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Latinos descend from more than 20 different countries, speak different languages, hold different political affiliations, and are of different races. Yet they are categorized by the same few terms.This group of people is complex and nuanced, but like many other ethnic and cultural demographics, it is often flattened into one mold. "All Latinas don't look like JLo," Angel Jones, an Afro-Latina assistant professor of education at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, said."Afro-Latinos and indigenous Latinos are left out of the celebration. We are not seen. We are not heard. Our identities are not valued or even considered and that absolutely needs to change." <keyword id="12102946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hispanic-heritage-month" source="Orion">Hispanic Heritage Month</keyword> is designated as an all-encompassing celebration of Latinos and their cultures. Yet, many say it falls short of that endeavor. Instead of celebrating Latino cultures, it commodifies them, all the while promulgating a one-dimensional portrait of who Latinos are. This "fetishization" of Latinos during such a narrow period is why some are calling for the month to be reimagined. "I'm proud and grateful for any opportunity I get to share the stories of our people, to highlight the beauty that is our community," Jones told Insider."But it's as if we don't exist September 14 and as if we cease to exist October 16." Related Article Module: Spanish is a language barrier for some <keyword id="12102948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latinx" source="Orion">Latinx</keyword> families. With my great-grandmother, love was never lost in translationPresident Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill establishing Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968. Twenty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon expanded the acknowledgment a month that would cover several Latin American countries' independence days, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Chile. In acknowledging that Latinos are a culturally diverse, vibrant, and growing community, <keyword id="11893844" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="voices-of-color" source="Orion">Voices of Color</keyword> presents 'Mi Gente' - a series that speaks to the intricacies of having Latin American roots. From personal essays about reclaiming Spanish language, exploring how the Puerto Rican diaspora's views towards the island's political status, to the role Hispanic-owned banks serve in making finances more accessible in underserved communities, among others, you'll find that Latino identity is far from one-dimensional. With labels like Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx, come joy, pride, pain, and historical baggage. It's only by leaning into and committing to these complexities, that Hispanic Heritage Month can be the impactful period of visibility it's designed to be, experts say. So who are the Latinos living in the US? <h2>From country-of-origin to Spanish skills, Latino identity is complex</h2>Mexicans compose the biggest share of the Latino population, with more than 60% of Census respondents identifying as members of this ethnic group. But the number of Latinos listing El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala as their families' countries of origin has grown in recent years <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2017/12/07/rise-in-u-s-immigrants-from-el-salvador-guatemala-and-honduras-outpaces-growth-from-elsewhere/">as migration patterns shifted.</a> Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Peruvians are also among the top 10 groups with Latin American roots in the US. As Hispanic Heritage Month is underway, Latino communities are continuously evolving, staking a greater claim in politics, Hollywood, and other industries and re-conceptualizing the way they identify. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/09/key-facts-about-u-s-latinos-for-national-hispanic-heritage-month/ft_21-09-09_keyfactslatinos_map/"><div type="image" title="BI Global Image 1466855" height="450" width="600" msid="86240140" hostid="261"></div></a>According to Census data, 26.7 million Hispanics identified as white in 2010 compared to 12.6 million in 2020. Hispanics are now the largest ethnic and racial group in California and three states - Florida, Texas, and California - saw their Latino populations grow by more than one million in the last 10 years. Perhaps more notable, North Dakota and South Dakota have seen the fastest Latino population growth since 2010, according to the Pew Research Center. Because these communities are so vast, celebrating their nuances during Hispanic Heritage Month becomes difficult, said Ed Morales, author of the book "Latinx: The New Force in Politics and <keyword id="11899151" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">Culture</keyword>." "Outside of people who are involved with Latino advocacy and education and political organizations, the month itself does not seem to be observed by individual Latinos," Morales said. "It's more likely that Latinos celebrate holidays and traditions that are specific to their culture." He cited the Puerto Rican Day parade, an annual event that takes place in New York City, as one Puerto Ricans are more likely to celebrate than Hispanic Heritage Month. The name Hispanic Heritage Month itself might be deterring some people from acknowledging it, he added. The longstanding debate about whether to label people with Latin American roots as Latino, Hispanic, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/more-democratic-lawmakers-are-using-term-latinx-n1237884">Latinx</a>, Latine, or by the country their family is descended from <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/love-it-hate-it-latinx-points-future-writes-author-ed-n912581?icid=related">has erupted in recent years</a>.Given that nearly 15 million Latinos recorded only speaking English, per 2019 American Community Survey data, some argue that Hispanic does not feel like the appropriate moniker. Others don't like the label because they think it elevates their cultures' colonization as Spain colonized most of <keyword id="11962841" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latin-america" source="Orion">Latin America</keyword>. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/09/key-facts-about-u-s-latinos-for-national-hispanic-heritage-month/ft_2021-09-09_keyfactslatinos_08/"><div type="image" title="BI Global Image 1466858" height="450" width="600" msid="86240143" hostid="261"></div></a>In the early 1900s, the US government labeled all Spanish-speaking people and those with Latin American roots as Mexican, even if their family did not descend from Mexico, per the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2010/03/03/census-history-counting-hispanics-2/">Pew Research Center</a>. On the 1970 Census, Latino identity was expanded to include Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, and "other Spanish." Ten years later, Hispanic became part of the public lexicon when the category was used on the 1980 Census. The categorization came about in large part because Mexican-American activists lobbied the Census Bureau to change the way Latinos were counted. While the label marked progress in helping Latinos gain political clout, some say it contributes to their erasure. "Growing up, I despised being labeled Hispanic," wrote journalist Araceli Cruz in an essay for <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/problematic-history-of-hispanic-word">Teen Vogue</a>. "It made me feel as if my <a href="https://www.brit.co/latinx-ancestry-dna-indigenous/">Mexican and indigenous side</a> was being wiped out." Yet the term Latinx doesn't make everyone happy either. While many argue it's inclusive of people who do not adhere to the gender binary, others say the term is elitist. <h2>Can moving on from 'Hispanic' make a difference? </h2>Some haven't even heard of it. Per the Pew Research Center, more than 75% of Latino adults have not heard the term Latinx and of those adults who have, only 3% use it themselves. Given that people with cultural connections to Latin America hold divergent thoughts about how to identify themselves, would changing the name of Hispanic Heritage Month be productive? Laura Gómez, author of the book "Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism" and a professor of law at University of California, Los Angeles, said she thinks so. Changing the name from Hispanic Heritage Month to Latino History Month, in her view, would help crystallize what the month is about: honoring Latinos and drawing attention to the historical and cultural narratives about Latino communities that have often been effaced. "Not only would it be consistent with Black History Month, but heritage means a lot of different things to different people," Gómez said. "We do have a common Latino history that we can talk about and look at, given our various countries have been colonized.""Colonialism and US imperialism are much more concrete than heritage," she added. But whether changing the name of the month would be more "symbolic" than revolutionary remains a question, particularly if there's no meaningful commitment to elevating those who've traditionally been omitted from the celebration. "For schools and corporations celebrating, this is not a time to perpetuate stereotypes about <keyword id="12102947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latinidad" source="Orion">Latinidad</keyword>," Jones said, mentioning the commodification of Cinco De Mayo as a poor example of engaging with Latino culture. "I think they really need to be mindful about what it is they're doing and why they're doing it." <h2>Re-envisioning a more inclusive celebration</h2><div type="image" title="puerto rico flag waving" height="1402" width="1870" msid="86240145" hostid="261"></div>Just as the Hispanic Heritage Month can serve as a way to highlight Latinos, it can also be rife with half-baked attempts at inclusion, said Jones cautioned. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/10/so-what-is-hispandering/">Hispandering</a> - which refers to trying to convince Latino voters or consumers for buy-in with often ineffective and offensive marketing - also takes place during this month. "While Latinos should be consulted in this kind of educational work, they must be effectively compensated for their intellectual and emotional labor," Jones said. Though Hispanic Heritage Month is imperfect, many say the holiday still serves an important purpose not only in allowing Latinos to appreciate their culture amid the pressure to assimilate, but by increasing visibility of Latino communities. "When I was growing up in Albuquerque in the 1970s, I never learned anything about Mexicans or Latinos," Gómez said. "I ask my students if they have learned this history and only a few of them have … There's a real need to right the wrongs of this exclusion." That's why Gómez is a proponent of educational initiatives throughout the month that attempt to fill the gap in inferior historical education about Latinos and other minoritized groups. As the month is underway, Voices of Color will continue to spotlight Latino communities and all their invaluable contributions with narratives celebrating the agency of people to define themselves, tell their own stories and shape their own future.

