WEBVTT - My Cultura Conversations: Our Voices, Our Stories, Our Experiences 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.960 Welcome and beam Minidos to this very special episode. Michael 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:11.479 Tuda conversations, our voices, our stories, our experiences. I'm your 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:13.880 host Wilmer about drama and I had the pleasure of 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.760 being joined by my friends Adam Luiggins, Stephanie Patrice, and 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.720 Jennica Lopez for a heartfelt conversation on latiniad. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:23.799 Listen as we shine. 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.720 A light on our culture, our upbringing, language, and what 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:30.480 we're hoping to build for the next generation of Latino creators. 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.800 I'm so excited we get to have a space to 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.839 recruit on culture, heritage, and you know the purpose of 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.599 this is to ultimately, you know, reach down into our 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.000 heart and just you know, really remember it and think 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.720 and trigger these emotions that kind of make our culture 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.720 so colorful. And on Hispanic Heritage Month, we thought it 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:55.720 was kind of excited to get us all here together, 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.080 enjoy some delicious Latin of food and talk a little 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.360 bit about our beginnings. You know, when our culture they 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.800 find who we were, and when our culture told us 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.640 that we could do anything. You know, basically, you know, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.680 we were always talking about this, when we've talked about 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.319 this before, that that's been the superpowered We'll always find 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.520 a way to get there, you know, so I wanted 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.720 to start. I'll start with the ladies, you know, Steph, 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:21.080 Maybe tell us a little bit about where you come from, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.040 what's your story, you know, and you know, give us 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.160 the moment when you realize your heritage was was special. 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.880 I mean, I was an immigrant to the United States. 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.440 I am an immigrant to the United States that came 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:35.200 when I was a little under too. My dad is 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.880 Columbia and my mom's Bolivian. They moved all around South 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.119 America when I was a kid, but then they landed 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.600 in Texas, and I think growing up in Texas was 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.960 really interesting for me because yes, I was Latina, I 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:51.840 am Latina, but also there were so many different kinds 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.680 of immigrant groups that my mom met in Houston because 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.720 of her connection to the Catholic Church, and so she 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.640 kind of created this community for us. And so my 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.200 sister and I were given the opportunity to see Latinidad, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.280 but like through the lens of a lot of our 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.560 family friends who immigrated from lots of different communities, and 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:18.240 like that was really strange and interesting, and so like 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.799 my upbringing became this kind of mishmash of like selectively 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.280 picked things that came from you know, like this food 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.120 from here, this tradition from here, this thing from here. 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.600 And especially because I grew up in Texas, I feel 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:36.160 so connected to Mexican culture, Mexican people, Mexican music, Mexican heritage. 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:38.440 But I'm not Mexican, but I love it. 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.560 So that's really tricky too write this idea that, like 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:46.359 you can be Latinal, love parts of it, but also 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.640 maybe sometimes feel like you don't belong to parts of it. 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.320 And for me it was really when I was maybe eight, 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.679 of Freedo Capolo exhibit came through the. 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.480 Art Museum in Houston, Houston ArtMuseum, and because it was 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:01.680 I mean I was eight, I. 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.720 Probably not should have was looking at it, you know what, because. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.200 We've all seen her art it's pretty intense. 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.720 But it was also this idea that this woman that 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.040 looked like me, that had tan skin and dark hair 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.480 and spoke Spanish and you know, became this world renowned artist, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.679 so world renowned that her work was traveling now all 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:23.200 over the world and. 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.079 Here were self portrass of her and she wasn't perfect, 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.600 and she had a unibrown and she had a When 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:30.560 I was a kid, I had scoliosis, and here she 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.400 was in her back brace from her from her. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.400 Accident, and that for me was really the moment, was 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:40.000 like wandering around the gallery and looking at these pictures 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.600 and then looking at the gallery full of people, all 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.760 kinds of people, looking how they were affected by what 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.000 she created from her own pain, from her own literal 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.200 physical pain and also her like mental journey that she 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.680 was on. And as a kid, I just remember thinking like, Wow, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.680 maybe this is for me. And so that was the 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.960 beginning of my journey as an artist. First I started, like, 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.000 you know, drawing pictures at home and stuff, and then 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:09.200 I started getting really into finding books in the library 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.040 that we are and then I started getting into like 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.560 reading plays by Latino play rights and were there any 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.599 and how can I find them? And am I just 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:18.880 looking for names? And you know, And at first it 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.760 is that sort of you're just like kind of looking 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.000 for anything, right. