By Juan Alanis and Anjelica Cazares
By Juan Alanis and Anjelica Cazares
Laissez les bon temps roulez. And the good times do roll in the southeastern parishes of the Creole State. I found out recently. Almost as easily as this famous Louisiana expression rolls off the tongue.
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Whether we continue to prepare ponche or instead opt to try something new. Even if we are not in the same city, will we continue to honor and celebrate the memories we once shared together? Will we carry on a portion of those holiday traditions with us in our own way? These are all rhetorical questions, of course. Not meant for us to answer for anyone else but for ourselves.
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“We present the Migrant Anthem, performed by the collective Legado de Grandeza. For it being their day, we have prepared this gift with all our hearts for our fellow countrymen and countrywomen on the other side of the border.” That is the official description published by the Mexican government of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo this week with the release of this new anthem for migrants, or expats that was just released.
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For a generation that likely grew up being told that being bilingual was important and necessary, but who’s own parents may not have been fully bilingual themselves, this act of self-affirmation is a symbol of embracing their true selves and challenging the stigma that in order to be fully Latino one must be fully bilingual. It’s their way of saying, language is not the definition of identity, and not the measure by which we should be criticized or judged on how connected we are to our cultural heritage.
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That or any other quintessential holiday song is what comes to mind when thinking about the holiday season and all the traditional festivities we are all supposed to partake in magically no matter what is really going on in our lives. That’s the thing about this time of year. For some reason, so many of us seem to believe we are supposed to feel a certain way, act a certain way, and be overtaken by a certain spirit or feeling that if we are not we feel like something is wrong. If this year we happen to feel it, all is good in the world. If we don’t, that is when the self doubt and self criticism can creep up.
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Casa de los Famosos is in its third season on Telemundo. Navidad was scrutinized and, as she describes it, blacklisted from working in Mexico after her political views and belief in extraterrestrial life came under fire during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Challenge accepted. For this group of Texas Latinas waiting almost two years to achieve equal pay, this year, was motivation enough to commit to closing the wage gap in the future. Gathered as a collective group in Houston, #Latinas4EqualPay utilized Latina Equal Pay Day 2022 to organize and establish a new coalition for change.
In 2022, awareness for Latina Equal Pay Day fell on December 8th. This day serves as a reminder of the critical role Latinas play in the workforce and also highlights how Latinas are often paid less than their counterparts.
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This year has been nothing if not unexpected. Earlier this month I was meticulously cleaning up the photo albums on my phone for about three or four hours. To be honest, doing so was not something I had planned to do – especially not over the end of year holidays, but once I got started I couldn’t stop. Soon enough the word purge entered my mind and I decided that is precisely what I was doing.
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Two years ago I did honestly think this blogging thing was behind me. There were a lot of things happening in my life and none of them seemed to be perfectly aligned. Never mind the fact that a global pandemic had just stared wreaking havoc on all of our lives. At varying degrees wherever we were stationed in life at that given moment.
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Elvia Quintanilla is a powerhouse. At her young age, this Latina entrepreneur has founded Texas Technical Trade School where she is creating tuition-free educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing careers in trade fields that are in-demand.
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This week we had the chance to sit down for a virtual conversation with the Houston Health Department about their ongoing efforts to keep the Houston community safe and informed when it comes to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. As of now, they are providing vaccination resources for children ages 5-17 years old as well.
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It is almost second nature for us, and until recently we had forgotten that the actual term for what we were doing was code switching. We talk about this, and about getting vaccinated for COVID-19 on this episode.
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What does this expression actually mean? Apparently it has shifted over the years, and in this episode we get into our own interpretations of this common phrase. We also talk about “selling out” and who gets to decide how that label is used.
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Or nightmares in some cases. I recount a vivid dream I had recently that has stayed with me for the last few days, which leads us into a conversation about interpreting our dreams and nightmares. We also touch on our first impressions of the new social media audio app Clubhouse. But first we go into what happened at the Capitol on January 6.
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Communication has definitely been key in our relationship. Since we first got together and decided to share our lives, let’s just say getting to a better place where we didn’t have to get into yelling matches over silly things has been a work in progress. Let’s be honest. It is still a work in progress… but we have definitely made strides.
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Dr. Cindy Cedillo-Ruiz is affectionately known as simply Dr. Cindy. As the first in her family to pursue a career in medicine, on this episode of the podcast If Not You Then Who? with Anjelica, she shares what the journey of pursuing this career was like for her as a Latina.
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Sleek. Sporty. And a lot of fun to drive. That is how we have been describing the new 2021 Chevy Blazer ever since it first arrived on our driveway earlier this year. It was a loaner sent to us by Chevrolet for our mini-road trip across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas this past November. We had it in our possession for a total of 14 days, and I don’t mind telling you we weren’t ready to let it go.
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