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Meet Amy Quichiz, the Vegan Latina Reclaiming Veganism for People of Color

Hispanic Lifestyle

Amy Quichiz sitting in the grass in front of a pink poster while holding her head in her hand and looking at the camera

By Katie Coss, Hip Latina

Planted within the intersection of veganism, scarce resources, and a college student budget, a self-identified queer Latina would turn an Instagram account for vegan recipes into a global community for vegans of color. Reaching a demographic of vegans unbeknownst to Amy Quichiz in 2017, this Peruvian and Colombian New York City native would create the foundation of a tribe of hundreds of women, trans, and non-binary people of color eating a plant-based diet through Veggie Mijas. Originally a shared space for vegans of color to circulate affordable recipes, Veggie Mijas is now a grassroots organization with over 11 active chapters across the country with the latest established chapter in Mumbai, India. In an effort to curate a support system for vegans of color, this collective strives to break barriers towards environmental justice and decolonizing one’s diet.

While this community continues to grow and vegan options become far more accessible, a lot more could be said about the Latinx community’s efforts towards building a far more sustainable future for our minds and bodies. Specifically, within the U.S. only 3 percent of Americans identify as vegan, on the contrary, Latin American countries like Mexico have 20 percent, self-identified vegetarians and vegans, according to Vegconomist. These statistics prove there is an evident disconnect between our Latinx plant-based roots and the current environment and eating habits of Latinx folks within the United States. While Veggie Mijas is not exclusive to Latinx folks, Amy and this community are building the bridge within that gap.

“I think honestly just getting together and having a group of vegans of color is so radical,” she said. Amy spoke to HipLatina on the ancestral significance of food within the Latinx community, shifting food to mindset, and the future of veganism by people of color.

Plant-Based Ancestral Practices
When thinking of veganism as a Latinx person, it has been complicated, like any other person of color, to find oneself within this rhetoric and lifestyle when the options for plant-based foods are geared towards American foods. Although veggie burgers can be delicious to vegan and non-vegan people alike, Amy highlights how critical it is to formulate your food options in ways that are traditional to your household. Particularly in reference to introducing veganism to her Latinx parents, Amy states “If you start eating things that are already vegan like for example rice, beans, avocado, with plantains, that is literally what we eat already so just finding ways that make sense for them has been helpful.”

Amy also notes how asking questions has allowed her family and herself to think outside of “white veganism” and back towards plant-based ancestral practices. “When I would ask my parents what did you used to eat in Colombia or in Peru before you came to this country, I was actually surprised by that answer because a lot of the food was either pescatarian or just more plant-based options than they would have eaten here,” Amy reveals. As the United States reaches the highest recorded rate of adult obesity at 42.4 percent, Latinx adults have an obesity rate of 44.8 percent, according to a report from Trust for America’s Health. Despite these staggering numbers, it is no surprise Latinx folks, as well as Black folks, have far more health issues than white Americans when a variety of socioeconomic factors are at also play. Alluding to the food deserts in Black and Latinx communities, Amy explains, “Really asking a lot of questions like what are the choices of food that are given to you? Are they really choices?….we question these things and then I feel like that gets closer to your ancestry practice.”

Click here to read the full article on Hip Latina.

How three Latina women let go from 9NEWS are helping change the journalism industry

BusinessHispanic Lifestyle

Former 9NEWS journalists (from left) Lori Lizarraga, Sonia Gutierrez and Kristen Aguirre.

By ELIZABETH HERNANDEZ, Denver Post

When model student Sonia Gutierrez was informed by her high school counselor in 2009 that college was out of the question because the young Colorado Latina lacked documentation, Gutierrez allowed herself an afternoon to sob, mourning the future she and her parents had worked toward their whole lives.

Then she got to work.

Gutierrez testified before the Colorado legislature in support of the ASSET bill, which passed in 2013 and allows qualifying students without legal status to pay in-state tuition rates. She shared her story with local journalists and was consistently disappointed in the coverage.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Well, of course. They don’t know what it’s like,’” said Gutierrez, now 30 and with permanent U.S. residency. “I have these white guys interviewing me about what it’s like to be here undocumented… I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see. I wanted to see stories told by my community — stories more fairly and truthfully representing what is happening. That was never going to happen unless people like us are doing that job.”

