All language subtitles for Habla.Now.2020.WEB-DL.HBOGO.en

What is it that I want to talk about?
What is that you want to talk about?

The thing that I want
to talk about is that

there is an elephant in the room.

This is gonna sound terrible
but this is only but my opinion.

That's always worth a listen, right?

Or maybe your thinking
and my thinking is very similar.

If we don't speak up about it,
it continues to happen.

- Habla.
- Habla.

- Habla.
- Habla!

Now.

I grew up in Guatemala
and in Guatemala...

we are very homogenous,
is that the word?

And when I moved
to New York, I just...

I didn't know that I was gonna be
expected to fit into a certain box.

And the first time I got an inkling
of it I was in a grocery store

and somebody was:
"Hey, how much is this?"

And I was like: "Thank you for
thinking that I would know that.

I don't actually".

And then I realized that

there is a history
about what you should be

or a preconceived notion
about what being Latino is...

when you move to the States.

So I had to come to terms with
what it was and own it for myself.

When I moved to the States,
I felt like I had to blend in, right?

That I... I think it's normal that
you would try to separate yourself

a little bit from what you were

in order to become
something else, right?

People from Guatemala think you've
changed and become Americanized

and people from America think
you're too Latin to be American

so you're sort of
in this in-between space

but, when I twisted it
on the positive I realized that

when you're from
somewhere else, right

you have a very sort
of objective perspective

about the place where you're living.

There's things that you can see
because you didn't grow up there

that you can find funny
and you can pinpoint, right?

Most people,
no matter what the culture

we have one thing in common,
at least one

and it's what we laugh at.

When you try to explain
to somebody who you are

people put their guard up
whenever it has to do with culture.

But when somebody is laughing
they relax, right

and so the message is coming through

while at the same time
you're able to say something

and that to me is the perfect blend
of art and instruction.

When you see somebody
that doesn't look like you

go through things
that you can relate to.

The next time that you see
that person that doesn't look like

you might not feel that
they're that different, right?

And I know it sounds optimistic and
I know it sounds crazy, but that's...

media is how we...

interpret the world around us

it's what tells us how we should
feel about the world around us.

So, if you see somebody
on TV, on-screen

and it's just sort of bringing you
a positive feeling

and a positive feedback

then I believe slowly but surely

you can start mending
some of these wounds.

It's a complete disservice
to bridge-building

when we generalize white people

or people that aren't like us either,
you know, I think that is sort of...

I... to me it feels
counterproductive, right?

Like the more I make fun of people
because they're different than me

and then I expect them
not to do the same to me

is just sort of hypocritical
sometimes.

You can point out things that
you find funny about other people

as long as you can take it yourself.

Like, for, example, if I'm at a party

and people are like:
"Oh my God, you're from Guatemala?

I just came back from Venezuela.

I mean, what?"

And... I get it, I get it what they
are doing, they're trying to relate.

I'm sure Venezuela is dope,
I've never been, you know?

But I do find that sometimes people
wanna pressure you into being like:

but, who do you hate?

And: who are you... And I just...

I don't act from that point.

I don't act from a place of hatred.

A lot of people,
people that have helped me in my life

have been all shapes and colors
and all walks of life, and religious

and sexual orientations

and they've all been
incredibly human and kind to me.

But we tend to think that people from
certain states or from certain areas

are gonna be close-minded
but I have found

that what there is
is just a lack of information.

I feel that you fear
what you don't know, right?

And if all you've seen of us,
Latinos, has been, you know

getting shot at by Antonio Banderas,
you know, in El Zorro...

Then I understand
why you'd be afraid of us.

The more that I've travelled
the more I see

that there is this genuine curiosity
when it's face to face.

You realize that we have way more
in common, way more in common.

You have way more in common
with immigrants

than you do with
rich people trying to pull us apart.

You don't have to give up
a part of your identity

in order to form a new one.

You can be fully one thing
and fully another.

I feel fully...
like a New Yorker, man.

My blood, sweat and tears
is all over those streets.

That's the city that made
my dreams come true.

But I also feel
fully Guatemalteco, man, fully.

O sea, I can't be more Guatemalteco

if I had like a quetzal
on my shoulder. I swear to God.

"Hell, yeah, man! I'm Guatemalteco
and I'm a New Yorker.

And I'm here to represent both."

And I think it's no longer
como vende patria (homeland betrayal)

sort of oh, you know,
you're ashamed to be us.

No, I think I love this 200%

because it's like
"I could represent all of us, man.

This new generation
is all of us, is ours."

