With the firm belief that Latino history is American history, the founding family members of Molina Healthcare have donated $10M to help launch a new wing of Smithsonian that will illustrate stories of how Latinos have contributed to American history. The inaugural exhibitions are set to open in 2021 and will feature rotating exhibits that examine how Latino culture has helped shape the United States. Molina, Inc is based in Southern California and a Fortune 500 company, founded in 1980 by Dr. C. David Molina. Members of congress and community leaders have been pushing for years for the Smithsonian to establish a Latino museum. For those of us who believe that the Latino brand has been unfairly maligned in recent years, this is an important milestone.
Latinos are the youngest demographic in America, with the highest workforce participation rate. We are young and we are not afraid of hard work. Our dedication to God, family, and country is of the highest level. We contribute a lot to this country, but I’m not afraid to say, we are still vastly underachieving as a community.
I think most Latinos would agree that at our core, we are a generous people. If a member of our family is in need, Latinos as a rule, won’t hesitate to help financially. Family is central to Hispanic culture: our generosity has few limits. Maybe that explains why when it comes to making political donations and writing checks in support of actual philanthropic activities, Latinos come up short….When I interviewed Barack Obama last year at NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE, I pressed him about politicians not prioritizing issues that are important to Latino voters, he politely pushed back by saying…
We hear frequently how Latinos are not a monolithic community. In other words, we are not all the same. We come from different countries, have a variety of political views, and even eat different foods. I get all of that, but I also think focusing constantly on our differences versus our similarities undermines our political and economic power as a community...