Youth Radio - Topic: Latino

Writing Sweet Valley High, “But For Brown Kids”

rgee — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:02:45 -0500

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Writer Malin Alegria's first novel, "Estrella’s Quinceanera", covers familiar territory for anyone who’s ever been fifteen, and a girl, and battled with her mother. Still, the fact that the sassy protagonist is Mexican American makes her a novelty in young adult fiction.

The original idea for "Estrella’s Quinceanera" came from a publishing house. Alegria was commissioned to write a book that would reach Latino teens. The book centers on a quintessential coming-of-age experience for many Latinos; the traditional party that happens when a girl turns 15.

But some of the archetypes in the narrative dreamed up by Alegria’s non-Latino editors... sounded like they’d been dreamed up by non-Latino editors. For instance, they described a character who sounded Dominican, from the upper West Side in New York, but whose family owned a Mexican restaurant. Alegria said to a certain extent, she knew she had to work with the stereotypes the publisher presented to her. "There were some details that I accepted from them and others that I totally ignored. Because I thought that if I was going to write a quince story I was going to just write the craziest story I could think of, with the girl having to wear a secondhand dress, that was her cousin's that was made in Tijuana….her family was forcing her to do this, but she really didn’t want to."

For someone who was raised by radical Chicano parents in the 70s, Alegria is sanguine about the compromises she made in this “collaboration” with the publisher. She said she tried to be as subversive as possible, inserting references to Cesar Chavez and Aztec dance, while still making sure to write with mass audiences in mind. "I had this cholo cousin in El Centro," she said, "and he called me and said, 'Ay Malin, I saw your book at Walmart! You're right by the washing machines.' I’m like, 'Yes! Walmart!'"

It is one of the best placements an author can get, especially if they’re trying to reach rural communities that don’t have many brick and mortar booksellers, or Kindle buyers. But Alegria has also found enduring success through overwhelming grassroots support. Around the country, librarians and teachers raise money so their Latino students can experience literature, and authors, with a familiar story. They fly Alegria into town to speak to auditoriums and libraries packed with students. She dresses up in a ruffled quinceanera dress, white gloves, and a tiara, and acts out the book's characters for her readings.

In small Texas border towns like Macallen and Pharr, Alegria gets a rock star's welcome - an uncommon experience for an author who’s not J.K. Rowling. When Alegria arrives, she’s greeted by handmade posters made in her honor, and school marquees trumpeting her visit. These readings are organized by people like Nora Galvan, the library coordinator for a South Texas district that’s about 98 percent Latino. Galvan said both young men and women pack auditoriums and libraries to see her read from the book.

"She actually talks to the kids about what inspired her to be an author, and what the process of writing is, which is one of our assessments here in the state of Texas," Galvan said, "and then she talks about her experiences and how they can put that into words, and how they can become authors if they so desire. "

A recent Northwestern University study found that the print reading habits of young people of color are virtually the same as whites. But Galvan said many of her district’s students are reading below their grade level. Also, most are bilingual. They're hungry for stories like Alegria’s, that reflect this proficiency, Galvan said. "Every other word, Spanish English Spanish English. 'Mama, voy a mi house,' 'I wanted to go en mi carro'…just mix everything. The way (Alegria) writes is the way we speak in this area," Galvan said.

Some of Alegria’s chapters open with a glossary that, with a wink, introduces the words and phrases that are common to bilingual kids like 13-year-old fan Amanda Cevallos. "Like, 'chola' – the definition was like, 'big hair and hoop earrings'…it’s kind of true!," she said. "I just never find that in a book, so it’s pretty cool."

Cevallos is Dominican and Mexican, and has navigated diverse groups of friends in public and private school in the San Francisco Bay Area. There aren’t many mainstream representations of Latinos that resonate with her cross-cultural experiences.

That’s not so different from a decade ago, when Alegria was using her coming-of-age stories for a stand-up comedy act. Stereotypical Latinos predominated in pop culture; “machista” womanizing fathers, and bad boy cholos.