Latinos are reimagining Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight diversity

<ul class="summary-list"><li>41 million people speak <keyword id="12314138" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="spanish" source="Orion">Spanish</keyword> in the US. But the share of Latinos who use it at home is declining.</li><li>Linguistic assimilation has caused Spanish to slowly succumb in some families.</li></ul>For Latinos in the US, the question of identity is complex and, for some, the answer is substantially tied to whether a person is a Spanish-speaking person or not. Moises Mendez II, a Dominican-American journalist, has asked himself that question. But for him, when it comes to family, <a href="https://www.insider.com/spanish-language-isnt-a-barrier-to-latinx-family-love-2021-7">love isn't lost in translation even if Spanish is the language barrier</a>. "I'm slowly coming to terms with my stance on learning the language as being, 'I'll teach myself Spanish when I'm ready, but if I don't, that's okay too,'" he wrote.For others like him, Spanish isn't intrinsic to Latino identity, either. Already, most Latino adults say that while Spanish is an important part of Latino <keyword id="11899151" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">culture</keyword>, it <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/19/is-speaking-spanish-necessary-to-be-hispanic-most-hispanics-say-no/">isn't necessary to speak Spanish to be considered Latino.</a> How a person self-identifies, actually, goes beyond how they relate to a language. Here's why.<h2>The use of Spanish among Latinos is changing</h2>About<a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=spanish%20speaking&amp;tid=ACSST1Y2019.S16011601"> 41 million people speak Spanish in the US</a>, making it the second most spoken language in the country. And while that number continues to grow,<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2017/12/20/hispanic-identity-fades-across-generations-as-immigrant-connections-fall-away/"> the amount of self-identified Latinos who speak it at home is declining</a> as English dominance rises through generations, according to the Pew Research Center. Only 7% of foreign-born, self-identified Hispanics say they mostly use English at home. The share increases to 75% for third-and-higher-generation Americans.And experts note the experience of being Latino isn't the same for everyone.Latinos are often seen as an homogeneous group of people, all represented in the same way. But the assumption that there's a common, singular identity among Latinos is a misrepresentation of the category as a whole. Related Article Module: For Latinx families, love isn't lost in translation even if Spanish is the language barrier"The notion of Latino isn't homogenous, it is very heterogeneous. There are country of origin differences, there are ethnic differences, and there are regional differences that produce a lot of different types of subjectivities within the category of Latino," Dr. Phillip Carter, a sociolinguistics scholar, told Insider.Being Latino is not a one-size-fits-all, but the Latino narrative was constructed to assume just that.In her book, "Making Hispanics: How Activists, Bureaucrats, and Media Constructed a New American," sociologist G. Cristina Mora, explains the development of the "Hispanic" identity and how groups from different regions and different political perspectives were all united under this term.And although panethnic words like "Latino" and "Hispanic" are largely used to describe one's identity, different Latino subgroups have their own personal experiences of what it is to be Latino, as they relate to culture, race, beliefs, gender, and even socio-political status, not just language. What would Latinidad or "Latino-ness," then, look like to indigenous communities that <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/latinidad-spanish-exclusionary/">don't traditionally speak Spanish?</a>Overall, language isn't the only way to articulate one's identity. <h2>People speak different languages because of different reasons</h2>Language ideologies-how language is used in the social world-are politically loaded. There is a social structure to the use of a language or the absence of it. Carter explains that the political conceptualization of language in the United States and elsewhere suggests that languages, nations, and populations line up congruently.Assumptions are often that if someone's in France they speak French, if they're in the United States they speak English, or if they're Hispanic then they speak Spanish. But it's not always that simple."In reality, people speak different languages depending on their experiences in the world that relate to their ethnicity, and also political notions of country, but are not determined by those notions," he said.In other words, someone can be a Latino in the United States and be a Spanish monolingual, an English monolingual, or anything in between.These different language outcomes, for the most part, exist because of how a person, or generations before them, perceived the language. For most people, having seen or experienced some sort of linguistic discrimination made them loathe Spanish.For immigrants who've integrated into American society, being subjected to anti-immigrant rhetoric has discouraged them from using their native language as a primary form of communication. As a result, their cultural linguistic roots have been severed and their native language dismissed. This linguistic assimilation causes Spanish to slowly succumb in some families.More than <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/02/most-hispanic-parents-speak-spanish-to-their-children-but-this-is-less-the-case-in-later-immigrant-generations/">50% of third generation parents even choose not to speak Spanish to their children</a>, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center report."In my grandparents' time, in my mom's time, Spanish was looked down upon," Julian Castro, former secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, <a href="https://remezcla.com/culture/julian-castro-fluent-spanish/?amp">told MSNBC.</a> "People, I think, internalized this oppression about it, and basically wanted their kids to first be able to speak English," he added.Today, "English-only" workplace policies, anti-Latino sentiments, hate speech, or general hostility towards the language, are just some forms of discrimination Latinos face. About four-in-ten Latinos (38%) have experienced discrimination, according to Pew. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/22/before-covid-19-many-latinos-worried-about-their-place-in-america-and-had-experienced-discrimination/ft_2020-07-22_hispanicdiscrimination_02/"><div type="image" title="BI Global Image 2537599" height="450" width="600" msid="87188964" hostid="261"></div></a>Others who dwell within the category of Latino who might, for instance, be undocumented, vulnerable to the state, or are under constant threat of feeling like they are going to be deported, might see the "Latino-as-threat" discourse and choose not to speak Spanish in public.But this linguicism isn't exclusive to new immigration. Anti-Latino prejudice dates back to the 1840s, where school segregation, illegal deportation, and even lynchings of Spanish-speaking US citizens mirrored the Civil Rights violations African American faced.<h2>There's more to Latino identity than just speaking Spanish</h2>Prejudice against Spanish continued well into the late 80s, and its long-lasting effects brought up entire generations who don't speak it and are left not feeling "Latino enough."But constructing a larger sense of Latino identity is about finding ways to connect with one's heritage, whether it's through Spanish or not. Related Article Module: The Latino electorate is growing. What does that mean for the future of American politics?It's about the richness of the Latino culture and the diversity across the Latin diaspora."​​Not knowing Spanish isn't something to be looked down upon," Manuel Rocha, a Mexican-American, said in his Podcast <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/latinos-that-dont-speak-spanish/id1455805232">Latinos that don't speak Spanish.</a>He added "embracing your culture, having pride in your ancestry, and sharing that with your communities is how we, Latinos that don't speak Spanish, can make the most impact."

