Recently we have seen the term Latinx emerge in our collective lexicon. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a gender-neutral term for Latinos and Latinas. In Spanish, the word Latino is used for men of Latin origin, and Latina is used for women of Latin origin; however, when referring to all people of…
Last week I was in Mexico for the first time in almost two decades. The reason I haven’t been in Mexico is a long story. My parents are both U.S.-born so my only experience with Mexico was visiting resort cities like Cancún and Mazatlán. I didn’t love those places and always felt that the party…
If you follow the news at all, you know that Hispanics are dealing with discrimination and other problems to a greater degree than in previous years. Yet despite the heartbreaking stories about families being separated, and the idiots who denigrate our contributions to the American condition (which all will pass someday soon), there has never…
This week I had the privilege of spending two days in L.A. with the Latino Donor Collaborative. I have written about the organization many times and one of the things they do is host intimate convenings where the highest ranking people in entertainment and business get together with the LDC board and discuss the primary…
John Kelly, the current WH Chief of Staff and former Secretary of Homeland Security made news this week when he said that most Mexican immigrants do not assimilate well into American culture because they are rural, unskilled and do not speak English. For these reasons, Kelly believes they should be kept from entering the country…
Some of you may know that I have been spending most weekends with Sol Trujillo planning and prepping for L’ATTITUDE, a seminal event that will bring together the largest collection of Latino movers and shakers ever assembled. Robert Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Oscar Muñoz, CEO of United Airlines, Governor Bill Richardson, Guillermo Diaz, CIO of Cisco,…
Ramiro Gomez, an artist and the teenage child of Mexican immigrants, is the subject of a short documentary produced for the Atlantic’s American Dreams series. Gomez paints murals of domestic laborers, like his parents, in and around Beverly Hills and other affluent neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Gomez says that people see the beauty of palatial homes and…
Several weeks ago, I mentioned that I had joined the board of the Latino Donor Collaborative – an organization started by Sol Trujillo that is focused on improving the narrative about Latinos in America. The board of the LDC looks like a “who’s who” of Latino executives and entrepreneurs including Linda Alvarado, the co-owner of…
A couple of years ago, I wrote a five-part blog named the “Nuevo Latinos.” The blog described a new generation of Latinos who were proud of their heritage but viewed themselves as part of the mainstream rather than some outlier faction of America. Most of these Latinos were U.S. born, but not all of them,…
Adela de la Torre, a UC Davis economist who has spent most of her career promoting better health among Latinos and social justice among students, was named as the first female and first Latina president of the California University. De la Torre earned her degrees from UC Berkeley. She believes SDSU can be among the…