Interviews

On June 2, 2007, I posted my first Facebook photo. I made identity-affirming Latina-centered student content before it was seen as such. After 16 years on Facebook and another 10 on Instagram, I am confident about my relevant perspective on our shifting marketing economy. The Internet economy’s contribution to US GDP grew 22% per year since 2016, in a national economy that grows between 2-3% annually, according to the Wilson Center. Decades of content for specific media audiences, professionally and personally, was a whirlwind as technologies, our Puerto Rican dialect, my interest areas, and my biliteracy both in Spanish and in technology have made leaps and bounds in capabilities, and form. Now, I have a desire to better understand my place in the community media ecosystem and the larger advertising market. Community media is defined as media platforms run for the community, about the community, and by the community #wepa. Looking back, though seemingly random my calamity of Facebook status and growing pains and social/ political thought mean something. Together they reflected the “mood” of parts of my demographic and provide a map of turning trends for one of America’s largest consumer bases, Latinas. Social media became important over time to the economy and my early investment means my voice has a keener business perspective. Maria Cruz, Head of the Hispanic Women’s League In the beginning, there were no “rules” about “appropriate” expressions because the concept was new and fluid. I leaned in and found the outlet for a lifetime of being the “only” “Latina”. Joining Facebook as a senior in high school I have become a consumer and professional ONLINE, and I know how I want companies to talk to me as a consumer. A strong community media scene is an indicator of a healthier democratic society, which likewise relies on independence and a participatory nature to exist. I am a part of a larger community of strong Latinas online and therefore I post community media, which can also be social and personal media. Seemingly random profiles of Americans, in a collective chorus, make up our democratic society’s voice. I think of Maria Cruz when I think of women. I aspire to model my media presence around. Maria is relevant, decisive, authentic, humble, and firm yet gentle. An excellent mother, to her own children and a role model to the community, President of the Hispanic Women’s League in Buffalo New York, elected by her peers, she champions her neighbors’ voices and empowers change. In her own words when asked if she has a role model? How we understand the media that empowers us to serve as role models will continue to shift, as will the technology but what will not shift is the organic collective process in which we, as a community define what is “ours”. Let us continue to allow ourselves and each other generous space in doing so because our voices are those of experts, we are our own consumer base. Please read my interview with Maria Cruz; give due weight to your own voice in honor of hers. 1. Who are you and what values were taught in your home?  My name is Maria Cruz, born as Maria Margarita Monte Rivera in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.  My mother moved us to Buffalo, NY in 1991.  In my home we, specifically the females, were taught the importance of education and making sure we did not depend on a man.  It was important for all of us to be kind to everyone we encountered in this world. Above all, it was important that within the four walls of the different apartments we moved to (from the Perry projects to the West Side, to the Jasper Parish projects, back to the West Side, to then back to the Perry projects, to the Jasper Parish and finally back to the West side of Buffalo- were we finally semi-settled) that only Spanish be spoken, my mom cooked meals every day and it was not until my parents separated that I saw my mother drive and work outside the home.  So, you can say that I had to be a multifaceted woman- managing education, and family traditions, learning English outside the home, maneuvering my surroundings while living extremely sheltered, and realizing that I was expected to be a housewife and a working woman. 2. What was being a student like & what was your favorite learning moment growing up?  I loved school! I loved knowing that through education I could discover different aspects of our world.  I have always loved Science and Mathematics. I enjoy problem-solving and the classroom allowed me to home in on my skills.  Honestly, my favorite learning moment did not really come until my first year at Hamilton College, where I received a full academic ride right after I attended The Buffalo Seminary High School (I attended there on a Math and Science Scholarship.)  During my freshman year my whole world as I knew it was challenged. Everything as I knew it was revolutionized. I grew up idolizing my hair (cut it off for the first time in college), not knowing my own power, and unaware of how much action, mobilizing, and coming together can impact change.  I became the president of the Latino organization on campus called La Vanguardia, and unbeknownst to me, I became enthralled in politics. It was not till many years later (2023, LOL) that I came to realize how much politics have been a part of my journey to where I am today.  3. Do you see yourself as a leader? If so, why? This is a heavy question.  It took me a long time to see myself as a leader. But, yes, I do see myself as a leader.  My first leadership role was as an older sister and then as a mother. When I think of a leader, I believe it is someone who safeguards their team and has sustenance and tools to achieve their goals.  It goes beyond having