Being Latino is about much more than just speaking "perfect Spanish"

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12154129" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latino-voters" source="Orion">Latino voters</keyword> turned out in record numbers, but they can't shake the "sleeping giant" commentary.</li><li>Political experts say greater outreach and investment in Latino voters is necessary.</li></ul>Every four years, Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz mentally prepares himself for shallow punditry about <a href="https://www.insider.com/latino-aapi-youth-press-for-voting-rights-in-florida-and-texas-2021-9">Latino voters</a>. From referring to them as "sleeping giants" - implying they could have political power if only they showed up to the polls at greater rates - to erasing all their the nuances and complexities in favor of analyzing "the Latino vote," the assistant professor of sociology at Northwestern University has observed the continuous flattening of the many communities that compose the Latino voting block. "There's this entrenched and dated way of discussing Latino voters, referring to them with phrases that advocacy leaders rarely use to describe Latino communities," Rodríguez-Muñiz, who authored Figures of the Future: Latino Civil Rights and the <keyword id="11893346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics" source="Orion">Politics</keyword> of Demographic Change, told Insider. Yet when Latinos are not being misrepresented by the media, they are more often than not erased, said Rep. Joaquin Castro. "There's a systemic exclusion of Latinos from employment within Latino media," Castro told Insider. "The Latino narrative has been left out of the American story."Political analysts say things are changing. Rodríguez-Muñiz isn't confident "sleeping giant" is going away anytime soon, but says there's at least acknowledgment that Latino voters are neither idle nor apathetic.Latino voters are historymakers, rather. More than half of eligible Latino voters cast their ballots in the 2020 <keyword id="12168485" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="presidential-election" source="Orion">presidential election</keyword> - a historic first that was achieved "even without the kind of spending on Latino turnout some had hoped to see," <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/half-eligible-latinos-voted-2020-historic-first-rcna899">wrote</a> Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News. Looked at another way: 1 in 10 voters were Latino, a statistic that shows this block was instrumental in cinching the presidential election. Despite the recognition that Latinos are becoming an increasingly important fixture in national politics, there's little to no consensus about who exactly composes the Latino electorate. As the 2020 presidential election underscored, Latino voters are not an easily defined group as their voting patterns <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/15/2020-election-showed-latino-voters-diverse-bloc-vary-region-to-region/6269485002/">vary across ethnicities and cultures, as well as regions, gender, and generations</a>. As they claim a greater stake in US politics, however, Latino political experts and advocacy groups say it's worth probing how the American public, politicians, and political organizers alike can come closer to understanding who the Latino electorate is this <keyword id="12102946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hispanic-heritage-month" source="Orion">Hispanic Heritage Month</keyword> and beyond. Latinos are both overlooked and subjected to an influx of conflicting narratives Most of the mainstream narratives of Latino voters are simultaneously one-dimensional and conflicting, according to Geraldo Cadava, a history professor at Northwestern University. One enduring narrative is that Latinos are suddenly evolving into Republicans, even though voting data dictates that Republicans have traditionally won 30-40% of Latino votes - a statistic that is in keeping with the 38% of votes Donald Trump won in 2020, per exit polls. "I think Democrats should be very curious about and shouldn't be dismissive of the Latinos who voted for Trump," Cadava, who authored the book The Hispanic Republican: The Shaping of an American Political Identity, from Nixon to Trump, told Insider. While some were perplexed as to how Donald Trump could garner support among Latinos given his rhetoric and policies that were antagonistic towards them, Cadava told Insider that Trump appealed to some Latinos' motivations, including economic individualism and law and order. Still, he cautioned against making sweeping generalizations about the share of Latino Republican voters exponentially growing. In his view, although 2020 exit polls show <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-s-gains-among-latino-voters-shouldn-t-come-surprise-n1246463">more Latino counties voting Republican</a>, it's "too early" to determine what the long term voting patterns of Latinos will be. <div type="image" title="Hispanic vote poll" height="600" width="800" msid="86968602" hostid="261"></div>"It's too early now to tell and 2022 and 2024 will likely also be too early to tell the direction Latino voters are moving in," Cadava said. "One thing history teaches us is that just because things have been a certain way for 50 years doesn't mean it's destined. Things change over time." It's not just national elections that inspire narrow narratives and broad generalizations about Latino communities, however. Cadava points to the recent California governor recall election as one that shows us that pundits and other political operatives have been quick to interpret exit polls with inconsistent significance. He cited various contrasting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/16/what-we-dont-know-about-hispanic-voters-after-california-recall/">articles</a> - all published within days of one another last month- that analyzed the recall election as both indicative of Democrats' success and failure with Latinos. Latinos can no longer be sidelined by the parties relying on their votes, experts say According to Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of the grassroots political organization Voto Latino, one under-discussed aspect of Latino voters is their youth relative to other racial and ethnic groups. Per the Pew Research Center, Hispanics are among the younger racial or ethnic group with a median age of 30, compared to white who have a median age of 44, Asian Americans who have a median age of 38, and Black Americans who have a median age of 35. "In 2010, Latinos surpassed African Americans as the second largest demographic group, but most of the growth was among younger Latinos who couldn't yet vote because they were under 18," Kumar told Insider. "Those Latinos became a voting population in 2018 and they made their voices heard both that year and in 2020." One million Latinos are expected to turn 18 every year for the next two decades, according to Pew. As a result, Latino voters are young voters who not only lean progressive, but who are leading the charge against voter suppression and <a href="https://www.insider.com/latino-aapi-youth-press-for-voting-rights-in-florida-and-texas-2021-9">mobilizing their peers and communities to vote. </a>Progressive Latinos will not automatically vote for Democrats, experts say While young Latino voters may lean more progressive, Democrats cannot assume that this block will vote them into office, Rodríguez-Muñiz said. "The vast majority of Latinos are never spoken to by community groups, in part because there's this assumption that they're immigrants who can't vote or because their vote is already guaranteed," Rodríguez-Muñiz told Insider. "Racism also leads to a lack of actual investments in Latinx communities." While there is no comprehensive data set chronicling how many progressive Latinos vote for a third party or forgo voting altogether rather than voting for a Democratic candidate, at least some self-described Democratic Socialists voted for the <a href="https://www.tpr.org/government-politics/2020-10-25/latino-voters-2020-why-a-progressive-voter-wants-a-green-party-candidate-in-office">Green Party </a>in 2020. Experts say Democrats' investment in Latinos communities can swing an election, pointing to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/22/21121694/nevada-caucuses-bernie-sanders-latino-vote-2020">success of Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevada during his 2020 presidential campaign</a>, and to the recent California recall election. "The recall election's Latino-mobilizing efforts provide a roadmap for organizers nationwide come the 2022 midterms," Los Angeles Times columnist Jean Guerrero <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-09-23/column-how-latino-voters-in-the-recall-election-set-up-a-winning-model-for-the-midterms">wrote. </a>"The results were clear: When Democrats show up for Latinos, Latinos show up for democracy." Voter Suppression is an imminent issue for Latino communities Investment from both major parties is not the only issue afflicting the Latino electorate, however. Voter suppression is becoming an imminent and more urgent issue preventing Latinos from electing the officials they believe can best serve their communities. "There's less historical memory of voter suppression in relation to Latinos," Rodríguez-Muñiz said. "There's a routine conversation where the blame is placed on Latinos for not showing up, instead of the political, structural factors that prevent them from doing so." Among the various voter suppression tactics that disproportionately affects Latinos are active <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/latino-voters-aren-t-apathetic-sanders-nevada-win-shows-stop-ncna1142541">voter suppression laws and voter intimidation tactics. </a>"The Republican myth of rampant voter fraud by undocumented immigrants by implication stigmatizes the Latino community," <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/latino-voters-aren-t-apathetic-sanders-nevada-win-shows-stop-ncna1142541">wrote</a> political science experts Tehama Lopez Bunyasi and Stephen Nuño-Perez. While the votes of the Latino electorate remain up for grabs in future elections, organizers and scholars alike are adamant that voter suppression is the fight of today. According to them, the crusade for voting rights cannot only be undertaken during Midterm or presidential election seasons. "Why are they trying to move the goalpost?" Voto Latino's Maria Teresa Kumar said. "It's to restrict voter access and prevent Latinos from casting ballots." She added that despite the <a href="https://rvalibrary.org/shelf-respect/elections/latino-voter-suppression-a-brief-look/">various challenges</a> young Latinos face to voting, they played such a significant hand in flipping Arizona and Georgia blue in the election that Voto Latino is now trying to rally the youth vote in Florida.But Democratic, Republican, and other organizers cannot simply focus on battleground states or big cities in their outreach, Cadava said. "We're not just in places like New York, Florida, Texas, and California," Cadava said. "We're truly a national population.""We're in Wisconsin; we're in North Dakota," he added. "We're all over the country."