There is this huge community
and this huge history

this very proud history of
being Latino in the States

and once you tap into that

once you realize that
you can be two things at once

you can assimilate
into American culture

while not losing your identity...

that's when really my life took off.

And it' still taking off.
I mean, look, I mean

I have a white background
and there's a camera in front of me.

I mean... the dream. Truly the dream.

My mom and dad
are really cool people.

My father is really
like very conservative

almost like, you would say,
a right-wing Republican

and my mother is
completely to the left.

They would be very loud
and opinionated in our house

but never allow that
outside of our house

because they thought that wasn't
the place for us in this country.

But it was interesting because

as much as we had
these incredibly feisty conversations

like so many immigrants
that are lost in translation

in English they sounded dumb.

They were both
so well-spoken and educated

and in English
they seemed uneducated.

And it was the paradox of that
that I grew up with.

Thinking all these people don't get

that my parents are really smart
and cool and yet they're so afraid.

What are they afraid of?

I think no one talks about

in this country, the history of
people that are not black or white.

And we don't talk about where Latinos
come from, or where Asians come from.

Most of the time
we come from countries

that if we were to speak up
we would all disappear.

We even have a name
for that in Latin America.

Los desaparecidos (the disappeared).

And your family would
never see you again.

So your parents tell you,
"Please, be quiet.

Don't be a revolutionary, please!"

Because they are so afraid
something is gonna happen to you.

So there's a lack of understanding
between all of us

of where we all come from

of what is our pain,
what is our back story

why do we behave the way we behave
that sounds and looks irrational.

You just see in the news that
we come here for economic reasons

but so many of us have come
to this country as political refugees

from either left-wing dictatorships
or right-wing dictatorships.

And so many of my
African-American friends say to me.

What's up with you Latinos?
Why are you so quiet?

How can all this stuff be
going on in this country

and none of you speak up.

I don't think you realize
the trauma we all have

when we come to this country.

And we have to have
this understanding

between all multicultural people

because together we are everything
and apart we are nothing.

Multicultural women, and particularly
African-Americans and Latinas

are the number one consumer
in the country.

So we are the number-one voters
and the number-one purchasers.

All the power is in our hands.

We are the number-one
emerging market in the world.

That means we make more money
for everybody than anybody else.

Without us there is no economy.

If we do not buy from a company
for one month

that company would go under.

And that is a great power.

And unless we understand each other
and we understand each other's pain

and we know why we behave
the way we behave

and we help each other find a voice,
we're not gonna make it.

This is a country built on voices.

On authentic voices, on people
standing-up for their rights.

And even with all the bad things
that we might see happening

no one has the ability
to speak-up to argue

to say "this is wrong"
the way we have in this country.

Finding your voice for some people
is a lifetime journey.

And it is, I think,
the greatest journey of your life.

My name is
Diana Danelys de Los Santos.

I was in a girl group called Amara.
Unfortunately, the group fell apart.

One of them fell in love,
the other girl got pregnant

and there was
just too much drama amongst us.

So, I decided to keep the name Amara
and I continued pursuing my career.

"La Negra" (the black one) it was
'cause nobody would remember my name

And it stayed Amara La Negra.

It's racial profiling

Hold up.

and I'm proud of that.

So I was like, if you don't like it,
Amara La Negra, that's my name.

I started in Sábado Gigante
(Giant Saturday), as a child star

I was there for six years
every Saturday.

I grew up
in the entertainment industry.

and the hair stylist said,
he actually told my mom

"You have to do something
with her hair

because her hair is unmanageable
and we don't have time for this."

Are we not good enough?
Am I not beautiful enough?

Is my hair not
the stereotype, the prototype

of society's standard of beauty?

What's the problem?

Colorism and racial issues
happen among Latinos as well.

I'm sorry, it's not amongst just
African-Americans and Caucasians.

We can be very racist against
one another, and it's the truth.

You know how many experiences
I've had with where they say

"Oh, you know, for being black
you're very pretty." Like, excuse me?

Excuse me! I'm black too!
So, what are you telling me?

Are you basically telling me
to self-hate myself?

What's the problem? I just feel like

there's a brainwash that has happened
from generation to generation

and if we don't do anything
to stop it we're going back!

we're going back.

This is gonna sound terrible
but this is only but my opinion.

I feel that
we consistently are trying to see

what nationality is better
than the other

what race is better than the other.

we create ourselves
these divisions amongst ourselves.

If we don't see each other as equals

we are never gonna be able to grow

we're never gonna be able
to be empowered.

why don't we all come together
and help and support?

And with everything that's happening

instead of all of us coming together
and just being supportive

that's their problem.

We're good.

And it shouldn't be like that.

