alegría y orgullo al verlas crecer y realizarse en un país lleno de oportunidades y libertad de expresión.

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Com(m)unícate

BRIANA LIRIO

caída de amor A

hero, forbidden love, and the pursuit of the American dream all describe one of the greatest love stories ever told. Add escaping communism to the mix, and even Nicholas Sparks is knocked off of his feet.

Mercedes Lirio was 12 years old when her parents told her they were escaping the country she grew up in. Her dad had planned their escape from Cuba with three other families. However, at the time she did not know that a story of hardships would eventually become one of new beginnings.

“Me acuerdo de tener mucho miedo,” she said. “Me tenia que tirar de unas rocas muy altas para caer en la lancha.”

She had to jump off of a rocky cliff in order to get to the raft that would eventually lead her and her family to freedom. However, the jump was really high and Mercedes miscalculated and almost fell into the water. If it had not been for her 18-year-old neighbor who caught her midair she would have become shark bait.

When Mercedes and her family arrived at the United States they were relocated to a guesthouse. There she had to start working and forsake school because her father became injured and could no longer provide for their family.

Despite having to undergo such troubles, Mercedes was quite content with her adolescence.

“Yo tube la mejor juventud de el mundo,” she said. “Yo veo a los jóvenes ahora que se la pasan quejandose y que no aprecian todas las bellezas que el mundo les ofreces.”

She decided to make the best of her time in the land of freedom.

Every night after a rigorous day at work, Mercedes would hang out in the lobby of her guest home. All the young men and women who had come with her to the U.S. would meet up there to tell stories and play games. There was no wifi back then.

One young man in particular never missed a single game night, 18-year-old José Manuel Lirio (best known as Manolo to those clos-

est to him), who had saved her life when she had jumped off of the cliff.

“Yo me daba mucha importancia,” she said. “No le prestaba mucha atención porque yo sabía que estaba enamorado de mi. Yo me arreglaba, me pintaba las pestañas y le coqueteaba a todos los muchachos, eso si, yo nunca tuve ni quería novio.”

That didn’t last for too long. José declared his love for MANOLO Y MERCEDES, MIAMI, FL 1980 her at his sister’s sixteenth birthday. She responded by telling him he would have to win her over, and that he did. José called her every day for the next three months until she finally agreed to be his girlfriend. “Íbamos todos los fines de semana a la feria, al cine, o a bailar,” Mercedes said, “aunque fuimos pobres la pasamos muy bien.”

José was just as hard working as Mercedes. When he first got to this country he started working by picking tomatoes in the fields.

Soon after, he started unloading cargo from ships to docks. However, he worked the hardest when he fought for a job as a busboy washing dishes in a local cafeteria. The fumes from the dishwasher would make him pass out, but he continued going back to work.

“El me propuso matrimonio quando cumpli quince anos,” she said.

“Pero esperamos un año para casarnos porque mi papá dijo que yo estaba muy joven.”

Soon after they married, José was able to open his first cafeteria.

Despite having to acclimate to a new culture and having to work for every penny they have ever owned, Mercedes and José feel very blessed. José has owned his latest cafeteria for over 38 years now. He and Mercedes have two kids and five grandchildren, which they consider their greatest accomplishment yet.

“El era y siempre será el gran amor de mi vida,” Mercedes said.

Zalome Briceño

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? Yareliz Mendez-Zamora

Third year student, English and History major & minor in Latin American Studies District C Senator, University of Florida

“Legacy is something you carry with you. My parents’ history and experiences have made me strong; that is my inheritance, which is also my legacy. I want to continue the legacy of social change; specially leading the HispanicLatino community to overcome the boundaries that still exists. I want to leave a legacy for my community.”

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“El legado es algo que llevas contigo. La historia y las experiencias de mis padres me han hecho fuerte; esa es mi herencia, la cual también es mi legado. Quiero continuar con el legado de cambio social, especialmente liderar a la comunidad Hispana-Latina a superar las limitaciones que todavía existen. Quiero dejar un legado para mi comunidad.”