Gutierrez’s persistence paid off, landing her a 2012 internship at Denver’s 9NEWS, where she worked her way up to a full-time job, eventually meeting fellow Latina coworkers Lori Lizarraga and Kristen Aguirre.

However, the driving force behind Gutierrez’s journalistic pursuits — her family’s decision to come to America from Mexico when she was a baby and her struggle to obtain legal documentation — was thrown back in her face by 9NEWS, she alleged, when management told her she could only cover immigration-related stories if she disclosed her residency status in her reporting.

An article Lizarraga wrote for Westword last month laid out a story the three Latina reporters who were all let go by 9NEWS in the past year never imagined telling: allegations of discrimination in an industry that prides itself on holding others accountable and their dogged pursuit to tell their increasingly diverse community’s stories in spite of the obstacles in their way.

At a time when re-invigorated national conversations around racial justice are infiltrating industries across the country, Lizarraga’s disclosure rallied local Latina politicians, who called for meetings with the news organization; brought to light a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing from a major shareholder of 9NEWS parent company TEGNA alleging racial bias among top brass; and spurred TEGNA-wide change to the language the company’s journalists use when reporting on immigration.

“I look at these three women as my heroes,” said Rebecca Aguilar, president-elect of the Society of Professional Journalists and chair of SPJ’s diversity and inclusion committee. “We should be very proud of Lori for coming forward because she has told us the reality of what’s going on in that station and the realities of the news business. I believe in our SPJ Code of Ethics. We are not supposed to do people harm. What these managers have done to these three women is harm.”

9NEWS management declined a phone interview with The Denver Post and would not comment on the exits of Lizarraga, Aguirre and Gutierrez — the station didn’t renew their contracts — nor their allegations of discrimination, calling them personnel matters.

In a two-page statement, 9NEWS Director of Content Tim Ryan said the newsroom is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Recent efforts include a DEI committee, listening sessions with journalists of color, training on inclusive journalism practices and an upcoming diversity audit by a third-party researcher, Ryan said.

“While we are making progress, we know we have much more work to do,” Ryan wrote. “As with many things, some changes and improvements will happen quickly, and others will occur over time. Ultimately, we are committed to working with our employees and the greater Denver community on a holistic strategy and tangible actions that effectively enhance our culture and serve and represent our community.”

Click here to read the full article on Denver Post.

J-Lo, H.E.R. and Selena Gomez will headline a streamed concert to support Covid-19 vaccine distribution

Hispanic LifestylemusicPop Culture

Selena gomez photographed smiling at the camera wearing a pink turtle neck

By Alaa Elassar, CNN

Pop and rock stars are planning a global broadcast and streaming special to support equal vaccine distribution.

Hosted by Selena Gomez and featuring Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin, and H.E.R., the “VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World” will take place on May 8.

It will be a part of Global Citizen’s Recovery Plan for the World campaign to end the pandemic and help people recover. “The Concert to Reunite the World is celebrating the hope that COVID-19 vaccines are offering families and communities around the world,” Global Citizen said in a news release. “We are calling on world leaders to step up to make sure vaccines are accessible for all so we can end the pandemic for everyone, everywhere.”

The goal will be to “ensure equitable vaccine distribution around the world, tackle COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and celebrate a hopeful future as families and communities reunite after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine,” according to the international advocacy group.
Multiple organizations and political leaders have supported the concert, including the World Health Organization (WHO), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the State of California, the release said.
“I’m honored to be hosting VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World,” Gomez said in a statement. “This is a historic moment to encourage people around the world to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, call on world leaders to share vaccine doses equitably, and to bring people together for a night of music in a way that hasn’t felt possible in the past year. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Click here to read the full article on CNN.

A Rapper, Hitting His 30s, Reinvents Himself as a Scion of Spanish Pop

Hispanic Lifestylemusic

C. Tangana in front of blue curtains on blue carpet while wearing a blazer, colorful top, and a gold chain necklace

By Alex Marshall, New York Times

C. Tangana, one of Spain’s biggest rap stars, two years ago hit “a little bit of a crisis.” He was riding a wave of fame, known for provocative songs and equally provocative interviews. But he was fast approaching his 30s, he said in a recent Zoom interview and risked becoming one of those “cringe-y, embarrassing” rappers who act a decade younger than they are.