The Latino electorate is growing. What does that mean for the future of American politics?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The CDC estimates that more than 300,000 people in the US have Chagas, called "The Kissing Bug". </li><li>Yet the <keyword id="6361612" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="disease" source="Orion">disease</keyword> is not widely recognized in the US because it mostly affects <keyword id="12111192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latino" source="Orion">Latino</keyword> immigrants.</li><li>Daisy Hernández draws greater awareness to the disease and encourage people to get screened. </li></ul>Daisy Hernández bypassed media relations and snuck into the hospital so she could be with Carlos, a source for the book she was writing, as he was getting his heart examined.The author of the award-winning memoir A Cup Under My Bed may not have been Carlos' girlfriend, as the doctor assumed, or even remotely related to the Chagas patient, but she did have a personal connection to the disease afflicting him.Her own Tía Dora suffered from Chagas, a disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which transmits the disease through bites. Being in close proximity to Chagas had a profound effect on Hernández. In fact, the author was inspired to write her most recent release The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's Neglect of a Deadly Disease after witnessing her aunt's <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">health</keyword> deteriorate as a result of the disease. In The Kissing Bug, Hernández chronicles how Chagas is becoming more prevalent in the United States and how the racial politics of the US <keyword id="11897506" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="healthcare" source="Orion">healthcare</keyword> system bars people from accessing life-saving treatment. Named after Carlos Chagas, a Brazilian physician who discovered the disease in 1909, Chagas can cause cardiac and gastrointestinal complications including heart failure, cardiac arrest, and enlarged colons. While most people in the acute phase of Chagas don't experience any symptoms, for others, the disease spurs pain, fatigue, and nausea, among other symptoms. If left untreated, Chagas can be deadly, which is why early detection of the disease is the best way to curtail it. Yet the disease, which is now more common in the country than Zika virus, remains invisible in the US. Hernández argues that Chagas is absent from the American vernacular and healthcare system because it mostly affects poor Latinos, and in particular, Latino farm-workers. Of the estimated 300,000 Americans who have Chagas, most are Latin American immigrants. <h2>Hernández says Chagas reflects 'who we choose to take care of' </h2><div type="image" title="Daisy Hernández smiling wearing a navy blue dress." height="744" width="500" msid="86630280" hostid="261"></div>Chagas can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ donations, and pregnancy. If it is uncovered early on - as was the case for one newborn baby Hernández writes about in the book - it can be treated with anti-parasitic medications.Adults can also take medication to manage the various symptoms associated with the disease. People aren't often screened for Chagas - even though it's cheaper to screen and treat babies and their moms than it is to cover the costs associated with them having the disease. Hernández told Insider of one infant highlighted in her book, that "had [Chagas] not been identified, he would have been in his 20s or 30s and would have likely started developing heart problems." Dr. Rachel Marcus, who credits Hernández with making the public aware of Chagas, attributes the lack of proactive care against Chagas to a lack of education among medical professionals about the disease and to the inadequate care people of color face in the US healthcare system. "This is a disease that can be prevented if you catch it early enough and the only way you're going to do that is by screening," Marcus, a physician who helped establish the Latin American Society of Chagas, a non-profit that provides access to medical resources to Latino communities in the metropolitan Washington area, told Insider. Yet "overworked and under-recognized" physicians tend to overlook the disease, in part because they "were taught this was a disease they weren't going to see," Marcus said. The fact that Chagas mostly affects Latino immigrants also prevents the disease from being detected. Latinos have the <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&amp;lvlid=64d=64">highest uninsured rates </a>of any U.S. racial or ethnic group, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. Through interviews with patients, doctors, and epidemiologists, Hernández weaves a narrative of the racial politics that overshadow modern healthcare and reveals who "we choose to take care of and when and how and for what reasons." Marcus said the United States has a history weaponizing patients' citizenship status and using it to deny healthcare - a dynamic that Hernández writes about in The Kissing Bug and still influences who is able to obtain proper medical care today. "This is a patient population that's not well suited to being able to advocate for themselves.Because they're often undocumented and don't want to draw attention to themselves, especially during the four years of the Trump administration, which was hostile towards immigrants," Marcus said. <h2>The Kissing Bug spreads awareness for professionals and families </h2><div type="image" title="A cover of Daisy Hernández’s “The Kissing Bug” that shows a orange and brown changas bug on green plants." height="3002" width="1943" msid="86630281" hostid="261"></div>There are many obstacles to eradicating Chagas.The parasite can reemerge after a heart transplant, attacking the new organ. Benznidazole, a potential treatment, is expensive - in large part because of exploitative prices set by pharmaceutical companies, experts say.Yet Hernández's writing provides a paradigm for how to begin addressing the inequities baked into medicine. In the book, she highlights the work of individual doctors working to combat the disease. "Without them, there's a lot of care that wouldn't happen for Latinx migrants," Hernández said. While Hernández is inspired by their work, she doesn't think it should be incumbent on just a few doctors to help Latinos with Chagas access the care they need. Instead, she wants Chagas to be something that is tested for at birth, just as Severe Combined Immune Deficiency, a disorder that makes it challenging for newborns to fight off infections, and other disorders are. "I do hope that it raises awareness about the disease for both Latinx families and also for medical professionals, because it is not taught in medical schools today in a significant way," Hernández said. "I want them to know that this is something to be screened for, something to check off the list."