Com(m)unícate

mariah martinez

la nariz

CaTHERINE MCMAHON

i

grew up in a family with nineteen cousins on my father’s side.

His parents were from Santurce and Ponce, Puerto Rico and had six children. My father was the youngest of these six and the surprise child. While their friends were starting to go through midlife crises, mi abuela y mi abuelo were starting potty training for the sixth time. My abuela Delia was a memorable woman. She was quite outspoken, to say the least. You never needed to weigh yourself because she would warn you if you were gaining too much weight. Abuela would greet you with a kiss and then do a once over with her studious eyes. She would furrow her brows and look you over, reverting to a look she gave often as the crease between her eyebrows was now permanente. “Darren,” she would softly trill the R’s in my father’s name with her still-thick native accent, “Ay, you are getting a little chubby, no?” This wasn’t meant to insult or offend, but to show concern for one’s health.

As children, we would rush into the tiled sitting area to greet my grandparents, where they sat in their oversized, but extremely comfortable recliners. Many days I waited until abuela went to sleep just so I could jump into the plush, bottom-warmed chair and adjust it every way possible. I always tried to put it back exactly as she had it but somehow abuela always knew someone else’s backside had filled (or not filled in my case) the perpetual imprint where her bottom sat.

She was direct and frank, as stubborn as the sun that insists on rising everyday, and loved her family deeply. She had a very pronounced nose: long and slender, quite pointed at the end, very pronounced and indicative of our Moorish descent from southern Spain many generations back.

My abuela was many things in her life, but vain was not one of them—except when it came to her nose. Some of her sisters had and have this nose as well. Abuela considered the nose a curse, her only fault, and prayed with each pregnancy that none of her children would have to bear such a burden. Her oldest daughter, my “titi” Adela, joined the group of women that carried this weight: she too was born with the nose. The rest of my abuela’s children did not receive this curse.

But when her children began having children, she began praying again. She prayed that none of her beloved grandchildren would have to live with such a noticeable imperfection. Through thirteen years, five marriages, and fifteen grandchildren, my abuela’s prayers were successful. No grandchild was cursed with her unique nose. The only child that had not given her grandchildren yet was her baby, the one that could do no wrong: my father. My father was unmarried and not thinking about settling down any-

time soon, but I had other plans. He told my abuela and abuelo he had gotten my mother pregnant and they were very excited. Again, my abuela commenced praying for another grandchild with a beautiful nose, just as she had done for the previous fifteen. Finally, in early winter, just before Thanksgiving, I decided to meet the world. My father traveled from North Carolina to Florida and brought pictures of me for his family to see.

Babies are always exciting, precious, and loved in our family, no matter the circumstances of their birth. My abuela saw the photos of me and began to cry. She wept because she loved me. She wept because she loved my father and mother for bringing me into the world. She wept because the family was still growing. But most of all, she wept because she felt she had failed me. She looked at the pictures, then looked at my father and apologized through her tears, “Darren, oh no, I’m so sorry! She has my nose!”

I grew up resenting my nose, saddened by the taunting of elementary children and the many times I was made aware by apologies from my sweet abuela. She passed away in 2009 after battling cancer for over fifteen years, and I have since come to love my pronounced nariz. Each time I see it, whether in the mirror as I get ready each morning or in family photos, at an odd angle, I think of my abuela and the phenomenal person she was.

I have a daughter now, six months old. I am not a religious person but I can tell you that I hoped throughout the entire pregnancy that she would have my abuela’s, my aunts’, and now my nose. So far, her nose seems to favor mine. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

ANAGABRIELA MEDINA

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Com(m)unícate

MARIA ESPINOZA

EL FUTURO INESTABLE S

oy parte de una familia de inmigrantes de Nicaragua con pocos recursos y me he tomado el privilegio de estudiar en una universidad que me ofrece oportunidades para expandir mi conocimiento y dejar mi legado cultural. Me he expuesto a compartir con muchos la historia de mi familia para que ellos puedan comprender los sacrificios de los inmigrantes latinoamericanos.

