Empowering Latina Leadership & Action
Empowering Latina Leadership & Action
Published March 15, 2023 On a Friday evening in downtown Sunnyside, 20 or so women, most of them mothers and grandmothers and all Hispanic, sat inside a narrow classroom. Notepads, binders and writing utensils rested on their desks. The women were discussing topics that are as taboo as they are a part of their daily life — sexism and machismo. Their heads turned toward the back of the room to Teodora Martinez, who is part of ELLA, a group that organized the class. “How many of you have been in an airplane,” she asked in Spanish, “when you’re sitting there about to take off and they start going through safety guidelines, whose mask do they tell you to put on first, especially when you have kids with you? Maria Magaña, one of the women in attendance, responded: “In our church, they taught us to put the mask on our husbands first. … We were told they’re our second half. We can have more kids, but we are bonded to our husbands, we are taught to
ELLA’s mission is to help increase Latina representation as key decision-makers across all sectors of our community. As it stands now, what we see in most businesses, organizations and institutions is Latinas as front-line service providers. We run storefronts and front offices. Upon entering most establishments, we are the first point of contact for customers or clients. But the higher up the chain of command or hierarchy, the less likely we are to be seen. Why? Because Latinas are rarely represented in management and executive roles. Without Latinas, most workplaces would not function properly. We are covering every minute detail to ensure customers and clients are served well, we guarantee businesses and organizations are managed efficiently, and we make sure that managers and executives have what they need to “lead”. Latinas are in the trenches, laboring from the belly of the beast, but rarely directing from the ivory towers. Most Latinas are quite capable of leading based on work experience alone, but we are also earning college degrees at a faster rate than many other
There is no better working environment than that of like-minded Latinas who share the same principles of making a positive impact and reducing racism, sexism, and homo/transphobia in our shared communities. There is empowerment just being in the presence of other strong Latinas who make it their life’s mission to help improve the living conditions of others around them. There are many approaches to working towards social justice and it seems that every little bit of that progressive work should be looked upon with collective respect and appreciation. But often, the good intentions of those who dedicate their time and effort to social justice work are met with skepticism and suspicion by the very community of people they’re trying to help. We refer to the most extreme cases of this as the “crabs in the bucket” mentality, “if I can’t have it, neither can you”. This is even more troubling when that mentality comes from other Latinas, particularly our Latina elders. Generational differences have often caused riffs within local social justice movements. It seems more
"CHINGONA" By Melanie Vigil-Gutierrez aka Chicana 702 with Chicano Poet Society “Ok so you fell on your face! You’re just going to sit there and bleed? Cry and analyze your steps Is that really what you need? Get up! Stop crying! Dust yourself off Speak no word about How you fell! Why you fell! Just dust yourself off! Don’t be mad there is no one to blame! You may have tripped over your pride Just watch your next steps So you don’t ever repeat the same! No one is going help you up But that’s because God believes you’re strong enough to do it alone. No need to call for help You’re a Chicana Woman full grown! It’s ok that you’re hurt That only means you have a heart But that’s a temporary pain It only feels ripped apart But if you stop crying and take a deep breath You will hear it’s still beating strong and in rhythm deep in your chest! In fact you are ok Ten more steps and that fall will be
Yakima Herald Republic - Guest Editorial Guest Opinion: Ninfa R. Gutierrez The high rate of Covid-19 infections among the Latino population in Yakima County didn't take me by surprise! Knowing well that poor dissemination of news in Spanish still exists, it was just a matter of time before we would see the adverse effects on our community. KDNA 91.9 FM Public Radio is a Spanish language station where I've worked as a volunteer for 40 years. My work consists of producing community programs and sharing information of interest for the advancement of our farmworker community. I have interviewed politicians and representatives of state agencies covering different issues on healthcare, employment, unemployment, education, housing, citizenship, etc. In late January, those of us that are bilingual Spanish/English began hearing about the Coronavirus and how rapidly the virus was spreading. Since then, there has not been a single day that we don't learn something new about COVID-19. However, when compared to the rate of speed the English-speaking communities receive information, monolingual Spanish communities are still lagging in getting this
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