Meet the author on a mission to combat the invisible 'Kissing Bug' disease affecting Latinos communities

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new report found that less than 6% of characters featured in films in 2019 were <keyword id="12111192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latino" source="Orion">Latino</keyword>. </li><li>Even when Latinos are featured in films, these portrayals are often riddled with stereotypes.</li><li>The report offered solutions from raising funding for Latino art to hiring talent for ad campaigns.</li></ul>Hispanics and Latinos continue to "face an epidemic of invisibility" in <keyword id="11904996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="film" source="Orion">film</keyword>, according to a new report released Wednesday by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The report, published in conjunction with the start of <a href="https://www.insider.com/this-hispanic-heritage-month-latinos-defy-tropes-celebrate-diversity-2021-9">Hispanic Heritage Month</a>, provides an update to its 2019 report titled "Inequality in 1,300 Popular Films." Data showed that less than 6% of characters featured in films released in 2019 were <keyword id="12111193" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hispanic" source="Orion">Hispanic</keyword> or Latino. Representation is equally dismal behind the camera. Of the 1,300 top-grossing films released from 2007-2019, there were only 12 individual Latinx directors. Two of these directors, Melina Matsoukas and Steven Caple Jr., are Afro-Latino. "There's always a lot of excuses about the talent pipeline," Katherine Pieper, one of the authors of the study, told Insider. Related Article Module: To succeed as a Latinx creator in Hollywood, it helps to be white-passing"But it's about decision-making and who's being hired to work behind and in-front of the camera," she added.USC Annenberg Equality Initiative's 2019 report also found that Hispanics and Latinos have been virtually erased from the film industry, which is why Ariana Case, a lead author of the most recent report, didn't find these results surprising. "We found a lot of numbers didn't change," Case told Insider. "We saw more of the same patterns that continue to erase Hispanic and Latino communities." More than 60 million Hispanics, or around 18% of the country's population live in the US. Los Angeles, where the film industry is predominantly based, is nearly half Latino, per US Census Data. Latinos are also regular moviegovers, buying 25% of all movie tickets, according to the report. Despite growing Latino communities and their consumer power, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that Latino audiences are not prioritized by studios. Nearly 80% of the 50 US states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico have a higher percentage of Latinos than Hollywood films, states the report. The lack of Latino representation in Hollywood is pervasive and affects all aspects of filmmaking, the report states, finding that around 3% of casting directors and 3% of producers are Latino. <div type="image" title="coco" height="1206" width="1608" msid="86280718" hostid="261"></div>Case told Insider that even when Latinos are featured in films, these portrayals are often riddled with offensive and harmful stereotypes. "We're not seeing this multicultural, accurate portrayal of these communities," she said. According to the study, nearly 40% of the top-billed Hispanic and Latino characters in 2019 films were portrayed as criminals, while more than 13% of the top-billed Hispanic and Latino characters in these films were depicted as lower class or impoverished. Beyond being stereotypical, these roles tend to lack intersectionality. There wasn't a single LGBTQ+ identifying Latino character in the 2019 films analyzed, despite the fact that Latino millennials are the least likely members of their age group to identify as heterosexual, per a 2018 University of Chicago <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/latino-millennials-least-likely-identify-heterosexual-survey-finds-n893701">study.</a>And only one Latino lead or co-lead in 2019 films had a disability, even though 1 in 6 Hispanics do, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/materials/infographic-disabilities-ethnicity-race.html">CDC. </a>Because of the lack of the Latino representation in film, there's pressure for the projects showcasing Latino characters to be the one, perfect film for the whole of the community, said Pieper. "It's really hard to find a <keyword id="11898343" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movies" source="Orion">movies</keyword> that check all the boxes," Pieper said. "So much then rests on these movies to carry the burden and the weight of representation.""I think the point is that we need more films," Pieper added. "We need a plurality of representation so that not so much hinges on one or a few films to represent millions of people." The report calls on those working in the film industry to implement several "strategic solutions for change" to address the dearth of Latinos in movies. For talent agencies and casting directors, it recommends actively recruiting Latino talent. It also instructs film festivals to support Latino and Hispanic filmmakers. Philanthropists, corporations, and elected officials can also play an important role in bolstering Latino representation, per the report. From raising funding for Latino art and education to hiring talent for ad campaigns to creating legislation that provides tax incentives for projects with Hispanic and Latino talent, this issue can be attacked from multiple angles.

Latinos 'face an epidemic of invisibility' in film. A new report unpacks how Hollywood falls short in diversity

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Adriana Alejandre created Latinx <keyword id="12123622" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="therapy" source="Orion">Therapy</keyword>, a podcast and coalition of <keyword id="12111192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="latino" source="Orion">Latino</keyword> therapists, in 2018.</li><li>She wants to address the cultural and financial issues that prevent Latinos from accessing help.</li></ul>Adriana Alejandre didn't make it past three sessions before she quit attending therapy out of guilt. "All I kept hearing was my mother's voice telling me we're not supposed to talk about anything outside the family," Alejandre told Insider. "She always said 'if there's a problem, we fix it in the home.'"So how did Alejandre go from rejecting therapy to becoming the founder of <a href="https://latinxtherapy.com/">Latinx Therapy</a>, a national coalition of <keyword id="11902572" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mental-health" source="Orion">mental health</keyword> providers and a podcast that discusses mental <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">health</keyword> topics in Latino communities? Though Alejandre said she was unable to reject the shame of seeking outside help, she enjoyed "the feeling of talking and having the focus on healing, instead of suppressing my emotions." Then a sophomore in college and a new mother, Alejandre, now 31, said she was "really depressed" and struggling with postpartum depression. While she was used to excelling academically, the Guatemalan-Mexican therapist was failing her college courses."I was always an A+ student, but when I got pregnant, that changed. I was in survival mode," Alejandre said. "I was also alone and away from my family and we were having problems because they were upset that I had gotten pregnant." As she walked away from therapy, however, she was instilled with a new-found sense of purpose and decided to become a psychology major so that she might better educate Latino communities dealing with the stigma of mental health struggles and lack of accessible care. "I knew that my community had a lot of trauma, because everything I had known was trauma," Alejandre said. <h2>The stigma of mental health struggles is entrenched in Latino communities </h2>Latinos face numerous barriers to accessing mental <a href="https://www.insider.com/author-daisy-hernandez-combats-kissing-bug-disease-killing-latinos-2021-9">health care</a>, including lack of health insurance. Among all racial and ethnic groups, they are the least likely to be insured, according to the <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&amp;lvlid=64d=64">US Department of Health and Human Services.</a> Latinos are not only up against economic obstacles; they also encounter social and cultural barriers that prevent them from accessing the help they need, including stigma against mental health issues.A 2017 <a href="https://findyourwords.org/understanding-depression/mental-health-myths-facts-national-poll/">survey</a> revealed that nearly 70% of Hispanic respondents believe that depression and/or anxiety is caused by a "personal weakness or failing." Language barriers also prevent some Latinos from accessing the help they need, according to Maxine Henry, the associate director of the National Latino Behavioral Health Association, an organization that aims to influence behavioral health policy. "Bilingual and bicultural therapy works, but there's not nearly enough of it, nor are there enough Latino practitioners," Henry told Insider. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), only about 8,000, or 7%, of therapists in the US were Latino in 2019, despite the fact that Hispanics make up 18% of the country's population. Even fewer of these therapists offer Spanish-language services; per a 2015 APA survey, only around 6% of therapists of any race or ethnicity provided sessions in Spanish. Alejandre grew aware of the dearth of Latino practitioners after opening up her own practice in 2017. Her practice was in a predominantly white and affluent area in Los Angeles, but low-income communities of color who lived across the freeway sought her bilingual services. "I didn't think it was fair to hold a waitlist for a bilingual, trained professional, so in 2017, I created a Facebook group to see who else in the area provided similar services," Alejandre said. That Facebook group became the foundation for Latinx Therapy, which Alejandre launched in 2018. Since then, the organization has been providing a directory of Latinx therapists and bilingual mental health resources for Latinos, including non-clinical support groups.Alejandre hosts a podcast of the name, which tackles topics like being the translator in your family, substance abuse among Latinos, and navigating therapy alongside religion. "When I was working with clients, I found that there weren't many bilingual media resources I could point them towards that were relevant and not full of clinical jargon," Alejandre said. "So I decided to launch Latinx Therapy because I wanted something culturally attuned." <h2>The pandemic has exacerbated mental health struggles among Latinos</h2>The pandemic has taken a physical and emotional toll on Latino communities. According to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html">the CDC</a>, Latinos are nearly twice more likely to contract and die from COVID-19 than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.Latinos have also experienced disproportionate economic setbacks during the pandemic, accounting for 23% of initial job loss, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics."Latinos were already facing behavioral health challenges before the pandemic but the pandemic made them worse," Henry told Insider, noting that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latinos-grapple-opioid-overdose-rise-covid-pandemic-triggers-surge-us-rcna415">opioid and other substance use among Latinos increased during the pandemic. </a>"The loss of jobs, the shame and stigma, the isolation. It's kind of like an onion where the more you pull back, the more inequalities you see." Telehealth, which grew in prominence during the pandemic, didn't necessarily make mental health care more accessible, Henry added, since <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/low-income-latino-communities-digital-divide-coronavirus-pandemic/">many low income Latinos didn't have access to the Internet at home. </a>While the issues preventing Latinos from accessing mental health care are immense, Latinx Therapy demystifies what therapy is and how to access it. "I didn't think therapy was for people like me, but it liberated me and I want others to have access to that same healing," Alejandre said, emphasizing that while this pandemic has harmed Latinos, it has also provided an opportunity for destigmatizing and educating Latinos on mental illness and trauma. "Within the community, folks that have previously stigmatized therapy because of this mental health crisis have actually sought out mental health treatment for themselves or someone else, which is a very positive thing," Alejandre said.

