THIS WEEK'S SIX:

I love this so much:

We call it Bibaporru, Beep Vaporú, El Bic, El Bix, El Vickisito. In our community, Vicks VapoRub inspires a curious, nostalgic devotion — for its many nicknames and uses far more creative than relief for the common cold and muscle pain.

“If I say to someone, ‘Hey, bring me El Vah-po-ru!’ they’ll know exactly what I'm talking about,” said Luciano Roldan, 78, of El Sereno, who has been rubbing VapoRub all over, including up his nose, since he was a kid in the countryside of El Salvador.

Mysterious rash? Vivaporu!

Broken arm? Vivaporu!

Broken heart? Put Vivaporu on that, too.

Woww, talk about being an ally!

Oprah Winfrey is pitching in $2 million to help Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017. She said her donation was inspired by Broadway star and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is a New York native of Puerto Rican descent and co-founded the Flamboyan Arts Fund. One million dollars will support Puerto Rico's long term recovery needs, while the other half will go toward preserving the island's arts and culture.

Here's a shout out to all the immigrants, first generation kids and people of color who don't have trust funds or celeb parents to bribe their way into ivy league schools 😉 *raises hand*

Out of more than 40,000 people that apply to attend Harvard, only a little more than 2,000 get accepted. Congrats to Emilio De Leon, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who is showing the world what students of color and immigrant students are capable of doing when given a fair shot. Emilio - we're rooting for ya!

There's a new Latinx superhero coming in 2019 and the role will discuss mental health and multiple personality disorders.

Diane Guerrero, former co-star of Netflix's "Orange is the New Black," will portray cult comic book character Crazy Jane in Warner Bros.' live action series called Doom Patrol. It's a 13-episode straight-to-series order that begun production last year and will debut in 2019 on DC Universe, the joint venture of Warner Bros Digital Networks and DC Entertainment.

Cecilia Burgos spent 8 years in the Navy storytelling and after she completed her service came back to the Bronx to champion local businesses. Burgos shares some life advice with us based on her experience running her business and being in the Navy.

Nunez: What was your biggest lesson learned during that season of your life? 

Burgos: I learned so much about life, about myself and about work ethics in the military but the biggest lesson I learned was not to give up on things no matter how difficult they seem. In the military “no” is not an option. I had to do things that were tough even when I thought I wouldn’t be able to. You find a way to do it, and I had to dig deep inside myself a lot.

Ricardo “Rick” Ortega, co-owner of Kernel of Truth Organics (L.A.’s first exclusively organic tortillería, located in Boyle Heights) shares the process for making the perfect corn tortillas. Turns out that the secret to great tortillas is great masa, and the secret to great masa is nixtamalization, an ancient Mesoamerican technique that transforms hard-to-digest corn kernels into a nutritious (and delicious) staple grain.

SPOTLIGHT SERIES:

Im looking for more Latinx-owned companies/small business to spotlight here. Have any suggestions? Reply to this email! I'll also add them to our directory.

Appreciate you checking out this week’s issue. Forward this to friends or family so they can join you in celebrating the every day contributions the Latinx community is making. You can also:

• View the archive here

• Don’t forget we built this directory of Latinx business owners. Email your info if you’d like to be added. If you’re looking to hire or purchase products or services of any kind, browse the directory and buy directly from the businesses.

• Here’s a tweet you can post about us.

• If you share any of the articles from the newsletter on social media, tag us! We’re on Twitter as @latinxcollectiv & Facebook as @thelatinxcollective.