La historia de mi tío Freddy es similar a la de muchos otros inmigrantes de diferentes países del mundo. El dejó su país con tan solo 17 años de edad buscando oportunidades en los Estados Unidos y para reencontrarse con su otra parte de hermanos, quienes lo ayudaron a venir.

“Lo más difícil fue dejar a mi otra familia, en especial a mi abuelita,” él dijo.

Freddy tenía sueños de algún día regresar a Nicaragua y reencontrarse con la familia que dejó atrás. Poco después de estar viviendo en la Florida, mi tío se enteró del fallecimiento de su abuela. Mi bisabuela Maria murió en julio del 2006 a causa de edad y enfermedad en los pulmones. Él no pudo despedirse o darle el último adiós a una de las personas que más amaba.

El recorrido que mi tío hizo hacia los Estados Unidos fue largo y angustiante para él y mi familia. Él dijo que demoró 60 días para llegar porque estuvo detenido 14 días en la ciudad de México y luego fue deportado hacia la frontera de Guatemala. En su caso, tuvo que pasar muchas de las fronteras de Centroamérica escondido porque era menor de edad.

“Los obstáculos en el camino fueron muchos, pero el más duro fue caminar dos días por el desierto de Arizona,” él dijo. “Llegue a los Estados Unidos el día 28 de enero del 2005.”

Uno de los grandes problemas de muchos inmigrantes es obtener sus documentos legales para seguir viviendo sin ser criminalizados.

También muchas autoridades en el país discriminan y quitan los derechos humanos de gente inocente.

“Mi futuro es inestable e incierto por la razón que en el año 2011 fui arrestado por la policia de transito por manejar sin licencia en la Florida,” él comentó.

Freddy fue detenido en una cárcel de Miami-Dade a causa de esta infracción. Su situación se complicó más cuando el departamento de inmigración puso un alto a su caso al hacer una entrevista. Después de que su caso de manejar sin licencia fue cerrado por el jurado, fue entregado a agentes de inmigración y fue detenido por 45 días.

No tuvo más remedio que presentarse ante un juez de inmigración, donde en la segunda corte finalmente pudo integrarse de nuevo a su vida gracias a una fianza.

“Por eso mi futuro es incierto. Porque no tengo un papel que diga que soy legal en este país,” él dijo. “Por eso me despido con mucho amor de mi hijo y mi mujer, porque no sé si después de un día largo y cansado volveré a la casa. Mi mayor deseo es que algún día puesda salir a la calle sin miedo y temor de ser separado de mi familia.”

Freddy trabaja en la construcción y ha contado historias sobre algunos trabajadores huyendo de su trabajo en ciertos lugares debido a

“Y como hoy estoy aquí. Mañana no sé si estaré.” la inesperada visita de agentes de inmigración.

Agricultores inmigrantes también son expuestos a abusos y discriminación, dijo Antonio Sajid-López, professor de Spanish Service Learning en la Universidad de la Florida, al explorar el tema de inmigración.

Bajo el fuerte sol y poco sueldo ganado, agricultores luchan por un centavo más por cada cubeta de tomates colectada en fincas de los Estados Unidos. Sajid-López dijo que lo que ha estado ocurriendo en los últimos años se puede describir como una esclavitud moderna, ya que a veces tienen a personas encadenadas en las noches para que no se escapen.

Un caso en la Florida fue descubierto en el 2008. Muchos de estos agricultores no se atreven a ir a la policía a reportar el abuso ya que muchos de ellos no tienen papeles.

“Es una pobreza bien fuerte y nosotros los estadounidenses no la vemos,” dijo Sajid-López. “No sale en la prensa muchas veces, pero esta allí.”

Sajid-López dijo que cree que hay un problema estructural. “Nuestro pais necesita una reforma migratoria con carácter de urgencia.”

Las oportunidades que este país ofrece son abundantes, pero hay algo que los detiene: un papel.

CHRISTOPHER SKOR

Com(m)unícate

MELISSA MIRABAL

palabras i

t’s a rainy day in Miami and my mother blows air over her cortadito before taking a sip, a cup of café cubano has been the signal of the start of her day for decades now.

She drinks between somber glances at old black and white photos of her youth.