The change is using your voice.

Standing up to the thing
that you know is wrong.

There's many ways you can protest
without having to be violent.

Me standing here alone
and talking to you

is making a difference,
is making a change.

I'm making you aware of
the fact that there is a problem.

I want to know that I will be
remembered for doing something great.

I don't take all my, you know, bags,
I don't take cars,

I'm not gonna take jewelry
the day that I die.

What I will take is the difference
I made in the world for others.

So, what are you gonna do about it?
'Cause I'm doing something about it.

So when I was a little boy
I wanted to be a cop.

I got inspired in first grade

because the girl who sat next to me
her father was a cop

and he came into our Show and Tell

and he was, you know, very Protect
and Serve and community mentality

and he reminded me of my dad.

So that's why I wanted to be a cop

but unfortunately and fortunately
it wasn't in the cards for me.

You know, I lived
in Burbank at the time

and I would always stare up at
the Warner Brothers water tower there

with the big Warner Brothers logo

but it was something that

you know, somebody like me really
didn't think I could be a part of

because I didn't really have
any friends in the business

I didn't know anybody
that could support me, or help me

or even let me know that I could be
in the entertainment business.

So at about 21 or 22 years old
I started working at Warner Brothers

at Gate 2 right there,
at the main entrance.

From there I got the opportunity
to be the security officer

or security guard, on the set
of Stage 24 at Warner Brothers

which was the hit TV show Friends.

Then I did five years

as an executive assistant for
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

And then I got a job working
for Tyler Perry as an assistant.

I did that for about a year,
a year and a half

and then at that point
he promoted me from assistant

which was the lowest person

so to speak,
in his organization at the time

to the President of the company

and that happened
in about a 45-second meeting.

I did about 13 years
working for Tyler

and then last year I said to him
I wanted to go out on my own

buy his former studio

and now I own a Areu Brother studios
here in Atlanta, Georgia.

So as I was inspired
as a little boy to be a cop

because I saw somebody
who looked like me and my family

once I started working
at a major studio

and people thought "Wow!
Ozzie is working at Warner Brothers?

Maybe I can get a job there.
Maybe I could be an actor.

Maybe I could be a security officer.

Maybe I can get into
a union job there."

Even though I was just doing security

hey, I got my foot in the door, and
look got my foot in the door there

I was given a hand up

by other different celebrities
that believed in me

because they cared about me
and they saw something in me

and now me and my organization

we want to celebrate others
and give them that hand up as well.

The type of stories we're gonna do
is we're getting behind Latinos

Latino stories, females, female
stories, minorities in general.

And not only in front of the camera
but behind the camera

but we want our entire company
to be as diverse as possible.

We want the projects that we see

to be as diverse as
the world that we live in.

I want the audiences
to really get behind

stories that are authentic
and storytellers that are authentic

because I think that
audience really has the power

right now in the world
that we live in.

My dream would be
that in 10 or 15 years

nobody is even using those two words,
inclusion and diversity

because we've made such great strides
and the impact has been felt

that, you know,
the industry is on to something else.

I came to this country
with my family in the late '90s.

As many immigrants,
we settled in New York

fled poverty to seek a better life
in the United States.

And little did I know that

my experience as an undocumented
immigrant, with my family

was gonna shape so much of
what I do today and who I am today.

When you're undocumented
in this country

you're walking everyday with fear

fear that you could be deported
and separated from your family

fear when you're driving because

the police stops you
because of the way that you look.

Fear that employers would abuse you
and exploit you and not pay you back

because they know that they can use
the threat of deportation

to exploit your labor.

Why was this happening in the country

that is supposed to be the country
of opportunity and of justice

and the pursuit of happiness?

So, I had this big dream of
being the first person in my family

to go to college.

And I'm in my 11th grade,
and my guidance counselor tells me

"because you're undocumented,
you cannot go to school."

My entire world just shattered.

So I remember going back home
and I was crying

and my mom, you know, put
her arms on her waist and she said

"Cristina, we are not giving up.
You're gonna go back to that school

and you're gonna tell that counselor
that you're going to college."

And I found
the courage in myself to go

and I realized then

that what my mother was teaching me
was to fight for my dreams.

And that was my beginning

to organizing
other young immigrants like myself

bringing us together,
finding our voice.

We train young people
about knowing your rights

about knowing how to advocate
for ourselves and our communities

and to protect one another.

This is the country of opportunity,
the pursuit of happiness

where you can accomplish your dreams.

And then you find yourself here
facing all these challenges

but because you believe
in these values so much

and you sacrificed so much to be here

you almost do everything

so that this country actually
lives up to those values.