So C. Tangana — real name Antón Álvarez Alfaro — did a U-turn and decided to try his hand at other styles of music that he had loved since childhood, like flamenco and rumba, even Spanish folk.

“I was opening a window I’d kept closed,” he said, adding, “I assumed it would go wrong.”

Álvarez’s experiment appears to have paid off. In February, he released “El Madrileño,” an album that mixes traditional Spanish and Latin American styles, including rock, with electronic sounds and beats more familiar to his trap and reggaeton fans. It’s turned him from Spain’s biggest rapper into one of its biggest pop stars.

One of the album’s early tracks, “Tú Me Dejaste De Querer” (“You Stopped Loving Me”), has over 100 million views on YouTube.

“You can listen to his music anytime, in any shop” Pablo Gil, a music journalist at El Mundo, a Spanish daily newspaper, said in a telephone interview.

Some of the musical styles it features were last popular in Spain in the 1970s, when the country was under Franco’s dictatorship, Gil added. Álvarez, he said, was taking old-fashioned sounds, “subverting their meaning and making them modern.”

In a review for the newspaper El País, the music critic Carlos Marcos wrote, “It remains to be seen whether this is the birth of a new Spanish pop, or something that we will forget in a few years.”

“But who cares?” he added. “Let’s enjoy it today, and we’ll see tomorrow.”

On YouTube, C. Tangana’s videos now attract comments from older music fans who would presumably never have gone near his records before. “I thought the music my son listened to was for landfill,” wrote Felix Guinnot, who said he was in his 50s, “but this boy is changing my musical perception.”

Álvarez’s road to fame has been winding, with multiple changes of name to reflect new musical personas. Born in Madrid, he started rapping in his teens, he said, but twice gave up on music entirely. When the 2008 global financial crisis hit Spain particularly hard — its lingering effects are still felt by the country’s youth — he stopped rapping to work in a fast-food restaurant. Later, he got a job in a call center selling cellphones.

He started rapping again after falling in love with a colleague. It was a toxic relationship, Álvarez said, but it inspired him to get back into the studio. “I said, ‘It must be possible for me to make money doing this rather than selling phones or cleaning,’” he recalled. “It changed my whole mentality. I started to think I had to sell myself. I started to do things to get attention.”

In 2017, Álvarez had his first major hit with “Mala Mujer,” a track about his longing for a “bad woman” whose “gel nails have left scars all over my body.” But he was soon known more for his relationship with Rosalía, a Spanish pop star (he co-wrote much of “El Mal Querer,” or “Bad Love,” her breakthrough album, although they have since broken up) and for getting into political controversies.

Click here to read the full article on the New York Times.

THIS CHEF IS TRYING TO OPEN A VEGAN BAKERY AND LATINX SOCIAL JUSTICE CAFÉ IN SEATTLE

BusinessHispanic Lifestyle

Lara de la Rosa wearing a white sweater and smiling in front of the camera while she leans on her left hand in front of a mint green cake with pink icing and flowers.

By JOCELYN MARTINEZ, VegNews

Seattle-based vegan baker Lara de la Rosa recently launched a campaign on crowdfunding site GoFundMe to open Casa del Xoloitzcuintle (Case del Xolo), a vegan bakery and Latinx social justice café. Founder of Seattle’s vegan bakery Lazy Cow Bakery, de la Rosa’s mission to make veganism easy and affordable for the masses while advocating for social justice is the driving force behind Casa del Xolo.

While the café menu will feature Lazy Cow Bakery’s cakes along with new sweet treats such as macaroons and croissants, de la Rosa is most excited about the new savory items currently in development. “We are currently testing quiche recipes,” de la Rosa told VegNews. “There’s just something about cheesy, herby roasted vegetables in a fluffy egg filling. I promise our quiche will be just as satisfying but with none of the animal exploitation.”