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.760 But yeah, that's sort of how it started for me. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.800 Is a very beautiful and common origin story for all 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.760 of us immigrants. When you come to a place and 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.599 you find another Latino community that takes you in and 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.400 invites you to the essence of what they are about. 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.120 And I think that's also very important, which also speaks 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.680 to who we are as Latinos in America, right, Like, 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.440 you know, we're bringing our flags, we're bringing our heritage, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.320 you know. Speaking of the Mexican culture, Jenaget, tell us 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.640 a little bit about you had a quite an interesting 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.279 upbringing and you were introduced to so many definitions, but 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.040 at the core, you know you you are a Mexican. 0:04:58.200 --> 0:04:59.720 So tell us a little bit about when you come 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.040 from and inherited to tell. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.760 Well, I'm born and raised in La Long Beach, specifically 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.640 where my mom was also raised, raised by a beautiful 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:13.160 Latin woman, strong, powerful. My grandparents also came where immigrants 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:17.320 they came. Was nothing from Mexico. My dad as well, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.880 he raised me He's from NIAI and I just feel 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.680 like all I had was family, you know, growing up, 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.279 Like that's all I knew. Even in school, like I 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:29.240 would gravitate towards to Latinos because I didn't feel like 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.680 I necessarily belonged in the other crowd. And I don't know, 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.960 it was just growing up. It made me feel so 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.839 proud because I saw how my grandparents came. My mom 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.159 worked her whole life to bring us to this position. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.520 That we are now. We had, you know, obviously reality 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.559 TV we were in. We had a lot of different 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.920 opportunities and thankfully my mom worked quite frinkly her whole 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.039 life for my siblings and I were a family of five, 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:58.520 so and she was a single mom, so it was 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:03.440 never easy for her because she was always bullied as well. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.880 She had difficulties, and I think that's my main inspiration, 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:11.400 like she definitely rose up from nothing, and with me, 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.040 I saw it in the back end. A lot of 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.400 people just kind of see when we're in this light 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.160 or kind of as artists, like people only see a 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.680 certain picture and it's like, no, I get. I had 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:23.800 the privilege of seeing what she went through, and I 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:25.640 kind of wanted to give that to people as well, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:27.000 Like it's not easy. 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:28.080 I had lost. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.000 Both my parents super young. I felt like I couldn't 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.839 relate to anybody. And especially with Latino culture, you're not 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:38.840 necessarily allowed to express yourself or be vulnerable. It's kind 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:40.800 of like get up and do it, which to a 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.000 certain extent that's totally and work wise, I feel like 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.280 it's allowed. But when it comes to emotions, I feel 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.880 like it's a sensitive subject. For me, it's like, I 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.799 want to be able to talk about what I'm feeling. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.800 So that's where I kind of got that inspiration to 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.279 just speak for Latinos and help people, at least in 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.000 my generation, like it's okay to talk about your feelings 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.279 and to say I love you, or to raise your 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.320 children this certain way, or be there for your family 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.479 and kind of just be that guidance for this, you know, 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:10.520 specific generation. 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.040 Do you think that's some of that crossroads of being 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.880 Mexican and American and at the same time, you know, 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.800 also allowed you to create that skill that we're like 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.320 you weren't really allowed to talk about vulnerabilities as a Latino, 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.680 you know, but then you come to America and you're like, oh, 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:27.200 but you know, I feel like I have a freedom 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:29.000 to kind of like stretch a little bit. You feel 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:30.840 like that was kind of moment. I feel like it's 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.520 a defining moment for this new generation exactly. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:36.200 And I feel like, at least for myself, like I 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:39.760 feel like Latinos and Mexicans specifically are very united in 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.080 a sense. Everybody holds their hand like Okay, you're part 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.720 We're part of each other, Like let's help each other. 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.600 And when it comes to like other groups or Americans, 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:51.920 and it's kind of just meshing it together, like Okay, 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.400 let's let's all be together. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:54.560 Let's all do this together. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.280 Like everyone struggles in certain ways and specific ways. Let's 0:07:58.320 --> 0:07:59.920 all help each other grow. 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:01.880 Yeah, that's awesome, Adam. 