We have to believe that,
in this country

we are worthy of dignity

of a life where we are thriving,
where we are reaching are dreams.

But that won't happen
unless we take action.

We have to be in leadership roles

and be part of
that decision-making process

because we know what it feels like
as a comunidad (community)

to be misrepresented

for our lives and our experiences
to be misunderstood.

We have to be in those rooms
and part of those tables where

decisions about our lives and
that impact our lives, are being made

whether that is in business,
in politics, in government

in entertainment.

Nothing about us
should be without us.

A lot of people say
we're gonna be the majority

in the near future
or part of that majority

but numbers are not destiny.

So we have to vote, we have
to participate in our democracy

run for office

lead companies,
create our own businesses

write our stories.

Because that's when
things are gonna change.

When I was 15 years old myself

and 20 other young people
from across the country

came together to file a lawsuit

against the Federal government
of the United States.

The basis of our case

is that the United States government
has violated

our constitutional rights to life

liberty and property for actively
perpetuating the climate crisis.

It is not just
an environmental problem

it is affecting our economics,
it is affecting our politics

it is affecting
our access to education

our access to clean water.

We are saying that the government
is responsible for the harm

that our generation is experiencing,
that it needs to be held accountable.

We are demanding that

a climate recovery plan
be put in place immediately

to remedy the damages that
we are already experiencing

and to prevent further impacts.

And the people
that are already experiencing

the worse impacts of this

and will continue to experience
the worse impacts of this

are oftentimes black,
brown and poor communities

underrepresented,
underserved communities.

That part of me that is Mexicano,
that is also my indigenous part

our responsibility as people,
as Mexica people, as native people

is to preserve and protect
our community, our land, our water.

Colonial constructs that came with
the colonization of this continent

have taught us to view ourselves
as inherently separate from the earth

and Nature is something to conquer
and dominate and have power over

rather to respect and to see as
an integral part of our existence.

We are disconnected
from how we treat the earth

which gives us life every day.

We are fundamentally removed

I think, at a large scale
from everything around us.

One of the poems that I learned,
a piece of a poem that I learned

it was passed down to me
from my elders, says

(Nauahth language)

"At the least we have left flowers,
at the least we have left songs".

Even though a time for
our civilization and our nations

will come to an end

the beauty of our culture
is in the flowers, is in the songs

that we preserve
for the next generations.

And now, more than ever, we need you

we need to work together to stand up
and fight back, and play our part.

Going vegan is not going
to stop the climate crisis.

But understanding the connection
of what is on our plate

to the world around us

can help frame our understanding
of the world in a different way

that gives us compassion
and a moral ground

from where to do larger work
like organizing our communities.

It's the same thing
with the water we use

with the plastic that we consume.

I can give you
a list of different things

and different actions
you can take in your life

or how to connect with your community
or how to organize and mobilize

but at the foundation of all of that

is you understanding that you have
a voice that the world needs to hear.

Your voice is
no less important than mine.

Power comes in many forms.
Leadership comes in many forms.

It's in our artwork;
it's in how we communicate.

It's in our poetry,
in our music, in our language.

It's in the love that we put
into the food that we make.

So, whether you are an artist,
or an author, or a storyteller

or whether you are selling tamales
en la esquina (at the corner)

regardless of how you interact with
the world and with your community

you have a place
in shaping the future.

We owe it to every person
who has already lost their lives

who has already lost their homes
to rising sea levels

to changing weather patterns

we owe it to them, you know?

To keep fighting

until it's absolutely too late.
And at this moment is not too late.

Boom!

La Borinqueña
is an Afro Puerto Rican super hero.

She is an environmental champion,
fighting for environmental justice.

Her powers are drawn
from the feminist energy

that historically is
a part of Puerto Rico.

The Taínos, the indigenous
people of Puerto Rico

they believed in a supreme being,
a mother goddess, Atavex.

And she introduces la Borinqueña
to her twin sons Yucahú and Huracán.

Yucahú, the spirit of
the seas and the land.

Huracán the spirit
of the elements and hurricanes.

I mean, the actual word "hurricane"
literally comes from Puerto Rico

'cause the Tainos said huracán.

And these elements are part of
Puerto Rico's original mythology.

The original name of
the island was Borinquen

"land of the noble valiant creator."

She's La Borinqueña,
the living spirit

the living embodiment of
this powerful energy in history

that has always been
a part of Puerto Rico.

But believe it or not
has been hidden.

Most comic books

are based on either Greek,
Roman mythology, Norse mythologies.

We love superheroes and they've
been around for over a century

but these characters by and large
are white male narratives.