A café for the cultura
With a $30,000 fundraising goal, de la Rosa has plans for Casa del Xolo to be more than just a vegan bakery and café. Eyes set on a space in the city’s University District, Casa del Xolo will double as a Latinx cultural center complete with a stage for events, food pantry, community fridge, and Spanish classes.

“We see veganism as just another branch in the tree of social justice reform,” de la Rosa said. “Our food pantry will be 100 percent vegan. There’s no need for us to exploit one segment of our population to help another segment when we can simply help both by offering a plant-based pantry.” Taking food pantries a step further, de la Rosa hopes to offer free, ready-to-eat meals for people experiencing homelessness, a reality de la Rosa has experienced herself. “I want people to get used to the idea that food should be free,” she said. “While food pantries are known to have pantry staples, I’m going to try and eventually [stock] ready-made food items. Pantry staples are great for those who have access to kitchens but many houseless people do not.”

Along with Latinx-focused programming, veganism will also be a common thread present throughout the center’s work. De la Rosa plans to host free lectures, debates, and documentary screenings at Casa del Xolo to help educate patrons about veganism.

Latinx in Seattle
According to the US Census Bureau, seven percent of Seattle’s population identified as Latinx in 2019. For Mexican-born de la Rosa, it is evident the city’s resources are not being allocated for Latinx cultural events and centers. “From Swedish Cultural Centers to Finnish museums, [Seattle] has these grandiose, multi-million dollar buildings in prime real estate locales for countries a million miles away that have an extremely small percentage of people living here,” de la Rosa said. “If only [the city] had the same vigor for the Brown-majority country [the US] shares a border with.”

Click here to read the full article on Veg News.

Hispanics In Wine Organization Aims To Empower Latinx Wine Communities

Hispanic LifestyleLifestyle

Hispanics in Wine cofounders Lydia Richards and Maria Calvert holding two glasses of wine up to the camera with a sunset over a city behind them.

By Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, Forbes

Social organization Hispanics in Wine was founded with the aim of promoting equality and diversity and helping Latinx professionals advance in the wine industry. Founded in September 2020, it consists of a social media space and website which serve as a digital platform for insight into opportunities and resources for members of the community.

It was established by Lydia Richards and Maria Calvert alongside wine professional Ivonne Nill. The organization’s mission is to give back to Spanish-speaking communities by promoting equality and helping the new generation of Latinx professionals advance in the wine and hospitality industries. Hispanics in Wine also intends to help wine companies better communicate with their Spanish-speaking consumers.

Cofounders Maria Calvert and Lydia Richards met while working in wine public relations at Colangelo & Partners, a well-known agency with offices in New York and California. Calvert, a native of Quito, Ecuador, is currently working as an independent Public Relations Consultant with a focus on startup and established brands in wine and food, while Richards, who hails from Panama, recently started a job as PR Manager at Taub Family Companies: Palm Bay International and Taub Family Selections.

At this time Hispanics in Wine has more than 30 members and is prepared to grow as word spreads within the wine and hospitality industries. Hispanics in Wine aims to encourage and connect people from diverse backgrounds to pursue their career path in the industry through the organization. It also intends to help wine brands and companies cater to the Latinx population in the U.S., whose buying power is forecasted to top $1.9 trillion by 2023.

As Women’s Month draws to a close, we are concluding our focus on women in the wine industry with this interview of co-founder Maria Calvert.

World Wine Guys: What was the impetus behind starting Hispanics in Wine?

Maria Calvert: In 2018, I transitioned to the wine industry and met Lydia Richards at a public relations agency. As part of our PR jobs, we work closely with all types of professionals in the alcohol beverage and hospitality industries, including sommeliers, retail stores, restaurants, trade, press, wine brands, winemakers, marketing professionals, and many others. Coming new into the wine industry, you see people of color cutting the grapes and working behind the scenes, but we noticed the lack of representation and diversity when attending trade events, press trips, and executive meetings. In addition to the lack of BIPOC, Hispanic, and Latinx professionals in decision-making roles, we noticed the lack of Spanish language resources for our community, brands neglecting Hispanic and Latinx consumers, and the need to amplify the work done by vineyard stewards.