How one Latina therapist went from almost quitting therapy to helping Latinos overcome mental health stigma

<a href="https://www.insider.com/asian-american-pacific-islander-highlighting-heritage-from-here-2021-5"></a><div type="image" title="Alex Lee" height="3991" width="5321" msid="83063214" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Millennial and Gen Z <keyword id="426188" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asian-Americans">Asian Americans</keyword> are rising up, moving from activism to political office.</li><li>After a year of attacks, many in the <keyword id="219355" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="AAPI">AAPI</keyword> community say they've been galvanized to take action.</li><li>But a younger, more progressive generation is often in opposition to their parents' conservative leanings.</li></ul>Alex Lee thought he was sure to lose the California Assembly race last November, all the way up until election night. He was outspent 15 to one by a competitor, he said, but ended up winning with an overwhelming 73.1% of the vote.Lee, who is 25 and was born to immigrants from Hong Kong, is the youngest lawmaker elected in California in over 80 years and represents a largely Democratic and majority Asian American district that includes Silicon Valley."It's also the bedroom community for Silicon Valley," Lee told Insider. "Just by culture, it's the people that innovate, disrupt, and I think they're also progressive."Lee himself identifies as a progressive, helping earn him a key endorsement from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.His predecessor, Kansen Chu, is a 68-year-old Taiwanese American Democrat and former computer programmer.<q class="pullquote-quotation">Because we grew up here and our friends are much more representative of the society at large than our parents, we see ourselves as part of that fight and we see ourselves as part of that movement.</q> Tiffany Chang, Asian Americans Advancing JusticeYet Chu and Lee are of different ideologies and represent Asian Americans' shifting generational <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> - Lee is part of a younger cohort of US-born AAPIs, coming of age in an America much different than that of his parents, who are closer to Chu's generation and tend to lean more conservative."To go from Kansen Chu to me I feel like is almost in a way a metaphor for the changing time," Lee said, noting he is "half the average age of the legislature.""Not only am I the youngest and first Gen Z and all of that stuff, but attitudinally, generational, experientially, very different," he said.In Georgia, Sam Park, who is serving his second term as state representative, is just ten years older than Lee. First elected in 2016 when he was 31, his victory on the same night President Trump was elected was heralded by Democrats as a "silver lining," he told Insider.Park is also the first openly gay man and Asian American Democrat elected to Georgia's House of Representatives. Born to Korean immigrants, Park prevailed over a three-time incumbent Republican to represent Gwinnett County, a populous and increasingly diverse region home to the state's largest Asian American population.Young progressives like Lee and Park, who both identify as LGBTQ, are aimed at pushing the Democratic Party left and bringing Asian American voters - not just their generation of US-born AAPIs, but a broader swath that includes their parents' generation - along with them.And they're set to do so at a moment when the Asian American community is in spotlight - events of the past year, including a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/un-report-trump-seemingly-legitimizing-hate-crimes-against-asian-americans-2020-10">rise in anti-Asian violence that some tie to President Trump's</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-defamation-league-study-donald-trump-anti-asian-hate-speech-2021-3">continued reference to the "China virus,</a>" has led to fear and uncertainty in the AAPI community, but also galvanized them to political action. "As an elected official and the first Asian American Democrat elected in the Georgia state legislature, one of the things that I want Asian American communities to really understand as we continue to move forward is that yes, these are incredibly challenging times," Park told Insider, "but we've been here before and we've also overcome these challenges as well."<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-signs-anti-asian-hate-crimes-bill-2021-5">President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act</a> last week to help address the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hate-crimes-new-york-city-spiked-first-few-months-2021-2021-5">rise in anti-Asian hate crimes</a>, which have been historically underreported, and comes after the <a href="https://www.insider.com/experts-say-atlanta-spa-shootings-linked-to-asian-race-gender-2021-3">shooting of six women of Asian descent at Atlanta spas in March</a> sparked nationwide outrage.<h2>The rise of <keyword id="10953454" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="anti-asian-violence">anti-Asian violence</keyword> is spurring young AAPIs into 'answering that call'</h2>Park lost his mother in 2018, and says that experience created a deep empathy with the spa shooting victims' sons. "When I learned that the shooting victims, four of the women in Atlanta were of Korean-American descent between the ages of 50 and 70 years old, I broke down," he said.The shootings felt far too close to home for many in Georgia's Asian American community."One of the most common refrains that I heard immediately after the shooting was, 'Am I next?" Park said. "But there's also a sort of quiet determination, and Asian American communities are coming together and becoming more organized."Indeed, young Asian Americans are reacting to recent events by turning to civic action or organizing on their own, says Tiffany Chang, director of community engagement at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), a nonprofit that advocates for AAPI civil rights.But the roots of their activism were planted far before the pandemic, she said.Many are millennials and Gen Zers, now "coming of age" as the children of immigrants who came to the US after the repeal of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-has-a-long-history-of-discriminating-against-asians-2021-3">Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943</a>, and after the <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/fifty-years-1965-immigration-and-nationality-act-continues-reshape-united-states">1965 Immigration and Nationality Act</a>, which allowed for large-scale immigration from countries other than Western European nations, Chang said.<div type="image" title="Anti-Asian Hate Rally" height="1886" width="2515" msid="83063218" hostid="261"></div>Not only are Asian Americans the country's fastest growing minority, <a href="https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/contributions-of-united-states-born-aapi">data from the New American Economy</a>, an immigration reform and research group, shows that the country's 6.7 million US-born Asian Americans are the fastest growing segment of that group. And their median age is 21 - much lower than the country's average of 43.As they've gotten older, Chang says many have been inspired by President Obama's election, and challenged by the Trump presidency to "confront their own identities and their own place within the broader racial political discourse." For Park, whose parents immigrated from Korea in the 1980s, being part of this generation means many aspects of Asian American identity are still relatively new."A lot of the Asian American communities today are to a certain degree disconnected from that longer history," he said.Growing up in deeply conservative Georgia, Park says he didn't learn the history of Asian Americans in the US, and was taught the Confederacy was "the good guy."Yet learning that history and coming to terms with the rise in anti-Asian violence has made many Asian Americans feel "targeted for the first time personally," Chang told Insider."Not just with the microaggressions that we face every single day, the street harassment that especially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stereotyping-all-asian-americans-women-as-hardworking-is-detrimental-2018-8">Asian women face all the time</a>, but actually directed capricious violence against our communities," she said.The result is an awakening for Asian Americans who weren't politically active before, Chang said, and includes those who "previously bought into the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/we-are-not-monolith-danger-of-single-asian-american-story-2021-3">'model minority' myth</a> that we were somehow accepted in society.""I think this past year has been a big wake-up call for the movement, and young people are answering that call," Chang told Insider.<h2>Combating vaccine misinformation and eyeing political office: how young AAPIs are taking action</h2>AAJC's annual Youth Leadership Summit, which aims to empower a new crop of young AAPI leaders, saw a 25% increase in applications this year, Chang said, and a recent cohort met with the offices of Sens. Mark Warner, Ted Cruz, Kristen Gillibrand, and Rick Scott."When we went to these Senate offices and said, 'We have this group of students who want to talk to you about hate crimes and they want to talk to you about immigration,' we got a tremendous response," she said. "I think that's partially because of the unique voice that youth have especially in this day and age, but also because of everything that's happening and wanting to be responsive to AAPI youth at this time."Christine Chen, executive director of the nonpartisan civic organization Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), told Insider she's seen an increase in young Chinese and Vietnamese Americans addressing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-bidens-covid-19-advisor-anti-vaxxers-targeting-black-americans-2021-2">misinformation and disinformation related to the pandemic and vaccine within their communities</a>, often spread through chat apps like WeChat and WhatsApp. <div type="image" title="Stop Asian Hate Rally" height="4160" width="5546" msid="83063220" hostid="261"></div>The pandemic also forced families to be together and have conversations about racism, Chen said, sparking a greater interest in civic action for young people.Lee, the California assemblymember, said his generation has been initiating dialogues with their parents and grandparents, and recognizing that the rise in anti-Asian violence "is larger than just people being mean on the streets." He says he is encouraging his AAPI peers to take advantage of the "awful burning spotlight on the Asian American community" to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-cant-combat-anti-asian-hate-with-anti-blackness-2021-4">practice interracial solidarity</a> with Black and Latinx communities: "While we have the spotlight on us, it does not mean it's happening in a vacuum," he said.<q class="pullquote-quotation">One of the most common refrains that I heard immediately after the shooting was, 'Am I next?' But there's also a sort of quiet determination, and Asian American communities are coming together and becoming more organized.</q> Sam Park, Georgia state representativeAAJC's Chang notes that young Asian Americans aren't just talking about the "bread and butter" issues like immigration, jobs, and education of their parents' era, but also speaking up about gun violence and climate change. "That's a trend that we will see grow," she said.Chang draws a further contrast between the younger generation's politics and that of their parents, many of whom were immigrants learning to navigate a new country: "Rocking the boat isn't necessarily always their first priority.""I think the second generation, we look at things like racial microaggressions and police brutality against Black and Brown communities," she said. "And because we grew up here and our friends are much more representative of the society at large than our parents, we see ourselves as part of that fight and we see ourselves as part of that movement."Vida Lin, founder of the nonpartisan Las Vegas-based Asian Community Development Council, which aims to increase AAPI voter turnout, has seen some of those differences in the nearly three decades she's been in Nevada.But Lin also questions why her generation worries about younger Asian Americans becoming more politically active."In our generation, in the past, has always been taught not to speak out, so now that the young people are willing to speak out, I think people are kind of concerned," she said."My parents came before me, or my forefathers came before me to America, for our young generation to have a better life and a better voice. So why aren't we all embracing it?"With a younger AAPI electorate, voting patterns are also likely to change. While the majority of AAPI voters are currently born outside the country, that will change as "more of the 18-year-olds continue to increase their voter registration and participation," Chen said.Indeed, the number of US-born AAPI eligible voters grew by 45% from 2010 to 2019, according to <a href="https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/contributions-of-united-states-born-aapi/">New American Economy data</a>, and Asian Americans overall were the fastest growing group of eligible voters from 2000 to 2020, according to Census data.As seen with California assemblymembers Lee and Chu, there's a likely changing of the guard coming in Asian American politics too. With the younger AAPI generation maturing and figuring out identities separate from that of their immigrant parents, they're forging a new one that will and already has shaped electoral politics."I am a true believer that youth are our future," Lin said. "I am very happy to get these young people fired up. I think the time of Asians staying silent is in the past, and that we're all as American as anyone can be."