They don't look like us,
they don't sound like us.

When was the last time you heard of
a super hero eating sancocho (stew)?

I wanted to create a super hero that
really worked on the true history

because it was embroiled
in some sort of wicked mystery

and I wanted to unveil all of that.

One of the most
important things to do

when you are trying
to suppress a people

often times is,
you destroy their history.

When empires take over nations

one of the first places they go to
are the libraries

they destroy the archives,
they destroy the art.

Do we know
what our history is in this nation?

What our contributions
have been to this nation?

Because when we understand them,
then we know and respect

and expect others to acknowledge
our place in our nation.

We have to learn who we are
before we know where we are going.

What we tried to do
with La Borinqueña

is not only to reintroduce people
to that lost history

but teach people to embrace it

because by embracing it

you find that superpower
that was always there, all along.

And one of the most important
superpowers that the character has

is to show the world
what our family is

because she is incredibly connected
to her mother and father

but also to her abuelo (grandpa)
and abuela (grandma) in Puerto Rico

because that is at the core
what our superpower is

beyond the pages of a comic book.

She is a hero that is connected
to a real place

a real people, a real history.

As a kid, my mom always used to say

that all I wanted was
a curtain to jump from behind.

I love performing and communicating,
and growing up in Venezuela

a country that crumbled
because of polarization

and because the increasingly
authoritarian government

started curtailing independent media.

I remember when I was growing up
there, going to college

that I said I want to be a journalist
and I wanna speak truth

and I wanna tell
the kinds of stories that I'm seeing

are not being put out here.

I went out to protest
as a college student.

We were tear gassed, they opened up
the water cannons on us

and I realized I wasn't gonna be able

to do the kind of journalism
I dreamed of in my home country.

So I packed my bags and I came to the
beacon of freedom, the United States.

I really made an effort to be...
be solid as a journalist

and put information out there
that was fact.

I believe in getting on the ground

and talking to the actual people
who are affected.

I obviously am a firm believer
in the power of words

so we have to be mindful as Latinos
about everything we put out there.

And that is just not only on us

who are on television or
writing newspapers or radio

it's on every single one
of you guys at home

who are twitting and re-twitting
and posting and re-posting

especially if you have
a growing community on social media.

Latinos, you know,
we're very chismosos (gossipy)

we're faranduleros
(we like tabloid press)

for better or worse we consume
news, entertainment, information

and we put it out there
in two languages.

So what I wanna tell you guys
is to be responsible

with every single piece of
information you put out there

especially with
outlets like Facebook.

Now it can determine
national elections.

Like, that's how big
the influence is.

We need transparency;
we need fact checking

especially in today's world,
especially for the next generation.

Every news outlet you follow,
every single post on Facebook

where's the information coming from?
Is the source trustworthy?

What was the date that they put out
this viral video or image?

What is the motive behind the
information that was put out there

and what kind of ripple effects
can it create?

And I think as Latinos

we have to be more supportive of
content that is about our community

because as a journalist
I can sit in the newsroom

and push to cover
stories about Latinos

but if I don't get your clicks

then my bosses are not
gonna support those stories.

So you have el poder del click,
the power of the click

so hold yourself accountable
and believe in the power of words.

The nation's Hispanic population
numbers 60 million people.

To put that in perspective, that's
18% of the nation's population.

And it's also one of
the fastest-growing groups

in the country.

Since 2000, in fact

alone half of the population growth
for the United States

has come from
the nation's Latino population.

When it comes to
the Hispanic identity questions like

are Spaniards Hispanic or Latino
in the United States?

What about Brazilians?
What about people from Belize?

Latino identity in the United States
is really all about

somebody choosing to say
that they are of this background.

It's about self-identity.

That means people have to claim it

and have to say that they are Latino
to be counted as a Latino.

Of course, that means that
there may be some people

who have this background
might even have a surname

that is a Latino surname

and yet they may not self identify
as Hispanic or Latino.

It also means that
you might have some celebrities

who are of a particular background

for example a Spanish background,
like Antonio Banderas

but questions about whether or not
he would count as Hispanic or Latino

really come down to
how he self-identifies himself.

So, when you think
about Hispanic identity

it's all about
how you choose to call yourself.

Not all Latinos are immigrants

only about a third of
the nation's Latino population

were born in another country.

Not all Latino immigrants are
undocumented immigrants.

The majority hold US citizenship.

And the nation's
Hispanic population growth

is being driven by births
here in the United States

as opposed to
the arrival of new immigrants.

Not all Latinos live in California,
Texas, Florida and New York

many live in
other parts of the country

including Montana,
North Dakota and Alaska.