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:05.200 Yeah, that's the hope, right, That's that's what we should 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.480 be doing. You know. For me my experience, I'm actually 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.680 my my mother's side, I'm already third generation American in 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.600 this country. And then on my father's side, my father 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.800 was first generation his parents, mother from Cuba, father from 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.440 Puerto Rico. So I had a different experience. You know, 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.320 I watched these people sort of that were my father especially, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.880 you know, being first generation and working hard to prove 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:30.120 something and to assimilate into the culture here in America. 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.880 And at that time for me, were I was in 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.319 New York, I bounced back and forth between the Bronx 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.880 and then a suburb called New City, which is about 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.840 thirty minutes outside of the Bronx, And so I got 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.600 a taste of two very different worlds whure growing up. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.280 And it was a beautiful thing because you know, they're 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:51.040 in the Bronx. Everybody, everybody lived in the same house. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.920 There was a three family house basically, and on each 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.400 floor was an apartment, and you know, somebody in my 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:58.320 family lived on each of those floors, and so it 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.640 was like grand central station. They didn't you could be 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.760 with my great grandmother, who didn't speak in English at all, 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:05.880 or I could be with my grandmother on the top 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.280 of my aunt in the middle. You know. Spent a 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.440 lot of time in that house around a big mix 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.080 of different people, but for the most part, everybody was 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.320 either black or Latino, and it was a beautiful place 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.199 to be because the common denominator was love. And then 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.319 up in Rockland where I lived, there was predominantly white community. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:28.280 And in my elementary school, I mean there were probably 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:32.000 five kids of color myself and my sister included, you know, 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.240 maybe eight if I'm going to stretch it out. But 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.240 so it was a very different environment and it was 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.320 great because I got exposure to different types of people, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:44.319 different cultures, big exposure of Jewish culture. A lot of 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.719 kids at that school were Jewish, and it opened my 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:48.280 eyes to the thing that I've tried to take with 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.040 me for the rest of my life, Like my culture 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.640 instilled in me a love for people, a love for family, 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:58.599 a love for being together, showing affection for music, for 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:03.240 beeing loud, and and not holding back about being either 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.120 angry or happy. I mean, if you want to go, 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.760 let it loose. You know, That's how it was, you know, 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:09.920 in the environment I grew up in. And I'm glad. 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.120 I'm grateful for it because it's it's been healthy in 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:13.719 my life. If I got something on my mind, I'm 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:15.880 going to get it off my chest. If I'm happy, 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.240 you're going to know it. If I'm not, let's get 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:19.959 past it. You're going to know it. But let's get 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.120 past it so we could get back to the love 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.559 part of it all. What I did see, my father 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.800 was heavily involved in the Puerto Rican community in New York. 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.800 A lot of organizations. It's one called Somo Sono that 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:35.320 he was involved with heavily and just always worked towards 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.200 in you know, jobs where he was doing his best 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.800 to help the community, whether I was in hospitals. He 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:43.439 practiced law for a little while. He went and he 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.400 moved to Boston for some years and got a law degree. 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.480 But you know, when I think about all the things 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.520 that mattered to me, you know, because language, I didn't. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.480 I didn't learn to speak Spanish growing up. You know, 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.760 both my parents spoke it. They spoke it to each other. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.080 They were at work all the time. By the time 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.800 they got home from work, the day was pretty much done, 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.480 and trying to teach us Spanish was just not on 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.840 the agenda. And you know, and at that time, I 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.000 think there was a feeling that it was you know, 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.800 culture wasn't celebrated the way that it is now, the 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.760 same way, and so it was like a little stigma. 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.040 You know, we don't want you to have an accent. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:18.679 We don't want you to you know, there was there 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.520 was this thing about assimilating, and so none of my friends, 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.080 we all spoke English. Everybody was you know for the 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.040 most part, and I didn't have any friends that weren't 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.040 born in the States. 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.400 We are old enough and young enough right to remember 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.760 the one generation that says in America you speak English, 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.440 and then those parents are like English, and then this 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:49.679 new generation is like. 