Becoming Visible

Thinking about Hispanic Heritage month coming up it never ceases to amaze me how little most of America knows about us.?Tens of millions gather their information from episodes of Walker Texas Ranger and Fox News. We can count over 40 million Americans who were OK with a candidate who characterized us as criminals. Who at least shared that understanding.

So, there is hate and racism from a certain segment of Americans. But much more prevalent we are simply not seen. We are often invisible in many parts of America. I am talking about implicit bias; it might be as harmful as clear-cut racism. Because it’s so prevalent and because most white Americans cannot own that they are complicit.

We are looked at in many places as part of the building, as machinery, like a light fixture. We might be washing the floors, busing your table, stocking vegetables and we are looked past. How many times have I been at a restaurant and been handed a plate by another patron. They don’t actually look at my clothes or face, they see my brown skin.

In the nonprofit workplace as well, so often I see Latinx stuck in lower-level positions after years of hard work. Nobody is yelling racist epithets at them. They are just not really seen. While white women are promoted over them again and again. Somehow these white women are just seen as what a director or manager looks like.

Even when there are public conversations about race we are ignored. How many panels on DEI in the workplace, on institutional racism where there are no Latinx on that panel?! We are 20% of the population. We have to raise this and volunteer to be on panels if we are experts on the subject being discussed. We do this to support all of our sisters and brothers of color, to create more unity and a more powerful collective voice.

The only people in this country that can bring us out of the shadows, put us on that panel, add us to the grantee’s list, and put us in Congress are ourselves. Yes, our white allies can help but it’s up to us.

Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Martin Luther King showed us. It comes from within. And you’re seeing it all over the country. In venture capital, in small businesses, and in my area, nonprofits. We are recognizing that we aren’t getting the same opportunities as our white counterparts. So, we need to raise our own funds, fund our own nonprofits and business ventures. There is nobody coming to rescue us, we are our own heroines and heroes.

We do it for ourselves by doing three things: ?Speak Up, Organize and Give

Speak Up

Latinx can save America from a dark time. We are at a rare point in the last 200 years when the hand of fascism and dictatorship is grasping for power. And believe me, this move toward dictatorship is grounded in racism. It’s the fuel of Trumpism. The fear of us. Millions of people see our success as “replacing” them. ?So, if ever there was time to speak up in our profession, churches, family, and neighborhoods this is it. We need to call out injustice, bias and racism.

Let’s talk about someone who does speak up, someone who is visible.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is the nightmare of the right. A pretty, articulate, brilliant, and fearless Latina. She will not be silent and blend into the background. She uses simple logic and speaks truth to power. They fear she is the future.?She is.

Many of us were raised to believe that our hard work would speak for itself. That speaking up is being a troublemaker or a lloron. We need to see that silence doesn’t work because there are people working to ensure we do not succeed despite our merits.

AOC and other young leaders are a model for us. Know your facts, be good at what you do, and represent in your areas. Because its not about your promotion, or that your company was denied funding, or your organization couldn’t get a grant. It’s about all of us. The more we speak up about injustice, implicit bias and racism the less the perpetrators will feel safe doing so.

Stand up and be heard.

Organize

It’s not enough to have a nonprofit organization focused on Latinx issues.

We have excellent organizations, and nonprofits nationally, including many new organizations. However, they need to learn to fundraise powerfully. No money, no mission.

?We can harness the generosity of our people. I have calculated that Latinx can give annually about $24.7 billion dollars. But we need to greatly improve our fundraising to make that happen. Giving happens when people are asked. Philanthropy comes from fundraising.

When venture capital won’t give our people investments, we need to make our own VC firms.

When foundations won’t give our nonprofits grants, we need to create our own fundraising. I am watching the Latinx tech community now build our own VC firms. We all know that being entrepreneurial is part of our DNA. The top starter of new businesses in the US is a Latina.

We need to harness that unique Latinx spirit and direct it to the challenges of our communities. Education, Health, Civil Rights, Youth, and much more.

Give

We need to give our money and time to our great Latinx-focused nonprofits nationwide. ?We love to honor the latest Latinx person who has gotten to high office at a corporation, sports or music stars. Good for them. But why don’t we ever ask, “what are you giving”?

Where are the Latinx Philanthropy Awards?. Giving back is an obligation. If you yourself overcome a great disadvantage, not helping others do the same is just wrong.

Dolores Huerta said "We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things, that is what we are put on the earth for"

Giving is for everyone, rich and poor. Giving is a little bit of power. The power to fund your local Woman’s Clinic, the power to help someone else’s child afford college, the power to get progressive Latinas elected, the power to protect our right to vote. We literally have the power within us. Latinx in the US are the 7th largest economy (GDP) on the planet at $2.7 trillion dollars a year. Tied with France. So, we have the financial power to greatly strengthen our nonprofits. And as I mentioned before we have billions of dollars in giving capacity.

Powerful voices, organizing, giving. It’s a game-changing combination. Let’s start with each of us.

Start by asking yourself simply:

1.??????“Am I speaking up?”

2.??????“Which organization do I belong to?”

3.??????“Who am I giving to that will advance our people”?

We need to be able to look at a 10-year-old Latina and tell her that her future will be better. That she will have opportunities and support. That she is strong and not alone. Yes, let’s honor our heritage but let’s look also look to the future.

www.somoselpoder.org