Among the nation's 60 million Latinos

there are a number of
interesting characteristics.

Fewer than half,
for example, identify as Catholic.

The numbers that are rising, however

are people who have
no religious affiliation

even though many of them
will also say that they have

for example, an image of
the Virgin Mary in their home.

So it's interesting
that you have this combination

of people who are not
religious-affiliated

but also have religious icons
in their home

which reflect Latino culture.

Not all Latinos speak Spanish.

While the majority do

a growing segment of hispanics today
speak only English.

It's likely without a future infusion
of immigrants from Latin America

that we will continue to see

English-only use
rise among this population.

Some of the big changes that have
happened within the Latino population

in the last few years
have been around education.

Today, the number of Latinos
who drop out of high school

is at about 15%.

That's down sharply since the 1990s

when almost half of Latinos
had dropped out of high school.

A record number of
young Latinos attend college today

more than three million.

And that number's been
rising sharply since 2009.

Many Hispanics also marry
somebody who's not Hispanic.

In fact, one of the nation's highest
intermarriage rates is among Latinos.

About one in four Hispanics marry
somebody who's not Hispanic

and, in fact, the single largest
group of intermarried couples

are white and Hispanic
spouse together.

The nation's population
is projected to get older.

By 2065, about one quarter
of the nation's population

will be age of 65 or older.

But the nation's Hispanic population
is much younger

and, in fact, accounts for most of
the growth in the workforce today

and that will continue
to be the case into the future.

As we look forward,
Latinos will play a big role

in shaping the workforce
in the United States

and also providing the support
for those who retire in the future.

Youth is a big driver of just about
everything about this population.

And I think that's interesting

because all other major racial and
ethnic groups in the United States

are much older

and, as a result,
a lot of what's to come

in terms of
labor market participation

in terms of voting, in terms of
so many other characteristics

are gonna be driven
by the nation's Latino youth.

My name is Laurie Hernandez
and I'm an Olympic gymnast.

I won a gold for the teen finals

and a silver
for the individual balance beam.

A really big challenge growing up

was not seeing any gymnast
during my era that looked like me

and trying to pick apart athletes
from the crowd

or athletes that had
curly hair like I did

and identifying with that

and going "okay, she's my favorite
'cause she kind of looks like me".

But it was tough knowing that I would
have to pave the way for myself.

So my parents are both Puerto Rican,
they were born in New York.

My grandparents
were born in Puerto Rico

and it was wonderful growing up
I mean especially during the holidays

we valued having our family together,
and having music blasting

and my mom cooking, and
me trying to help her make sofrito

which I still don't know how to do

because she's the best,
and she's mom.

I think hundred percent Puerto Rican
about the way I was raised

was coming home from practice and
having rice and beans always cooked

every night, for a decade.

A decade. A decade!

We had pasta sometimes

but if it wasn't pasta
it was rice and beans. And chicken.

My dad loves music, that's my biggest
tie into being who I am today.

I love music and a big part of that
is because of him.

They would sometimes try
to teach me how to dance salsa

and my mom...

she would always go, like, "One,
two, three, five, six, seven" and...

And she would do it
and I would try to mimic it

and it'd never look
like her doing it.

It wasn't choreographed
they just felt it

I don't know it's almost like
as soon as you're born "boom!"

you know how to count
Marc Anthony's songs.

I don't... I don't make the rules!

My family welcomes
us staying at home.

They don't want us to move out,
they don't want us to go anywhere.

There's a lot of love in that

and a lot of love in setting us free
and letting us do our own thing

and knowing that if
something goes wrong

or if we are feeling off

if we just want we always have
the choice to come back home

and that's wherever your people are.

Our whole family sacrifice
to help me get to the team

it wasn't just me sacrificing stuff,
it was everybody.

And I also remember, you know,
at some point it was like

okay, we gotta start
eating a little healthier

'cause we have
all these meets coming up

and we want to make sure
that my body is staying healthy

and the right way to do that
is to eat the right way

and so my mom didn't
want me to do that on my own

and my whole family...

my whole family agreed
to go on a health kick

and we took everything
out of the fridge

we took everything
out of the cabinets

and everybody started
to eat healthy with me.

I couldn't have done what I didn't
2016 without my community of people

without my family,
and without my parents.

After Rio, I didn't realize

how much of a big deal it was
to a lot of people

you know, been Puerto Rican and
been Latina and not speaking Spanish.

It was almost like
a disowning approach about it

which was tough because

there's a lot of Latinas,
a lot of Hispanics out there

who don't speak Spanish

but that doesn't take away
who you are on the inside.