As a result of our professional experience as two Latina immigrants in the wine industry and Covid disproportionately impacting the hospitality industry and minority communities, we decided to launch Hispanics in Wine in September 2020. We chose this month in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Culturally, Hispanics and Latinx work together as a community; it’s part of our pride, family, our roots. Community is so important to us, and this is something that we are trying to replicate with Hispanics in Wine. We created this centralized digital space for individuals to feel welcomed by the industry, to find important English and Spanish resources, to provide a sense of community with other Hispanics & Latinx alcohol and hospitality professionals, and more importantly, to educate the public about our communities and amplify the diverse talent and knowledge we offer and promote more representation in the industry.

WWG: Which areas of the wine community have you drawn members from thus far?

MC: The Hispanics in Wine team are four women with different professional careers, hailing from different countries, and different journeys in the wine industry: Lydia Richards, Ivonne Nill, Emilia Alvarez, and myself. It is important to highlight our team diversity because it allows us to understand the industry’s needs, bridging the gap for opportunities and language, and build a broad Hispanic and Latinx beverage and hospitality community.

As a result of our team’s efforts and continued outreach, we have connected with wine professionals across the United States and worldwide. We have a community that covers the spectrum of wine and hospitality. For example, we have Nial Harris García, Wine Director at the Conrad Hotel in Washington D.C., Hugo Arias, Head Sommelier at The Grill in Washington D.C., Gabriela Fernández, Marketing and Event Coordinator for a California wine producer, Jesica Vargas, Founder and Wine Blogger of AndesUncorked, DeAnna Ornelas, President of non-profit organization AHIVOY, Sam Parra, Owner of PARRA Wines Co., and many others. Our Hispanics in Wine community is growing every day, and we have received tremendous support from many wine professionals in the industry who want to help in any way possible.

WWG: How are you reaching Latinx members of the wine community in order to let them know about Hispanics in Wine?

MC: We are working with our Hispanics in Wine community to help spread the word, share the “Hispanics in Wine Spotlight Series” within their network, and notify other Hispanics and Latinx professionals about this initiative. We started Hispanics in Wine on social media, and we now have a website. We have received inquiries from individuals trying to pursue a career in wine who reached out to us via Instagram, and individuals who found our website via Google GOOG +2.8% search. We have also received inquiries from other Hispanic and Latinx professionals asking how they can help with the initiative and perhaps serve as mentors.

Click here to read the full article on Forbes.

Hispanics In Wine Organization Aims To Empower Latinx Wine Communities

BusinessCareersHispanic HeritageHispanic Lifestyle

two women smile at the camera and hold a glass of wine as the sun sets in the background

By Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen

Photo: Forbes

As Women’s Month draws to a close, we are concluding our focus on women in the wine industry with this interview of co-founder Maria Calvert.

World Wine Guys: What was the impetus behind starting Hispanics in Wine?

WWG: Which areas of the wine community have you drawn members from thus far?

MC: The Hispanics in Wine team are four women with different professional careers, hailing from different countries, and different journeys in the wine industry: Lydia Richards, Ivonne Nill, Emilia Alvarez, and myself. It is important to highlight our team diversity because it allows us to understand the industry’s needs, bridging the gap for opportunities and language, and build a broad Hispanic and Latinx beverage and hospitality community.

WWG: How are you reaching Latinx members of the wine community in order to let them know about Hispanics in Wine?

MC: We are working with our Hispanics in Wine community to help spread the word, share the “Hispanics in Wine Spotlight Series” within their network, and notify other Hispanics and Latinx professionals about this initiative. We started Hispanics in Wine on social media, and we now have a website. We have received inquiries from individuals trying to pursue a career in wine who reached out to us via Instagram, and individuals who found our website via Google search. We have also received inquiries from other Hispanic and Latinx professionals asking how they can help with the initiative and perhaps serve as mentors.

WWG: Can you tell us about some of the initiatives that Hispanics in Wine has implemented?

MC: We launched the “Hispanics in Wine Spotlight Series,” where the team conducts virtual English and Spanish interviews with talented Hispanic and Latinx professionals in the United States and worldwide, such as sommeliers, wine producers, marketing experts, retailer owners, portfolio specialists, social influencers, and bloggers, to learn about their journey in the wine industry, speak about educational opportunities, and provide essential advice to the next generation as well as changes they want to see in the industry.