Alegria’s parents had tried to counteract influences like these by immersing their kids in indigenous culture. But as a kid, Alegria said, she was ashamed to tell her parents that it was difficult for her to share in their sense of pride. "I was embarrassed of living in the Mission District...growing up feeling too dark for the boys to like, or that my clothes were not new enough. All of these insecurities are what I use in my writing now...to educate and also affirm for young kids, that it's ok to shop at the flea market, and have parents who are working class, and to be dark skinned and still love yourself."

These kind of affirmations weren’t available for Alegria back in the day. Not on her bookshelf, at least, where the characters that reigned supreme were the alpha blondes of Sweet Valley High. "I really believed that was what American life is like," Alegria said, "having a twin sister, having a cute boyfriend with a red convertible; and I needed to have this experience to be an American."

Now, Alegria has one of the biggest vehicles in young adult fiction to rewrite the American experience. Scholastic Books has commissioned her to write a four-book series for Latino teens. In fact, she says it’s pretty similar to Sweet Valley High, but for brown kids.

Alegria didn’t set out to be a writer. But she says when she hears from young fans that they recognize themselves in her stories, it feels like she’s arrived at her calling. This, she says, is why her grandmothers crossed the border.

This story also aired on NPR's Morning Edition.

Love Can Bring Us Together

wilmer — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:57:11 -0500

This commentary originally aired on WAMU, American University Radio in Washington, D.C.

By Maria Snellings

On a recent Saturday morning at Eastern Market, I ran into a classmate, who greeted me and then asked in a whisper, “What are you doing with all these white people?” I nearly laughed at her boldness. “They are my family,” I answered.

With pride, I added that my mom’s side was visiting from Texas and I was tasked with showing them around Washington. But, I get why our family reunion must have looked so strange to her. A group of white people with two token people of color?

My brother and I met when I was three. He and I aren’t related by blood but we come from the same orphanage in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Our mom says it took me a while to warm up to her. She thinks it’s because she was the fourth woman who was introduced to me as “Mom.”

My birth mother loved me but was too sick to take care of a child. So off I went to an aunt. But she was too poor to take care of me, so I was sent on to the orphanage. There, a woman I called “Mom”, looked after me until I was adopted by a loving woman I now call “Mom," a white American from Texas.

Trans-racial adoptions have caught more than just my classmate’s attention. In the 1980s, social worker Estela Andujo followed 60 Mexican-American orphans who had been adopted by either Mexican-American or Anglo families. She found that children raised by white families did not identify with the Mexican-American community but those raised by Latino families did.

More recently, an article in Latina Magazine presented the commonly held idea that adopting Latino children is “less traumatic for them when they can be matched with a Latino family.”

My experience, regardless of whether I was raised by a white, black or Latino family, was traumatic simply because I had been introduced to four different mothers. Being told someone is your mom when you think you already know who your mom is, is disconcerting, especially for a child. Every time I found comfort with each of my first three mothers, I was passed on.

It’s undeniable that being adopted and raised within another culture or race affects a child’s perception of herself and the way she connects with her heritage. But who’s to say the result is negative, especially when the outcome is love.

These commentaries by D.C. area teens are part of a collaboration between WAMU's Youth Voices program, Youth Radio and the Latin American Youth Center.

Hard Knocks, Good School

Stuck.Mute.Frustrated

denise — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:01:13 -0600

Wonder what it’s like to feel like a stranger in your own backyard? Check out this video from Youth Radio DC at the Latin American Youth Center about navigating life in the U.S. when you don’t speak English.

Previously:

Latino Youth at Crossroads

denise — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:38:50 -0600

A National Survey on Latino youth was released Friday by the Pew Hispanic Center. The study found that many Latinos have attitudes that contradict their behavior. For example, Latino youth care about education, hard work, career success, and are optimistic about their futures. However, they are also more likely to drop out of school, live in poverty, and become teen parents than other American youths. They also have high levels of exposure to gangs.

The survey was conducted on Aug 5 through Sept 16, 2009 and questioned 2,012 young people, ages 16-25. The study found that Latinos are not only the largest minority population in the U.S, but also the youngest. One-in-five school children in the U.S. are Latino and one-in-four newborns is Latino. These numbers alone, show that young Latinos will shape the kind of society American becomes in the 21st century.