I own very much
that I am Puerto Rican.

I still have my curls

I still have my skin and I still have
my family tree that solidifies that.

So it's letting
other people know like

you are still who you are
if you don't know the language

it doesn't devalue you as a person.

Our culture and our family
is still something

that's being learned by a lot of
people and trying to be understood

and a lot of times when we are afraid
and we don't understand things

that we want to put it
in a box and contain it

because we are afraid or because
we don't know enough about it.

When in reality every family
out there can not fit in a box

that's not how life works.

You don't get to pick what culture
does what and who goes where.

Everybody is different and it just
happens that my family loves music

and we love cooking,
and we love being together

that might not be the same
for somebody else

but there's something about...

being different and coming to a place

that is supposed
to accept differences

and being yourself.

If you can be yourself freely
that's so beautiful

'cause then we truly would have
a melting pot, you know.

So I grew up in a house
that there was really no bigotry.

grew up in a house where there
I could have any kind of friends

whatever the gender was,
whatever the race was

whatever the ethnicity it was,
whatever the color was.

Believe me, my household had issues
but those were not issues.

In my family, because
they're from the mountains

I always say
I'm a high-class jíbara.

And that's literally what I am.

Even though we were dealing
with a lot of stuff

we were dealing with poverty

we were dealing with
social issues, all of that

I guess my family realized
we didn't have time for that.

We were struggling with surviving

with, like, getting a job,
with getting out of the hood.

The world that we came from
was trying to help each other

get somewhere in life

and not worry about
what color boyfriend you brought home

or, you know, what friend
that was gay or not.

There was too many other things
that we were dealing with

than to deal with bigotry.

I went to five different schools
by the time I was 10 years old

because we were always looking
for cheaper rent, cheaper rent.

They didn't really care
about education.

It was like property, get a job,
property. That was like back then.

They just wanted people to do well
because they came from nothing.

I'm the oldest of five.
There's three boys and my sister.

And I remember my mother
pulling me aside one day and saying

I think Kenny is gay.

And I thought "Yeah, I think
he is gay." And that was it.

It was not just a big deal.

And I remember
that we would ask him all the time

which now looking back is like crazy

that we were doing this
to, like, a young kid

"Kenny, are you gay?
Kenny, are you gay?"

I mean, it was something that,
it was easy for us to ask

because we knew that
we had no issue with it.

He came to live with me
when he was 17 years old

because he wanted
to go to fashion school.

And he started talking to me
about how he was dating a girl.

And I was like,
"wait, I'm so confused.

You're dating a girl right now?"

And finally, I just said to him,
"Kenny, are you gay?

Because if you...
you have to tell me the truth.

You cannot live in my home
and not be honest with me."

And he put his head back on the sofa

and he is like, "I don't know.
I don't know. I'm so confused."

And he wasn't confused,
what he was was scared.

He would hear homophobic slurs
from his friends.

He would hear that kind of stuff.

Even though the household
was full of love and it didn't matter

he heard it outside.

You know things like that.

Are they gonna be like, you know,
doing that very famous like this.

That's very Latina.

You don't think
anybody's looking. You're like...

Who would feel comfortable
coming out?

How can we do that to our own family
and our own community?

I have no tolerance for intolerance.

I don't wanna hear all of the things

that make you have
a hang-up about it.

I don't care. I'm not the one
to have a conversation with you.

I cannot be articulate
and I cannot be diplomatic.

It's wrong. And I have
no problem saying

what I feel, how I feel, when I feel

because if we don't speak up about it
it continues to happen.

If we go, "Ay bueno, (oh well)
that's the way he is, or

whatever, then no!
Then nothing changes.

We're supposed
to all be on this together

and work towards a better world

and not do it amongst ourselves.

So it's all... Or anybody.

It doesn't matter
what community you're coming from.

You have to say something

whether they're gonna change or not
you have to say something.

'cause, otherwise,
you're complicit in the situation.

When I look at my brother,
who still lives with me, by the way

and thank God,
because I don't want him to leave.

He's 30 years old now. I'm like,
"Don't leave, don't leave me."

When I think about him, and
I think about how incredible he is

I just can't imagine

when people do that to each other.

Everyone should be
able to be themselves

and what they're doing
to these kids is heartbreaking.

Being out on the streets,
because you're gay.

Being homeless, because you're gay.

More than anything, I don't look
at my brother as a gay person;

I look at my brother as a person.

It's not like what does your brother,
who's gay, bring into your life?

What does my amazing brother who is
this amazing man bring into my life

regardless of his sexuality?

That's what it is for me.

Let's talk about family... first.