Our mission with these interviews is to inspire individuals to enter the industry, thereby increasing the talent we offer as a community. Ultimately, we want to increase pressure on companies to hire Hispanic and Latinx professionals for leadership roles, drawing from our deep well of unique backgrounds, experiences, viewpoints. According to Nielsen data, by 2023, we expect the buying power of the U.S. Latinx population to top $1.9 trillion, which is higher than the gross domestic product of countries like Australia, Spain, and Mexico. Targeting this quickly growing consumer base by aligning with Hispanic and Latinx values has never been more critical.

Through the “Hispanics in Wine Spotlight Series,” we also aim to highlight the diverse backgrounds of the Hispanic and Latinx communities in the United States and worldwide. We hail from vastly different geographies, whether Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, Spain, or the United States; we have different traditions, we look different, and in some instances, we claim unique local languages, such as Guaraní in Paraguay, Catalan in Spain, or Quechua in Ecuador.

Additionally, with our public relations expertise, we are also working with the local and national press to include Hispanics and Latinx alcohol beverage and hospitality professionals at the forefront for feature stories and share their knowledge with key external stakeholders. In the near future, we hope to execute a program aimed at providing educational training, scholarships, and professional opportunities for advancing in the industry – both via in-house opportunities and partnerships with external organizations. Lastly, we are also looking to partner with wine companies looking to tap into the Hispanic and Latinx consumer market.

Read the full article at Forbes.

Latinas earn $0.55 for every dollar paid to White men, a pay gap that has barely moved in 30 years

FinanceHispanic LifestyleLifestyle

Hispanic woman working on a tablet in a bright warehouse

By Courtney Connley, CNBC

This year, Latina Equal Pay Day falls on Oct. 29, marking how far into the new year Latinas have to work to earn the same pay white, non-Hispanic men earned the previous year.

When translated into a dollar amount, Latinas today earn, on average, just $0.55 for every dollar earned by White men, leaving them with a pay gap that surpasses that of women in all other racial groups. Over the course of a 40-year career, it’s estimated that Latinas stand to lose $1,163,920 due to the wage gap, according to data from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Assuming that a Latina and her White male counterpart both start working at age 20, NWLC estimates that due to this wage gap a Latina will have to work until she’s 92 to earn what her While male peer earned by 60.

The ongoing pay disparity that Latinas face is one that has barely budged within the last 30 years, according to NWLC. In 1989, Latinas were paid just $0.52 for every dollar paid to White men. This means, that the Latina pay gap has only narrowed by a penny every decade since.

“I think there’s a lot of performative wokeness happening,” Jasmine Tucker, NWLC’s director of research, tells CNBC Make It about the Latina pay gap and why it’s barely improved over the last 30 years. “I think people are saying they care about this issue, but they’re not actually taking steps to address this issue.”

She says that while more companies are publishing reports to try and prove that they pay people in the same job fairly, it’s important to examine who these companies are hiring and what positions they’re hiring certain people for.

“I feel like there’s a lot of gaming the system in that way,” Tucker adds. ”[Companies] are like, ‘Oh well, we’re paying them the minimum wage. We’re paying them a living wage.’” But, she says, “when you’re doing the bare minimum, and then you’re also faster promoting White men into C-suite positions” then you’re not really making progress.

Today, for every 100 men promoted to manager, just 71 Latinas are promoted at the same rate, according to Lean In and McKinsey & Company’s 2020 “Women in the Workplace” report. The study describes this inequity as “the broken rung,” in which Latinas face barriers around sexism and racism that often block them from being promoted to manager.

Tucker explains that the longstanding pay disparities Latinas face have only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, with nearly three in 10 Latinas working a front-line job today, but still being underpaid for their work.

For example, Latinas make up just 7% of the overall workforce, but they account for 22% of child-care workers. On average, Latinas working full-time, year-round in child care earn just $0.88 for every dollar earned by White men in the same occupation, according to NWLC. Similarly, Latinas working as cashiers and retail salespeople earn just $0.76 for every dollar paid to a White man in the same role, and Latinas working as janitors, maids and housekeepers earn just $0.61 for every dollar paid to a White man in the same role.