The survey compared Latino youth of different backgrounds. It compared foreign born with native born, and first generation to later generations (second, third and higher).

98 percent of native-born Latino youth are twice as more proficient in English and 59 percent of them are enrolled in high school or college. Native born youth are also twice as likely as foreign born youth to have ties to a gang or to have gotten into a fight or carried a weapon in the past year.

The study also looked at teenage mothers (18-19-year-olds). It found higher percentages of first generation teen moms than those of other generations.

The survey also asked the young people if they preferred to be referred to as Latino, Latina, or Hispanic. (Using the word Latino or Latina allows you to identify the gender of the person opposed to Hispanic—which represents a whole group without any gender specifics.) According to the survey 52 percent of the young people preferred identifying themselves to their family’s country of origin. While 20 percent were satisfied with Latino or Hispanic.

The data represents a reality check about the Latino community -- at least for me. As a young Latina, I can’t help but to look at the groups that describe me—foreign born and first generation. The data about these groups shows the many obstacles they face in their environment. It drives home for me that people like me believe in the American dream and have a lot of ideals, but have a hard making those dreams a reality.
Previously:

Wal-Mart's New Plan To Target Latinos

denise — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:24:11 -0500

Companies are becoming more creative with how they market to the Latino community.

MSNBC aired a report called “We the People” about the 45 million Latinos in the United States. The report shows that companies are desperate to get a piece of the $1 trillion we spend. Wal-Mart already targets Latinos by honing in on the concept of family in their commercials. The company uses the slogan, “Para su Familia, de todo Corazon. Siempre." -- "For your family, from the heart. Always."

Now, Wal-Mart is taking that concept to a higher level. Wal-Mart is attempting to convert two of their stores into supermercados—grocery stores that carry products used in authentic Latino dishes. The retail store is planning to push this project in Phoenix and Houston.

According to the Food Marketing Institute, Latinos shop for groceries more than the average U.S. consumer. They buy more fresh produce and cook from scratch more often, and spend 20% more in the store than other consumers.

Looks like Wal-Mart has an eye on our wallets. I wonder what else Wal-Mart has planned.

Being Bilingual Is Not That Easy

denise — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:35:37 -0500

Now that 15.1% of the U.S. population is Spanish-speaking, there are plenty of advantages to being bilingual. But speaking both English and Spanish has its rough edges too.

Before coming to the United States I was learning how to speak, read, and write Spanish. But as soon as I crossed the border I was forced to learn English. It was frustrating and time consuming but it was something I had to do. For starters, my parents depended on me learning English so they could communicate through me. In order to make friends I had to speak their language, otherwise I was just another outsider. Once I was able to have a conversation in English, I became my parents’ personal translator. It was those experiences that convinced me that English was more important than Spanish. But the difficult part was going back and forth between the two languages, especially when I was surrounded by English speakers most of the time.

I use Spanish to communicate with my family members but since the majority of my cousins were born and raised in America, English is more natural and comfortable for us.

At home I speak Spanglish because I don’t like choosing between the two languages that represent who I am. It’s like leaving out butter or eggs when making cup cakes: every ingredient counts.

My mom wastes no time reminding me that I should concentrate on improving my Spanish, but improving my writing and reading is much harder than when I was learning English. I struggle with accent marks and learning when to use “ch”, “y” or “ll” because of their unique pronunciation. My mom is afraid that am decrease my opportunities if I don’t improve my Spanish. Based on a report by MSNBC, my mom is not the only parent who is constantly trying to figure out the best method for their kids to become fluent in both languages.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Inauguration Countdown: The Latino Ball.

noah — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:30:14 -0600

This story was produced in conjunction with MTV News.

Before the Latin fusion band, Yerba Buena, brought the funk, Representative Hilda Solis of California spoke some words of inspiration from the Presidential Stage. Solis was recently appointed by President-elect Obama to be Secretary of Labor (the first woman to hold this powerful position), and riled the crowd up with her Spanish rhyme, “! Se oye, se siente, las mujeres estan presente!”(“You hear it, you feel it, the women are here”).

After Solis’s speech, solo artist and lead singer of Yerba Buena, Cucu Diamantes, kicked off the group’s set with a welcome message to the President-elect,: “Oye Obama, bienvenidos a Washington”.