“Full of promise,” she describes herself, a young girl who escaped the environment around her through her love of reading and writing. “¡Como las peliculas!” she exclaims, referring to movies from book adaptations she loves like “The Book Thief,” girls who will read insatiably amid political and social chaos as salvation from the bleak life around them.

My mother was born and raised in Cuba, the middle daughter of a factory worker and a housewife in a small town. She recounts her days in communist Cuba with a solemn tone, remembering the poverty and hardships—of not just herself but everyone around her. I grew up listening to how lucky I was to have fled the country when we did, too young at 4 years old to have understood the effect of the decision that my parents made for me and my sister.

“Aquí tienes oportunidad, tienes vida mejor que lo que yo podía imaginarme.” I have opportunities in this country, a life I can make for my own. My sister was the first college graduate in our family and soon I’ll be the second. My interests lay in reading and writing, a trait I will always have my mother to thank for. She made a point to get my sister and me library cards in our city’s public library as soon as we started school in the U.S., instilling in us the passion she always felt towards words. She’d ask us if we knew how lucky we were having all these books at our disposal as she scoured the racks for her own literary indulgence, no longer limited to the Russian novels she’d grown

tired of in her youth.

In Cuba, my mother dealt with censorship that greatly limited the books she could read, limited the words she read in newspapers and magazines or heard in radio or TV. Freedom of speech is a foreign concept in our little Caribbean island, a battle fought daily by courageous journalists who risk their lives to inform the world of our crumbling nation. Enrolling in school, my mother wanted to write; had a goal to teach students someday about the beauty behind words and reading.

Her illusion of this dream, however, quickly dissolved when she realized that to study what she loved most she needed to declare her commitment to Fidel Castro’s communist party; needed to speak their words and beliefs and drill them into the impressionable minds of generations to come. Her words would no longer be organic bursts of inspiration or passion; they’d be dissected and censored to fit what the government thought suitable to be heard and read by the masses, or she’d face sure imprisonment.

Ve h e m e n t l y against communism, my mother shelved her dreams and studied chemistry like my father, a choice she stated “seemed like the most appealing among [her] lack of options.” A few years after my sister and I came along, we were given the once-in-alifetime chance of coming to the U.S. thanks to the Cuban visa lottery of 1998. The Cuban government then prepared to seize our home and belongings as my parents prepared for their new life in the States, where five years later we’d gain our naturalized citizenship.

These days, I sit in class at the University of Florida, taking the journalism and English classes my mother would’ve wanted to take all those years ago. She patiently hears my stories and the lessons I’ve learned with the awe of someone watching the life they wanted being lived through someone else’s eyes. In this way, my mother lives vicariously through my academic career, always grateful for the opportunity to bring her children to this country and always proud of me for pursuing our mutual love.

These days, my mother sips her café as she sits on the couch my parents struggled and worked for, spending her days consuming chapter after chapter of each and every book that has caught her attention.

“Aquí tienes oportunidad, tienes vida mejor que lo que yo podía imaginarme.”

Zalome Briceño

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? JEREMY MARTINEZ

First year student, Criminology on pre-law track Marketing Director & Executive Board, Hispanic Student Association

“Legacy is a way of remembrance and honor. Legacy as honor should be given to those who deserve it. I want people to remember me as a role model for motivation.

The legacy of ‘nothing is imposible’ is the one I want to leave.”

“El legado es una forma de conmemoración y honor.

El legado como el honor se debe dar a aquellos que lo merecen. Quiero que la gente me recuerde como un modelo de motivación. El legado de ‘nada es imposible’ es el que yo quiero dejar.”

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Com(m)unícate

Sarai cruz

NENé’S aLZHEIMERS

o

n a bright early morning, Maria Cristina “Nené” Chibas dropped off her 11-year-old grandson at middle school.

She had done it thousands of times before. However, that day there was a slight detour from her usual route due to construction. Nené followed the detour sign and then in a quick moment everything turned into a blur and she didn’t understand signs or words. She didn’t recognize where she drove, even though she had driven there before. She got lost in the south Florida neighborhood that had been her home for decades.

