THIS WEEK'S FIVE:

How beautiful is this story by LA Times writer Ruben Vives? A rising number of Latino immigrants are working as firefighters to suppress the nation's wildfires, even in places like Shasta County (CA.) where locals voted against being a "sanctuary zone" for undocumented immigrants. A 2007 report by the American Immigration Council found that a significant number of wildland firefighters were immigrants, mostly Mexican-born men. Let's hope the locals who have anti-immigrant attitudes learn a little something from these men:

I feel important when someone says thank you for the work we do,” he said. “When we’re walking around people say thank you to us for being here and fighting a fire.” Cisneros said he doesn’t like what he hears on the news about immigrants, but he tries to simply ignore it. He hopes critics of immigrants will pay attention to the work he and others do.

The data (see here) has shown that Hispanics represent a major source of growth for beauty spending globally, so it shouldn't be surprising that the community also produces some of the biggest innovators and creatives in the industry. Here's a diverse list of pros to follow from Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and more.

Cuban writer + film critic Monica Castillo shares five techniques to regain your Spanish fluency. It can be very challenging to stay bilingual. Just like Monica, Spanish was my first language but over time I've gotten pretty rusty since I don't speak the language every day. How about you?

YouTube is developing a range of Spanish-language titles for its YouTube Premium service. Mexican actor/director/producer Gael Garcia Bernal (if you haven't seen him in Mozart in the Jungle - I suggest you get on it!) and Colombian reggaeton singer and songwriter Maluma are among the stars they've lined up.

Latinos are starting companies at a faster rate than any other ethnic group in America. That's why Marlene Orozco, lead research analyst for the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, is collecting and analyzing a growing database of close to 2 million Latino-owned companies in the U.S. and conducting an annual survey that includes about 5,000 entrepreneurs. The program, which already has 450 graduates, also has a six-week executive education course for promising Latino business owners from around the country. Cohort members work online, have access to mentors and each other, and spend 3 days at Stanford GSB, where they present a pitch deck to capital providers. Pa'lante!

SPOTLIGHT SERIES:

In case you're new to the newsletter, we celebrate a different Latinx-owned project or business in every issue.

"Therapy for Latinx" is a database of resources, practitioners, and stories of mental health, healing, and advocacy - created by web designer Brandie Carlos. It's estimated that there are 8.9 million Latinx people in the U.S. that live with a diagnosable mental illness, but only 10% actually seek specialized mental health treatment. The reason for this disparity? A lack of culturally competent therapists who've been trained to be respectful and understanding of diverse patients' cultures. I love this - thank you Brandie for doing this important work. Go check it out now: therapyforlatinx.com.