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.120 Where is my Spanish? That's what I want to do, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.240 you know, I think the difference there. I mean for 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.600 me as I grew up and why I've tried to 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.520 improve my Spanish over time, and it's gotten better. It's 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.280 still sad, but it's gotten better. But you know, it's 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.320 interesting about the journey of it was that for a 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:08.080 long time I felt guilty about it because you run 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.040 into people you know right away to speak Spanish, and 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.280 you know, this spit a little bit that I get 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.800 as far in the conversation as you know, as I'm 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.480 capable of, and then and then there was always that 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.440 look of disappointment like either your parents did a bad job, 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.960 or where you're not really you're not really Latin, you know, 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.600 you know, you know, you know, whatever the feeling was, 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.880 and I remember, it's not a good feeling, but it 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.680 helped me because what I learned from it was like, 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:38.080 wait a minute, I'm actually American. I was born here. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.200 You don't say to some kid whose last name is Schmidt, like, hey, 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.560 whw's your German? Right? You know, guarantee doesn't speak German, 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.720 you know, or somebody with an Italian surname or whatever 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:50.840 it is. And I just it actually made me stand 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:52.960 up for myself and realize the reason that I wish 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.720 I knew how to speak Spanish is the same reason 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:56.480 I wish I knew how to speak ten other languages. 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.200 To communicate with people, to bond with people, to share 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:02.160 an experience, communicate my thoughts or my feelings and have 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.640 it be understood in a language that's familiar to somebody. 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.520 And part of that lesson, and I'll tie it back 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.880 to my great grandmother who didn't speak a word of English, 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.000 but we adored each other. I learned that communication the 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.880 most important part of communication. You know, the language of 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.560 your colonizer, whether it's English, French, Spanish or whatever, is 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:25.080 really inconsequential. It's a wonderful thing to have an incredible tool. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:29.320 But I stopped. I stopped associating the language itself with 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.199 my culture because I felt like the language really doesn't 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.400 have as much to do with the culture as people 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.160 like to believe. It's how you live your life. It's 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.680 how you treat your family and the things you do 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.320 to celebrate life itself and whatever that tongue is. Yeah, 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.040 God blessed me. You speak Spanish. I'm wonderful. Let's speak Spanish, 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.320 you know. And if you run across somebody doesn't speak it, well, 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:52.360 be kind and you know, and find a way to connect, 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.720 because it's just about the connection, you know, that's all 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.360 people are looking for. It's like, oh my god, oh Mexican, Mexican, 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.719 Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican. At the end of the day, 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.160 I'm at the point of my life. I don't give 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.120 what you are. Really, that's not what's important to me. 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.360 What kind of personally when we come, when we sit 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.720 across the table, you know, how do you treat the 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.679 people around you? How do you treat the people in 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.240 your space? Then if we have all these other things 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.080 that we can share, wonderful. But for me, I don't 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.440 start there, you know what I mean. I don't start 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:21.200 or finish there. 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.280 No, that's a wonderful sentiment too. What do you think 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:24.680 I mean? 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:26.360 I think I went through something similar. 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:31.160 I mean my parents were really adamant that we try 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:33.680 to assimilate. I think, you know, and I don't think 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.360 they use that language, but they spoke English. 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:38.640 With us as much as possible in the house. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.080 My sister really didn't speak any Spanish at all. 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.960 Growing up. I spoke of my first language. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.400 And then you know, speaking to like connection. Last year, 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.560 my dad passed away, and right before he passed, my 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.680 aunt came from Columbia. She was there for a week 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.680 before he died, and she loves to cook. 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:58.280 She loves to bake. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.960 She was making tons of food my sister ups to bake. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.240 And by the time my aunt left, maybe like a 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.560 month and a half later, my dad was gone already. 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.360 She was gonna go back to Columbia. We convinced her 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:14.200 to stay for another like month in La and I 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.680 overheard her and my sister in the kitchen like in 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.680 this kind of mixed bag of like little bits of Spanish, 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.400 little bits of English, and. 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.280 It really took I think it took. 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.600 My dad dying and losing that connection to our family 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.520 and seeing her aunt there for her to sort of 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:34.880 pick herself up by her bootstraps and go like I 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.120 got it. Try, I gotta try, even if it's you know, 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:43.240 quote unquote trash, right, yes, because it's so scary, so scary, 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.440 and your whole family's like getting you know, like everyone's 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:48.800 making fun of you or whatever, and it's such a 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.080 That's why with my cousins, I really try to encourage them. 