Latino USA

On March 14, 2020, Martha Escudero and her two daughters became the first of a dozen unhoused families to occupy one of over a hundred vacant houses in El Sereno, Los Angeles. Some call them squatters, but they call themselves the Reclaimers. The houses the Reclaimers occupied actually belong to a state agency that purchased the houses in the 1960’s in order to demolish them and build a freeway through this largely Latinx and immigrant neighborhood. This is the story of one of these houses, and its residents, past and present, who have fought to make it their home. This story originally aired on November 6, 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA presents another episode from the new season of Port of Entry, which focuses on artists and musicians who’ve turned pain into superpowers. Mexican musician Javier Bátiz could very likely have been world famous had he headed north of the border with his good friend and bandmate Carlos Santana back in the 1960s. But instead, Javier went south to Mexico City, where he built a successful career in the country he loves. In this new episode of Port of Entry, we look into how Javier’s life, decisions and decades-long musical career have brought him internal peace and fulfillment he says is far more important to him than reaching the high-level fame his friend Carlos found. Subscribe to Port of Entry here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does technology affect labor? How are tech corporations like Uber and Lyft redefining what it means to be a worker in the United States? California has been ground zero for cementing the “gig work” business model of these companies into law. A year ago this month, the state passed Proposition 22 to allow app-based firms like Uber and Lyft to classify their drivers as contractors instead of employees. In this episode of Latino USA we follow a group of drivers who are mobilizing across California – and using their own technology to take on Big Tech. Their fight is not only about their own labor protections as drivers, but a battle to prevent this labor model from spreading to other sectors of the U.S. economy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before winning not one or two, but 15 Emmy’s for television writing, and before she became one of the first Latinas on television when she took on the role of “Maria” on Sesame Street in 1971, Sonia Manzano was a curious and imaginative little girl growing up in the South Bronx, a working class neighborhood in New York City. On this “How I Made It” segment, Sonia talks about discovering her love for television writing, and her new animated show: “Alma’s Way.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1960s and 70s, a community of Latinx poets in New York City created a movement. They called themselves the Nuyorican poets. Together, they broke barriers and built a cultural institution: the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. The Nuyorican Poets Café began as an informal literary salon in Miguel Algarín’s apartment living room, one of the movement’s founding poets. But soon after, Miguel and his fellow writers realized that they needed to expand to accommodate the growing roster of artists who frequented the space. They moved into a new venue nearby, and by 1981 they relocated again to the Nuyorican’s current location in New York City’s Alphabet City. Today, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a haven for Black and Latinx writers and performers. In this episode of Latino USA, we stage a spoken history of the cafe featuring several artists from its storied past. We hear from poets Poet Jesús “Papoleto” Meléndez and Caridad de la Luz, known as “La Bruja,” playwright Ishmael Reed, and artist and archivist Lois Elaine Griffith.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ayodele Casel, a professional tap dancer, shares her journey reclaiming tap as a Black art form rooted in Black culture. She discusses overcoming obstacles, embracing her cultural roots, and the significance of tap dancing in challenging systematic racism and whitewashing.

In the late 1800s, Teresa Urrea was a superstar. She was a “curandera,” (a healer), a revolutionary, and a feminist. At only 19 years old. she was exiled from Mexico by dictator Porfirio Díaz, who called her the most dangerous girl in the country. She moved to El Paso, Texas. Urrea also had a miraculous power: she could heal people through touch. Her vision of love and equality for all people regardless of gender, race, and class inspired rebellions against the Díaz dictatorship, earning her the title of the “Mexican Joan of Arc.” In this episode of Latino USA, we follow Urrea’s life and honor the legacy of a revolutionary woman decades ahead of her time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On August 13, 1521, a few hundred Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortés, declared the fall of the Aztec Empire. On the 500-year anniversary of that invasion, director Rodrigo Reyes presents 499, a film —part documentary, part fiction— that explores the violent legacy of the Spanish conquest. In 499, an anonymous conquistador is shipwrecked on the shores of present-day Mexico. After discovering that he is in the 21st century, this ghostly figure starts to retrace the steps he walked five centuries before—only now he is forced to witness the brutal consequences of hundreds of years of colonialism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The social distancing measures put in place during the pandemic have exposed how vital – and hard – it is to take care of children, the elderly, sick and disabled people. And if that wasn’t enough, families had to look after their own homes without any external help. It's women who are bearing the heaviest burden of caregiving labor – especially Latinas. Latinas are dropping out of the workforce at a higher rate than any other group during the pandemic. Latinas are also overrepresented in paid caregiving and domestic work, and the covid-19 lockdowns left the majority of them out of work. How essential is caregiving for a society to properly function? Is it in fact as vital as roads, bridges, and light posts? And should governments invest in caregiving the same way they invest in infrastructure? In this episode, we dive into the high cost of caregiving labor for so many women, through the story of Daniela Contreras.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In July, massive protests erupted in Cuba against the one-party government that has ruled for over 60 years. One protester died and thousands were detained. In this Latino USA episode, we look at the root causes behind the protests and how the left is being redefined in a conversation with Carolina Barrero, an art historian based in Havana who is part of a movement of dissident artists, and who has been in house arrest for more than three months.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.