My son is a six-year-old CEO. We started a brand because he likes art and I found it easier to teach him if we centered our energies around a shared project. It is going amazing, www.buffalokidceo.com if you want to learn about his bilingual socio-emotional coloring books and his mission to tell the world that “KIDS CAN BE CEOS too!  Since things are going well, but the world around us is changing and he is a very LATINO child, with a Latino name, he is taller, shyer, and a little bit bigger, it is time to have the “talk” with him. It is time to explain different parts of his privilege and some of his vulnerabilities to him. I want him to be able to explain his privilege like Cassy. Cassandra talks about her privilege in her interview (An excerpt): “I am a first-generation Mexican American, a Tejana/Chicana, and the eldest daughter in my family. I was born in McAllen Texas about 20 minutes from the Laredo border crossing. Growing up, I was always a headstrong and stubborn child to the point that if I genuinely wanted something nothing would stop me.” Cassandra is the Manager of Organizing and Strategy Finger Lakes at the New York Immigration Coalition, I met her on Zoom and instantly started pursuing a feature. We talked on the phone, and I felt braver after, I felt freer, and I was like ok this is perfect because I write with my heart, I need features that inspire me personally (kind of selfish right)? Cassy talks about her privilege:  “Since I was born in Texas and had the privilege of being documented I was taught to appreciate that privilege and use it to speak up when I saw injustices in my community. My parents are both undocumented immigrants, so there are certain things that I can do that my parents and others in my community could not. My parents fostered a home and environment where we helped each other and others when we could. “ As an American, my mother, white as snow, as she is, taught me the right thing is to love liberty and to love people who were willing to fight for it. I will not ever change that and teaching lessons and showing parts of the world I advocate for but am not a part of is easier with art. Organizations like New York Immigrant Coalition are supporting an entire universe of artists who are willing to spend their careers making art about people AMERICAN enough to love the red, White, and blue through the other side of the fence of oppression.  Enter films like “After I Pick the Fruit” made about the lives of my sister Latinas in 2011. Enter films like “From Here” debuting on the World Channel – America Reframed Strand of PBS on June 1st at 8 pm ET. Director Christina Antonakos Wallace and Taina Mattos are people to watch just like Cassandra. How do we teach our children and the adults around them empathy? How do we teach our children to lead? We will be talking about it all month, with Cassy, who is not a mom yet but is a PROUD BIG SISTER, shout out to the big sisters/mothers out there. I have two but one specifically showed out for me. She must tell me “What God has for you – is for you.” What God’s got for me is a good old AMERICAN desire to fight for what I think is right. It is not just for me,  I have ancestors to honor, William Cary, my 2nd great-uncle (son of ORANGE county New York) left his body on …the battlefield at the Battle of Dallas, at 30 years old and it broke his mother’s heart, an immigrant from Scotland. He believed in liberty, so do I, and there is enough LIBERTY here for all of us and I am going to keep writing about it until I am blue in the face, just as blue as my uncle’s union uniform.  Read the rest of Cassy’s interview at www.makinglatinaherstory.us and learn the story of all American show me, do not tell me kinda later. Who are you and what values were taught in your home? My name is Cassandra Bocanegra, I am a first-generation Mexican American, a Tejana/Chicana, and the eldest daughter in my family. I was born in McAllen Texas about 20 minutes from the Laredo border crossing. Growing up, I was always a headstrong and stubborn child to the point that if I genuinely wanted something nothing would stop me. Although I am sure that it terrified them to have such a headstrong child, my parents never discouraged that trait. Since I was born in Texas and had the privilege of being documented I was taught to appreciate that privilege and use it to speak up when I saw injustices in my community. My parents are both undocumented immigrants, so there are certain things that I can do that my parents and others in my community could not. My parents fostered a home and environment where we helped each other and others when we could.  What was your experience as a student and your favorite learning moment growing up? When we arrived in the NYS in 1999 we lived in the inner city of Rochester. I did not know any English and spent 6 months in a bilingual school before we were able to move to a suburb of Rochester where I went to elementary and middle school. The suburb of Greece did not have much diversity so there were not many students at my schools that looked like me or that had parents that did not speak English. Often, I was the interpreter for my family at many school functions. When I was in Middle School, I decided that I was not being challenged enough and sought out a scholarship to a private all-girls high school. The diversity did not get better. I ended