This was the turning point in her Alzheimer’s disease. Cecilia Padilla, Nene’s granddaughter and University of Florida student, remembers the panic this event caused her family.

“My mom and aunts couldn’t find her and they panicked. Nené finally was able to find her way home after a couple of hours of driving around,” Padilla said. “That day she vowed to never drive again and that was the start of her deterioration.”

Alzheimer’s disease has taken the lively 87-yearold matriarch of the Longoria-Chibas family and made her a shell. However, Padilla believes that even though Nené’s memories and sense of self is fading away, her legacy within the family will live on.

Nené Chibas was born on April 13, 1927 in Gibara, Cuba. She came to this country in 1961 and established a life in the U.S. with her husband, Guido Chibas, and their children. While her husband worked, she was a stay-at-home mom caring for her six children as well as nieces and nephews who were sent from Cuba by their families to escape Fidel Castro’s communist regime.

Padilla said Nené instilled a great sense of family in every single member. She made everyone gather in her house for holidays and celebrations, which strengthened bonds between the large family. Nené also instilled Cuban culture, values and faith in her children, who then passed it down to their own.

“I still remember when she would sit my siblings, cousins and I down to tell us these Cuban folk tales, rhymes and stories that her own

mother told her when she was a little girl,” Padilla said.

Nené and her family knew she would eventually get Alzheimer’s since her father and older brother, Ricardo, both died from it. At the age of 45, when she started forgetting little things like the keys and words, her husband demanded that she start taking Aricept. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, but Aricept may delay symptoms like confusion and dementia.

Slowly, she started forgetting common words, forgetting faces, forgetting she ate lunch. She would put bottles of Windex inside of the refrigerator. Family members she knew most of her life had to start reminding her who they were every time they saw her. Padilla, who does not get to see her constantly due to school, sees the deterioration in leaps.

“Every time I come back from Gainesville I see the dramatic changes,” Padilla said. “One day I came back and she was able to smile and say a few words to me and the next she stared at me with a blank face.”

The disease has had a hard impact on the Chibas family. Padilla said everyone agrees it is hard to see someone who raised you and love you fade away right in front of your eyes. With the help of a part-time nurse, four of the six Chibas children live and care for Nené. They have to do a lot of sacrifices and try to balance their own work and social life with the care of their mother. This has taken a toll on them, but they say they will never put her in an assisted living facility.

Padilla said that Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease that in a sense can be considered worse than cancer.

“Cancer destroys your body, but Alzheimer’s destroys your mind.

When fighting cancer, your sense of self is still present and you still remember who you love,” Padilla said. “Alzheimer’s eats away who you are, your memories, your language, and all of these things that define you. Physically you can be healthy, but you’re no longer there.”

According to the Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention, Alzheimer’s is one of the top ten leading causes of death of Hispanics.

“Alzheimer’s eats away who you are, your memories, your language, and all of these things that define you.”

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Com(m)unícate

Padilla hopes that Alzheimer’s receives more attention in order for the creation of a cure. Padilla thinks many write off the disease since the majority of those affected are seniors. Older people still matter, she said.

With no cure available, Nené, the woman who happily woke up at 6 a.m. to cook breakfast, is mentally leaving. The woman who spent her afternoons in the garden tending to her favorite yellow flowers, does not step outside the house. The woman who found relaxation in embroidery and sewing doesn’t pick up needle and thread.

She currently spends most of her days laying in her king size bed, refusing to move and staring at a television playing Disney movies, but not understanding anything going on around her. She is just one more victim of Alzheimer’s disease.

MELISSA GOMEZ

FROM THE COCOONS OF MIAMI TO THE COMMUNITIES OF NAPLES

M

anny Garcia dropped out of college.

At the time, he saw this as a logical decision. He had a wife at home, a mortgage and bills to pay, and college wasn’t going to cover that, so he left.

Fast forward to almost 30 years later, Garcia has made a name for himself as one of Florida’s most successful investigative reporters and serves as the editor-in-chief of Naples Daily News.