“We’re depending on their labor like never before, but we’re not paying them what we owe them,” says Tucker, while adding that many of the jobs Latinas are overrepresented in are also jobs that have experienced major layoffs during the pandemic. In September, nearly one in nine Latinas were unemployed. But Tucker argues that this number is likely higher when you account for the thousands of women who’ve been forced to leave the labor force because of the overwhelming demands to work, teach and parent at the same time.

“I think there’s really a lot of suffering happening here because Latinas were already struggling to make ends meet before this crisis,” Tucker says. She adds that “if they had the [financial] cushion that some of their White male peers had,” then they would be in a much better position to weather the storms of today’s economy.

Click here to read the full article on CNBC.

She was American’s first Latina to captain a flight. Now, she’s a pioneer poet, too

Arts and DesignHispanic Lifestyle

Linda Pauwels sitting in the pilots quarters of a plane

BY WALTER VILLA, MIAMI HERALD

In 2000, Linda Pauwels became a pioneer pilot, the first Latin woman ever to captain an American Airlines flight.

Now she’s a pioneer poet, too.

Last year, she authored “Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry.” In the 50-page book, she incorporated the contributions of 40 pilots, including her own prose. She also asked the children of pilots — ages 6 to 17 — to contribute illustrations to accompany the poems. She used the work of 18 artists.

Weston’s Liz Booker, the founder of the Aviatrix Book Review website — which details more than 500 books of all genres that feature women in aviation — was impressed with “Beyond Haiku.”

“The book is the first of its kind that I’m aware of,” said Booker, a retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot. “I’ve seen poetry books by a pilot. But I’ve never seen a collection of poems from different pilots, especially with children doing the artwork.”

Pauwels got the idea for the book last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic crippled the airline industry, leaving many families hurting. To help, Pauwels is donating all proceeds from the book to the Allied Pilots Association’s Emergency Relief and Scholarship Fund, which works in support of furloughed pilots and their families.

In the first three months since publication, Pauwels has been able to raise $2,200.

But Pauwels, a 57-year-old part-time Miami resident, has only just begun. She has written a second book, “Beyond Haiku: Women Pilots Write Poetry,” which is set to be released this summer.

She is also still an active pilot for American Airlines. In fact, on March 8, to promote International Women’s Day as well as her second poetry book, the plan is that she will captain a flight from Miami to Dallas. The entire crew will be female, including Pauwels’ first officer as well as eight flight attendants.

“The March 8 flight will bring back memories,” Pauwels said. “I was part of American’s second all-female crew in 1989. The first one was in 1987.”

COMING TO MIAMI
Born in Argentina, Pauwels lost her father when she was 6 years old. Within four months, Pauwels’ mother, Mabel, moved the family to Miami, where Linda dreamed of becoming a doctor.

But after Mabel started working at Miami International Airport as a traffic and operations agent for TACA Airlines, Pauwels’ interest in flight grew.

Pauwels, while working a night shift at the front desk of a Miami Beach hotel, was also a full-time, straight-A student at Miami Dade College’s Career Pilot/Flight Engineer program. She graduated from MDC in 1985, and American Airlines hired her in 1988 as a flight engineer on a Boeing 727.

Her interest in writing goes back a long way. In fact, she was the Orange County Register’s first aviation columnist in the mid-2000s.

Pauwels, who speaks Spanish, English and French, has a graduate degree in education. She will soon dive into Mandarin so she can be ready to resume piloting American’s post-COVID-19 flights to China.

Pauwels’ main residence is in the Dallas area, where American is headquartered. She recently got caught up in mid-February’s Texas snowstorm.

A married mother of two adult children, Pauwels and her husband were without power for four days during the storm. Outside their doors were 8 inches of snow. Inside, with the thermometer reading 37 degrees, Pauwels wrote two haikus, including:

Three mourning doves

Sit, puffy chested

Snowy bamboo fence

SOFTER SIDE OF PILOTS
Pauwels admits poetry is not known to be popular among mostly male aviators.