In the wake of spikes in violence, young Asian Americans are inspired to take up the battle for civil rights and eyeing political office

<ul class="summary-list"><li>TikToker <keyword id="11161412" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sienna-mae-gomez">Sienna Mae Gomez</keyword> has recently denied allegations of sexual assault and verbal abuse. </li><li>The 17-year-old star had a swift rise to fame, gaining millions of followers after a viral video.</li><li>She was named one of <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>'s Latinx Trailblazers in 2020 and has a partnership with Maybelline.</li></ul>Sienna Mae Gomez, the body-positive TikToker with over 21 million total followers on her two TikTok accounts, has recently been embroiled in controversy following allegations that she sexually assaulted <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jack.wright?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ebapp=v1">Jack Wright</a>, another TikToker with 8.5 million followers and Gomez's ex-boyfriend.Gomez has denied the allegations in multiple statements on social media and in an emailed statement previously sent to Insider. The 17-year-old TikTok star and competitive dancer currently has 14.5 million followers on her main account @siennamae and has grown to become one of the platform's biggest influencers after one of her videos went viral in August 2020, catapulting her to online stardom.In the time since, she's signed with a talent agency, partnered with cosmetics brand Maybelline, and become a starring member of Netflix's upcoming Hype House reality series following the TikTok content collective.Gomez is one of TikTok's biggest stars, known for body-positive content on the platform.<h2>Sienna Mae Gomez's built a brand around body positivity after going viral in August 2020</h2>Gomez has two TikTok accounts: her main, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ebapp=v1">@siennamae</a>, which has 14.5 million followers, and her side account, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamaegomezz?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ebapp=v1">@siennamaegomezz</a>, which has 7.4 million followers. The video archive on her side account <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamaegomezz/video/6708982803570101510?sender_device=pc&amp;sender_web_id=6891259809896056326&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;is_copy_url=0s_copy_url=0">dates back to July 2019,</a> while the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6861428249403182342?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=0&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;sender_web_id=68912598098960563261259809896056326">first publicly available video on her main account</a> is from August 2020. Gomez told <a href="https://digiday.com/future-of-tv/how-sienna-mae-gomez-turned-into-one-of-tiktoks-top-stars/">Digiday</a> in a podcast interview that her following exploded after her August 2020 video dancing to "WAP" in sweatpants went viral (to date, it has over 3.5 million likes). At the time, the @siennamae account (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-star-sienna-mae-gomez-interview-business-dance-future-plans-2020-10">which formerly had the handle @spicylatina</a>) was her side account meant for close friends. But soon, it was gaining millions of followers.From there, she began to gain a reputation for posting body-positive content, although some of her other videos, including <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamaegomezz/video/6856175668363922694?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=0&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;sender_web_id=68912598098960563261259809896056326">one from August 2020 in which she acts out a scenario of trying to get over a boy</a>, went viral around the same time as well. The account that she posted the "WAP" video on eventually became her main account. "AHHH GUYS I've literally gained more followers on this acc in one week than I did on my 'main acc' in 1.5 years," she wrote in an <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@siennamae/video/6864648619623009541?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ebapp=v1">on-screen caption in an August 2020 TikTok post.</a><h2>Gomez was named one of TikTok's Latinx Trailblazers in September 2020</h2>In honor of Latinx Heritage Month, TikTok named 12 Latinx Trailblazers on its platform in September 2020. Gomez, alongside other TikTokers like <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@adamrayokay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@</a><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@adamrayokay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adamrayokay,</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@devonrodriguezart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@</a><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@devonrodriguezart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devonrodriguezart</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@spencerx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@</a><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@spencerx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spencerx</a>, was one of the 12 creators honored with the accolade.According to a <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/latinx-heritage-month">TikTok blog post</a> about the company's plans for Latinx Heritage Month, the creators were nominated by the TikTok community as "the next-generation of Latinx digital entertainment leaders."The blog post Gomez as a creator who "focuses on body-positive TikTok videos and promotion of self-love." <h2>In October 2020, Gomez signed with talent agency ICM Partners</h2><a href="https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/10/08/icm-signs-tiktoker-sienna-mae-gomez/">Tubefilter reported</a> that in October 2020, Gomez - who at the time had 5 million followers that she had amassed in the time since her August 2020 video went viral - had signed with the talent agency ICM Partners. Gomez <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-star-sienna-mae-gomez-interview-business-dance-future-plans-2020-10">told Insider in an interview at the time</a> that she was contacted by several major talent agencies, but chose ICM Partners because she felt it best aligned with her vision. Gomez also told Insider at the time that she was focused on finishing high school and attending university in Los Angeles. However, she also spoke about expanding her career into acting, merchandise, and dance, hoping to one day launch a size-inclusive clothing line. <h2>By 2021, she had a partnership with Maybelline</h2>In 2021, Gomez partnered with Maybelline as an ambassador, <a href="https://www.crookesmagazine.com/influencers/sienna-gomez/">telling Crookes Magazine</a> that she would be working with the cosmetics brand on digital campaigns and social content. "It's the first time in Maybelline history that they have enlisted a Gen Z, Latinx, digital-first talent for a long-term partnership," she told Crookes Magazine.<h2>She's one of the TikTokers starring in Netflix's Hype House series</h2>Netflix announced in April that it was making a series about the Hype House, one of TikTok's first, most popular influencer collectives. Both Gomez and Wright are set to appear in the unscripted reality series alongside other members including Thomas Petrou, Kouvr Annon, and Chase Hudson. Together, <a href="https://www.insider.com/hype-house-members-netflix-reality-show-2021-4">the cast for the series has a combined follower count of over 126 million.