Although government representatives such as Hilda Solis and performers like Yerba Buena got a few cheers, there was no doubt about who got the crowd to push in their chairs and hit the floor: That’s right, it was Marc Anthony. As soon as J-Lo introduced her all-star hubbie, the ladies went wild and couples began to salsa. Even though Marc Anthony, the final performer, began almost an hour late, there was not a complaint to be heard; instead, the only sound besides the music was that of hundreds of voices, shouting “!si se puede!” in the background.

Check out more Inauguration photos on the Youth Radio Flickr stream.

See more from the Latino Ball at MTV News.

Santa Also Speaks Spanish

miguel — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:11:12 -0600

During Christmas season, who’s that chubby guy wearing a red suit, smiling, and saying, “Ho, ho, ho!” to hundreds of kids who approach him like ants at a picnic? The guy with the white beard and the big bag of toys? It is the man who perpetuates the magic and mystery of happiness. Yes, that is Santa Claus.

Every year, thousands of places are filled with children who are looking for Santa to give him their letter. A letter saying that they behaved well during the year and they ask for toys in return.

Everybody knows that in many places Santa speaks only English. However, I discovered that Santa does speak Spanish! And he makes thousands of Latino children and parents very happy knowing they can communicate with him.

Being close to Christmas Eve, Santa has been very busy. I scheduled the interview in advance hoping that the thousands of children waiting for him would not get mad at me. After all, everybody wants to know how Santa manages so much work.

At the beginning of the interview, Santa was in Georgia. He said he was arriving from his joyful job with the elves making new toys. After taking out his boots and grabbing a cup of hot cocoa he started telling me how his job started and why he loves Christmas so much.

“When I was a young man, I hated to shave my beard,” says Santa. Therefore, he started to let it grow and he liked it. It made him look original.

During Christmas time Santa loves the children’s visits. He counts about 200 to 400 visits every day. “Children’s ages go from 4 days old to 100 years old,” he says.

He also highlights the importance of speaking with children in their native language. “They feel more comfortable.” Santa speaks many languages, including Spanish. He says Latino children are very bright and he has found out that many of them are very polite. “It may be a cultural thing,” he said.

Santa recalls the recent experience where he made a Hispanic family very happy. The daughter approached him and he asked what she wanted for Christmas. “The girl did not understand and I asked her in Spanish the same question, her face lit up and she started requesting a lot of gifts.” Santa says the family was very surprised and started clapping because he was speaking Spanish.

In the middle of the interview Santa left saying he had to go visit the children in the West Coast. He apologized but said he would get back to me soon. After four days of waiting, I heard from him again. He was very polite and he told me about his experience with low income families.

“When I go to small cities like Yolo County, in northern California, me and Mrs. Claus get help from local merchants to make goodie bags for needy children, mostly Latinos.” After filling the bags with fruits, candies and small toys they go to the rural areas and visit the children of farmers—about 12-15 families in the county—who enjoy the visit of Santa at home.

Santa has noticed that many Latino children—mainly recent immigrants—do not understand much the purpose of visiting him. “One time a Latino child approached me and I asked what he wanted, he starred at the Christmas tree and said ‘I want candies.’ What else I said and he said ‘nothing else.”

Santa says when he is visiting children across the country he often encounters very difficult requests, “one girl asked me one time to bring his mom and dad together, that is something I can’t do, but I can offer my prayers.”

Santa has experienced also many funny stories, “one time a kid said ‘you have a foamy beard’ and I said, well why don’t you come and check if its foam, then he looked closer and said, ‘is growing right out your face,’”
Santa says among the most popular toys for Latino children are cars, trains and the Josefina Montoya doll. Santa says he does see a difference among the children who ask for gifts. Latino children tend to ask for less expensive toys. They will be happy with a car, a Thomas
train or a Barbie doll.

After all, the most important thing of the Christmas season is that everybody can share quality time with family and friends. Santa always recommends children to stay out of trouble, and be happy.

Again, Santa had to run back to work, but before he left he said, “Remember to keep the twinkle in your eye, and merry Christmas to all! Ho, ho, ho!”