United States’ Latinx population is diverse, and complex and has plenty of untold stories to share, proposes Paola Ramos, a correspondent for Vice, Telemundo, and MSNBC and former deputy director of Hispanic media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. She spent 2 years exploring the changing nature of the “Latinx” identity. In this her first book, Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity (2020), Paola engages in the genre of the travelogue to thread stories from Latinx community members across the US.
Through a journalistic and activist approach, the first section of the book is dedicated to the West coast and southwest and she investigates the interrelationship between the farming and the drug industries; the prison industrial complex, and its impact on trans and Central American indigenous lives.
Paola Ramos and her understanding of the term/movement Latinx
With Trump’s unforeseen win came a desire for belonging. His victory mobilized millions of people- women, youth, students, black communities, Latinos, immigrants, Dreamers, victims of sexual assault-to take to the streets and fill a void with their voices. People marched with furor, organized their communities, and spoke up in boardrooms and town halls, louder than they had before. Fear induced courage, and the undercurrent of racism that was now fully exposed pushed many of us to embrace inclusion. It was sometime amid this resurged movement that I noticed the word “Latinx” had started to become part of the daily vocabulary of the resistance. (5)
Discussion in Trios
Do you agree that the term “Latinx” signifies the emergence of a “movement” for inclusion and social justice? How do the different administrations in power strengthen or debilitate the “movement” Ramos refers to? What has been achieved and what has been lost since 2016? What is your personal tally?
Presentation(s)