But she also thought writing haikus could help pilots deal with the stress of the job.

“Pilots live in a world of structure — we fly by the rules,” Pauwels said. “This book deconstructs some of that rigidity and allows the people on the other side of the cockpit doors to see that there is a softer side to the men and women who fly.”

As for her book’s artwork, Pauwels said she knew “poems alone wouldn’t cut it, and I wanted to give children an opportunity to create in their own style.”

Callista Chabot, a 17-year-old from New Hampshire, is drawing the cover illustration for Pauwels’ second book. The illustration depicts a butterfly riding on the nose of an airplane.

“I like the contrast between masculinity and femininity,” said Chabot, whose father, Jason, is a captain.

Chabot, who dreams of writing and illustrating her own children’s books one day, said she was thrilled to be selected for a book by women poets.

“I’m a strong feminist,” she said. “To get to work on a project written by women who work in a male-dominated industry is cool.”

Click here to read the full article on the Miami Herald.

Rosalía Just Revealed An Espadrille Air Force 1 On Instagram And I Am Spiraling

BusinessEntertainmentHispanic LifestylemusicPop Culture

Rosalia wearing a colorful bandana and looking at the camera

By Kelsey Stiegman, Yahoo Life

Yesterday, Rosalía gave fans a sneak peek at what seems to be an upcoming Nike collab starring the internet’s favorite shoe. The singer shared a video showing off the “AFI ESPADRILLE,” a Spanish take on the famed sneaker style.

Rosalía’s shoes combine the classic shape of an Air Force 1, with details taken from Spain’s traditional sandals, including a suede upper, ribbon laces, and a contrast stitch at the sole.

Inside the shoe, reads the phrase: “We just did it, Rosalía.”

As of now, Rosalía hasn’t expanded on her original post. It’s unclear whether these are a one-off design made custom for Rosalía or if these will soon hit Nike stories across the nation. That being said, the singer has been dropping hella hints on her Instagram over the past few months. First, there was this subtle shot of the espadrille sneakers…

A few days later, she posted a selfie, captioned: “Just did it.” In the pic, Rosalía wears nothing but a swoosh-printed sports bra.

Back in January, she even wore a Nike puffer jacket in the “Lo Vas a Olvidar” music video with Billie Eilish. (I’m not even including all the other Nike sneakers she’s worn because we’d be here all day.)

To learn more about Rosalia’s teaser for Nike, click here.

Sofía Vergara Partners with Marc Anthony for the Upcoming Animated Film ‘KOATI’

EntertainmentHispanic LifestylemusicPop Culture

Two photo graphs side by side, the photo on the left features sofia vergara looking over her left shoulder while smiling at the camera. The right photo pictures Marc Anthony wearing a suit and sunglasses posing with his left hand in his pocket.

By Shirley Gomez, HOLA!

The upcoming animated film Koati has Hispanic talent all over it! Grammy-winner salsa superstar Marc Anthony and his Magnus Studios team join executive producer and lead actress Sofía Vergara in this feature comedy.

“I am thrilled to join Sofía in a project where for the first time a renowned team of Hispanic producers, music stars, comedians, and actors come together outside of Hollywood to create an animated movie set up in the Latin American rainforests, which I feel is really exciting and long overdue,” the singer said, as reported by Deadline.

“I will leave no stone unturned on the music being authentic and celebrating the amazing story and message of Koati. It’s time to show the world and share what we Latinos have been enjoying for years in a very fun, inspirational film,” Marc Anthony added.

The New York-born Puerto Rican will executive produce the soundtrack of the movie alongside songwriter Julio Reyes Copello. Koati will include ten original songs, all from influential Latinx artists.

The film follows the story of three heroes — Nachi, “a free-spirited coati,” Xochi, “a fearless monarch butterfly”; and Pako, “a hyperactive glass frog” — who embark on an adventure to avoid an evil coral snake named Zaina from destroying a hidden rainforest of Latin America, “The Land of Xo.”

⁠According to the official Instagram account of the movie, the feature is “a gift from Latin America to the world.⁠”

Click here to read the full article on HOLA!

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