</a>"thank u <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thehypehousela/">@thehypehousela</a> for letting me b in ur show even tho I'm not quite an official member," Gomez wrote in the caption of an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-dKleFIN5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">Instagram post about her involvement in the series.</a>There's currently no set release date or trailer for the Netflix series.<h2>Gomez became embroiled in sexual assault allegations in late May</h2>On Sunday, May 30, Mason Rizzo - a fellow TikToker and friend of Gomez's ex-boyfriend Wright, who will also star in the Hype House series - <a href="https://www.insider.com/jack-wright-sienna-mae-gomez-drama-twitter-hype-house-allegations-2021-6">tweeted a screenshot of a Notes app statement that accused Gomez of sexual misconduct and included claims that she was verbally abusive.</a>Wright's twin brother James quote-retweeted Rizzo's tweet, saying, "this is why 'I couldn't just let it go and stay out of it.'"Both James and Rizzo have since deleted their tweets, and <a href="https://twitter.com/MasonRizzo3/status/1399529617958965249?s=20">Rizzo later tweeted a statement</a> saying that the Gomez and Wright families would be handling the situation off of social media. Gomez denied the allegations on Monday night in a statement, saying that she and Jack would be taking the situation offline.A spokesperson for Gomez <a href="https://www.insider.com/jack-wright-sienna-mae-gomez-drama-twitter-hype-house-allegations-2021-6">denied all allegations against her in a statement to Insider.</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CPmI7MVF-lM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">Jack also posted a statement on Instagram on Wednesday</a>, saying that "sexual assault is a serious matter that has real consequences" and that he encourages his "childhood friend Sienna to get the support and help that she needs."Gomez has posted multiple videos on YouTube and Instagram further denying the allegations. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CPsCou4nNkP/">In a video posted on Friday</a>, Gomez also addressed footage that surfaced on TikTok and purported to show her sexually assaulting Jack, saying that the clip just showed them kissing and had been taken out of context. "Within the boundaries of our relationship, this was normal," she said. Gomez did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment for this story. The Wright brothers did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.<a href="https://www.insider.com/culture">To read more stories like this, check out Insider's digital culture coverage here.</a>

The rise of Sienna Mae Gomez, the TikTok star who's been accused of sexually assaulting her ex-boyfriend Jack Wright

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table lead-image-large"><div><div class="image on-image">Getty Images/SDI Productions</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Employer branding specialists <a href="https://universumglobal.com">Universum</a> provided Business Insider with an exclusive analysis of what Hispanic and Latinx college students want from their future employers.</li><li>Self-identified Hispanic and Latinx students were more likely than their peers to look for a commitment to diversity and inclusion.</li><li>There were also somewhat more likely to want to work in the healthcare and arts and entertainment sectors.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><a href="https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/">Hispanic Heritage Month</a> runs from September 15 through October 15, and younger Hispanic and Latinx Americans are entering the workforce in larger numbers than ever before. Here's what they're looking for from their future employers.<a href="https://universumglobal.com/">Employer branding specialists Universum</a> runs an annual survey of tens of thousands of college students, asking new entrants to the workforce what they are looking for from their future employers.Universum provided Business Insider an exclusive analysis of which job attributes self-identified Hispanic or Latinx students said were important to them compared with the overall results among all students in the survey.In the US, the traditional age for college students is between 18 and 22. Using the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force/ft_18-04-02_generationsdefined2017_working-age/">Pew Research Center's cutoffs for different generations</a>, the post-millennial Gen Z consists of people born in 1997 or later. That means, as of 2019, the overwhelming majority of traditional college students are in Gen Z.Universum asked students about 40 employer and job attributes, broken into four groups of 10 each: employer reputation and image, people and culture, remuneration and advancement opportunities, and job characteristics. Students are asked to list up to three attributes in each category as being most important to them in their future <keyword id="6354910" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="careers">careers</keyword>.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancestry-maps-united-states-2018-9">Where Americans say their ancestors came from, in 17 maps</a>Hispanic students were much more likely than the overall survey population to say that they wanted a commitment to diversity and inclusion from their future employers, and also ranked support for future <keyword id="6355445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education">education</keyword> more highly than their peers. Here are seven attributes a greater share of Hispanic students ranked as important than the overall survey population:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://universumglobal.com/">Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Universum</a></div></div></div>Universum also asked students to select up to three industries from a list of 20 that they would like to work in. Hispanic and Latinx students were more likely to list the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry and healthcare services than the overall student survey population:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://universumglobal.com/">Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Universum</a></div></div></div><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-growing-high-paying-jobs-without-a-college-degree" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">20 blue-collar jobs that will be all the rage in 2028</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-cities-where-everyone-is-moving-away" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The 20 US cities everyone is moving away from</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/monte-carlo-simulations-calculate-value-of-ceo-pay-2019-8" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">A mathematical technique originally developed to help build the atomic bomb is now used to figure out how much CEO pay packages are worth - like with Elon Musk</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/industries-that-have-far-fewer-employees-than-in-1980" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">20 jobs popular in the 1980s that have almost disappeared</a></li></ul> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sneaky-ways-credit-card-companies-make-you-spend-more-money-2019-9">Sneaky ways credit card companies get you to spend more money</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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