After attending Miami Dade College for two years, he went on to Florida International University. In his first semester at FIU, he walked out of class, unofficially dropping out. He worked full-time as a salesman and made good money, but he was miserable. Selling scissors and shampoos wasn’t his life purpose.

“I was watching [It’s a Wonderful Life] and I started bawling.” Garcia gestured as he spoke, giving his voice a younger inflection when he spoke of his past self. “I said, ‘God forgive me, I’ve wasted my life.’” After flipping through a booklet that listed available majors at FIU, Garcia found journalism, and ultimately, his passion.

Garcia begged the dean of FIU, Fred Bouma, for a second chance.

Bouma offered Garcia two classes. If he managed B’s or better, he could fully re-enroll.

While working full time, he attended classes and received A’s in both.

“God opens doors for you for a reason,” Garcia smiled, recalling his past.

He didn’t stop there. Garcia quit his job, took a $35,000 pay cut,

and began working for the Miami Herald as the clerk. After graduation from FIU in 1990, he joined the Miami Herald’s investigative team where the real fun began.

In 1999, Garcia, with a team of about 20, uncovered voting fraud in a city election. The results: 56 people arrested, the voting laws in Florida were changed, and the City Commissioner was sent to prison.

The team was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

The voter fraud consumed a period of his life, but he felt that it needed to be done. Garcia felt they did the right thing.

“For three months, I don’t remember my family,” Garcia said, describing the balance of work and home life. “There’s always going to be a trade-off.”

Garcia lives by Luke 12: 2-3, a bible verse that he considers to be “a reporter’s New Testament verse.”

“What do we do as journalists? We shout [the truth] on the front page of the paper, on our websites, mobile devices,” he said.

The words ring true in Garcia’s most memorable stories. Among them is Jerry Frank Townsend, a man wrongly convicted of several murders and a rape, with a life sentence.

When the Miami Herald found that the evidence didn’t match any of Townsend’s confessions, the Herald covered the papers with reports on why Townsend was an innocent man. With the new attention, Townsend’s case was reviewed and, after 20 years in prison, was exonerated in 2001.

In 2009, Garcia moved to El Nuevo Herald as an editor. In collaboration with the Miami Herald, the Spanish newspaper’s coverage of the 2008 Haiti earthquake revealed children sex trafficking that resulted in the Dominican Republic. The hard work of the videographers and reporters that traveled abroad resulted in the paper being named as a Pulitzer finalist in 2011, a first for a Spanish paper.

Garcia’s legacy now seeps over to southwest Florida, where he looks forward to making a name for the paper. While you would expect a tough-skinned, tobacco-rasped voice that demanded, Garcia is soft-spoken and holds your gaze steadily.

Nancy Evans, Naples Daily News’ office manager, who’s been there for 21 years, has only worked for two editors; Garcia is the second.

“He expects people to be on top of things; he expects us to give 110 percent,” Evans said. “I have no complaints.”

Garcia’s direction at Naples Daily has allowed for a neutral atmosphere. He expects everybody to respect everybody, which is how Evans believes newsrooms should be.

The praise and love for his team never stops. Garcia gushes about the successes of his reporters, videographers, editors and photographers, as well as some front page successes. Recently, the Naples Daily News was cited as one of the top front pages in the world for their front page coverage of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

“You want a newsroom that has chifla,” he said, referring to the Spanish word for flair. “Your newsroom needs to be like Tabasco sauce.

Yeah, I like the way that sounds. Tabasco sauce.”

Garcia looks to leave a lasting legacy at Naples Daily News by the making a quality news publication that delivers accurate, concise, interesting, top-level journalism and competes with the best.

“The Naples Daily is a working model for butt-kicking newsrooms of its size,” Garcia said. “A newsroom that plays above its fighting weight.”

That’s Naples Daily News, he said.

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Com(m)unĂ­cate was printed by Progressive Communications in Lake Mary, FL. All rights reserved. Neither this publication or any part herein may be reproduced by any means without the expressed written consent of the Hispanic Communicators Association. If you have any questions, please email HispanicCommunicatorsatUF@gmail.com

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Cover photo by Anagabriela Medina