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:53.960 With my own kid, I'm going to try to encourage 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:57.120 her to learn Spanish. Wants to I think I mean 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.440 talking about like, oh, I get too deep into it, 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.120 but like there's some languages that when you think of 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:06.240 them that is like beautiful, romantic, and I don't think 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:11.000 Spanish always has that attached to it. For however, many reasons. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.600 We can do a whole nother podcast, but I think 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.920 for me, I want to create that sort of like 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:23.080 beauty around the language, and if that's something that I 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.520 can tap into and connect with, then that's really cool. 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.880 It's such a shame that our parents felt like it's. 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:32.320 Survival, right, It's vital. 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:34.840 You have to you have to do it. 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.440 Yeah, you gotta do what you wanna do. I don't 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.280 want you to be behind. I don't want you. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.960 To like and do it the and the sake of survival. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.040 I just my perspective is so crazy because it's like 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:45.640 the flip. 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:45.880 Right. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.040 I didn't know how to speak English, right, so I 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:51.720 came to I'm Colombian Venezuelan right. I was born in Miami, 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:53.480 but when I was three years old, my parents moved 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.640 back to Venezuela and I was raised in Venezuelanta. 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:56.360 I was fourteen. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:58.960 Now, back then that Moliva and the dollar were like 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.360 almost wanting one because the oil and everything in Venezuela 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:03.360 was thriving. So my dad moved back where the work 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.040 was so we left the United States. 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:06.640 My dad and my mom met there. 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.359 My dad like he swears that he speaks English, you know, 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.840 and like he definitely, you know, he definitely gets the 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:14.840 groceries at home, you know. 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.400 Yeah, he don't get by, you know, definitely, he definitely 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:19.720 brought the food home. 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:21.879 So I think obviously something worked all on the way. 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:23.160 And my mom just. 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.040 Doesn't speak English. When I came to the United States, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.480 that was my first job to learn how to speak 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:32.000 English desperately. But I had the craziest accent at fourteen 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.200 fifteen years old, right, And like so when you think 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:40.120 about that, you think people also somehow stereotyped an accent 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:44.480 with like your inferior you're on educas you know, and 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:45.880 Niven put on the box, you know. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.960 When it's the opposite, right, and she's like, this person 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.000 knows two languages. Damn. It's like what there is something 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:51.600 I was crazy? 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.960 Like when I came to the United States. For two 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.240 years after I had arrived, I was getting straight a's 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.680 in every class and I didn't hard to speak English 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.520 and people like, how, like you're obviously cheating, and I'm. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.760 Like, no, they're not cheating. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.040 And what happens is that in Latin America at the 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:12.919 academic levels, I had already learned what they were teaching 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.040 me at like sixth and seventh grade two years prior 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.200 to that. So I was seeing it all over again 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:19.920 like two years eight or and I was like, oh, 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:21.919 I kind of already know this, but I'm not on 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:22.679 the speak English. 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:24.800 That sounds about right for our education. 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.639 But the point is that, you know, I was told 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.199 and you know you got to speak English, right and 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.240 I and so I learned to speak English right away. 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.159 I was able to keep the Spanish and Spanish in 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.920 my first language. But then the contradiction when you become 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.119 an artists. But like, if you're on TV at the 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.639 time where I started, you're not supposed to have an 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.080 accent if you're if you're a Latino, no matter what 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.080 color you are, you speak perfect English when you're on television. 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.280 Now you allow yourself to have colors in film and television, 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.520 you know. So I'm curious for you all as artists, 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.160 what was that one moment. I know the Feta really 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.840 inspired you. I wonder what was that moment where you 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.800 said like, oh, that's me, that's like who I am, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.640 no matter which you know, what version or what level 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:08.720 of Latino we are and that's not golor levels, but 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.080 like where I'm at in the in the in the 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.800 Latino meter. This is not only me, but I identify 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.760 as it in that culture. Is there a moment then 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.439