A little over a month ago, I was in New Orleans for a conference. I took an Uber to the airport when I was leaving and the driver was a Latino guy. I had not been in New Orleans for many years, and did not recall seeing many Latinos the last time I was there. I asked the driver if there were a lot of Latinos living in New Orleans, and he said “there is now”. When I asked him to explain, he said that Latinos came to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina to help rebuild the city and many of them stayed. Today, Latinos in New Orleans are part of the fabric of the city’s local economy and are provide a foundation to its workforce and consumer base. This is a story that can be told for many of America’s great cities. The book Barrio America by A. K. Sandoval-Strausz chronicles how Latinos created the foundation that ultimately led to the revitalization of the now thriving downtown neighborhoods of Chicago and Dallas.
As experts ponder how America will pull itself out of the COVID-19 recession, one thing I know for certain is that Latino workers, homebuyers, and entrepreneurs will be at the epicenter of America’s renaissance. As this scenario comes to pass, I will use this blog and my upcoming podcast to share stories and help document this phenomenon. In fact, we all need to use our respective platforms to make sure that the contributions Latinos make in bringing America back don’t go unnoticed.
There are qualities in our community that no data point can fully capture, but this episode is about one of the biggest: grit. I talk about why perseverance, resilience, family, and purpose have always been among the greatest strengths of Hispanics and Latinos, and why those strengths can be a powerful advantage in a world being reshaped by technology, wealth, and access. But grit alone is not enough. If we want to translate all of that talent and determination into lasting economic and political power, we also need stronger networks, better platforms, and more intentional leadership. The opportunity is real. The question is whether we are ready to organize around it.
For years, we’ve been told that mass deportations would mean more jobs and higher wages for U.S.-born workers. But this episode looks at why the opposite may actually be happening. I break down new research showing how immigrant and U.S.-born workers often play complementary roles in the labor market, why removing one group can hurt the other, and how these policies may be making labor shortages, housing challenges, and economic instability even worse. This is a conversation about jobs, economics, and the unintended consequences too many people still refuse to confront.
Something important is shifting, and this episode is about why it matters. For a young and fast-growing community like ours, the rise of AI may be opening doors that were previously harder to reach — not by eliminating every barrier, but by expanding access to knowledge, tools, and opportunity at a scale we’ve never seen before. But access alone won’t determine who wins. This moment calls for strategy, community, and a serious commitment to turning potential into power. The opening is real. What happens next depends on what we do with it.