👨🏻🙋🏽👱🏾🙎🏿👧🏻The Latinx Collective: Issue #19

THIS WEEK'S FIVE:

Boricua writer Ana Colón profiles 86 year old actress, singer and dancer Rita Moreno about her remarkable life - her perseverance, stubbornness, what it's like as a Latina to build a place for herself in Hollywood, and more. The Puerto Rican actress initially began acting in the 50s but it was the 1961 screen adaptation of West Side Story that really put her on the map. Moreno is one of only twelve performers to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony, among numerous other awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. Through the interview, I also found out she released a memoir in 2013 which I've added to my list of Latina-authored books!

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY?!💪🏽😜Around 4.4 million Latino-owned businesses in the U.S. contribute over $700 billion to the economy annually, according to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. This confirms the growing contribution and importance of the Latino-owned businesses in the marketplace. And keep in mind Latinx have still done this DESPITE the cultural, political and economic barriers put in our way here.

If you're a Latinx or person of color in the tech space, or you want to break in, you'll enjoy this Q&A with a Latinx software engineer who works at Slack, the billion dollar tech company. Coronel's parents immigrated to the U.S. in their 20's, earned degrees from schools like MIT and Columbia University, and eventually became educators at the high school and university level. Frances shares how and why she pursued a career in tech, and shared 3 pointers for young people who want to break into tech: 1.) Stay resilient 2.) Find your people and 3.) Respect others.

Writer Janel Martinez spoke to six different women about what it was like growing up identifying as Asian-Latinas. Asian communities have been migrating to Latin America since before the 1800s, which includes the Chinese and Japanese who settled in countries including Mexico, Peru, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Food is probably my favorite part of how our cultures have come together (see the last newsletter for the Pero Like video on a Japanese-Dominican chef). Last year while in Peru I tried Chinese-Peruvian food...I still think about it.

This is an inspiring story that you do need to check out, but I advise you eat lunch first or you'll be just as hungry as I am now. // When she was 13, Carolina ate a truly memorable hot dog with her uncle at a stand in Guasave, Sinaloa in Northwestern Mexico. It made a lasting impression on her senses. Now at 31 yrs old, Castro brings these hot dogs to Boyle Heights by way of a street food stand that opened three weeks ago called Los Dogis. I found the Instagram page here.

Spotlight Series:

Chef Zee is a Dominican-Cuban foodblogger + YouTuber from NYC who teaches you how to cook traditional Latinx foods, explains common meals and cooking terms that different cultures use, and shows you how to put a Latin spin on everyday meals. The video below is from her series on Dominican street food but she's got tons of other videos and recipes. Go check out her work on her website, Instagram and YouTube pages.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. If you've enjoyed it, share your feedback or use the thumbs below. If you find this valuable, consider forwarding it to friends, coworkers, family and allies, and sharing it on your social channels. If you do share, social accounts are here and here and feel free to check out the website.

💖Many thanks to subscriber Frances Coronel (software engineer, Slack) for the kind words. When I looked her up I saw her amazing interview in POCIT, which I shared above!

Thanks so much for your newsletter - it's so valuable to have it as a Latina in Tech working at a high-growth startup who is always looking for ways to stay uplifted and inspired by the latest and greatest developments in the Latinx community.