When you tell your parents
that you're gay

they're sort of
already educated on the topic.

People talk about gay issues
a lot more, like in the media

like with same sex marriage,
equality, and all these things.

But when you're trans
I feel like it's a different story.

When you're not who I need you
to be, you're gonna get cut off.

And I won't show you love.
I won't continue to raise you.

I won't continue to give you
the pride and pass on the culture

that you're entitled to.

Sometimes you just wanna
run home and cry to your mom

and tell her, like, this is
what I'm going through, what do I do?

Because it's that trust,
esa confianza

you cannot find that in the street.

It's that kind of love that you need
that nurtures your soul

that you cannot find anywhere else.

And trust me, I've looked, okay?

Well, I got lucky because
my family gave me a chance.

My mom sort of doesn't have a choice

'cause she's stuck
with me for life, okay?

But, you know,
it was my uncles, it was my cousins

it was, you know, people.

What? You know, people freak out.

My family came around, of course.

My family embraces me
for who I am today.

I feel stronger, you know?

Like, even if my cousins
were to joke with me.

Like, just, whatever, cracking jokes,
I can joke back and not be hurt.

I would say the most important part
of my transition is

being embraced as a woman
in my family

and learning how to cook and learning
how to provide that sort of love

and healing within the home,
as a woman.

My mom began embracing me

and teaching me how to be
a woman of the world

and sort of re-raising me.

It was a validation
that I finally received

that I was like, wow, you know, like

if anyone in the world has
anything to say about me

it doesn't matter
because my mother is noticing

that she's raising a woman
that's a reflection of her.

And when she started
to sort of teach me these things

it was like magic,
like I sort of felt magic inside.

And, you know, that poured over to
my grandma, to my aunt, to my sister.

And I was at my grandma's
and she was teaching me

you know, how to cook
the right lomo saltado

how to make, you know,
papa a la huancaína

the right way, with the right sauce

'cause if you mess up the sauce
you mess up the whole thing.

And so, to be taught this and to be
embraced in that way was powerful.

It was life-changing.

And it's a shift that happens
that's not a physical thing

it's not on the outside,
it's only on the inside.

I believe that all LGBT people

have something
that's a little bit different

whether you want to describe it
as two-spirit or fluid... non-binary.

And I truly do believe that

we have this gift to understand

the male side and the female side

in a way that we can help
the rest of the world.

I think LGBT people are here
to unite the masses

and to really unite the divine
masculine and the divine feminine.

Some of us live with both already.

We're here for that reason
for the whole world, I think.

LGBT people make a lot of decisions
based out of not being prepared

and sometimes those decisions
are, like, put your life in danger.

It's a sad thing to see that happen

when all it just takes
is a little bit of love.

My parents were hard-working people.

They had one to two,
to three jobs at a time.

My parents were
big, big salsa dancers.

I mean, salsa music was
a huge part of me growing up.

Every Sunday we had this big mirror,
right, this big, big mirror...

in our living room.
And, so, every Sunday

my dad would put on salsa
and we would dance, and would dance.

And he would say,
"Keep your head up.

Never look at the floor.
Keep your head up."

And then my mom would enter
and they would dance

and they were the most beautiful
couple I've ever seen dancing.

That's how they met, you know?
They met salsa dancing.

And I guess that's how I was made.

We were this kind of family.

And then we were just not.

My family was separated through
deportation and I was left behind.

I was 14 years old.

I guess the reason
why they didn't pay attention to me

or didn't take me with my parents
was because I am a U.S. citizen.

They never came
to check on me or anything

so I kind of just slipped
through the cracks

as many children of
undocumented people do.

The people who came to the rescue

were my best friend Grisel
and her mother Ana.

I was hiding under the bed,
waiting for them, holding a phone.

They took me out of under the bed.

They held me. I cried.

And then my father called.

Then I had to go visit them in jail.
And that was hard too.

I didn't understand why
my parents were considered criminals.

I was lucky that my parents were
separated from me when I was 14

because maybe I was able
to take it a little better.

I can't even imagine a 10-month old,
or a five-year old, or a 10-year old.

Kids start to create this narrative
in their heads to survive

to be able to survive
you have to say

"Okay, now I have
to be built of armor."

If I tell myself that
I'm worth nothing

then it'll hurt a lot less

than the world telling me
that I'm worth nothing.

Some of those kids
that were in cages...

and when they're reunited
with their families

I saw them being so angry.

And they didn't wanna
hug their parents.

They didn't wanna
be near their parents.

And I know for a fact that that child

every day that they were in that cage

were longing and praying
to see their parents.

I blamed my parents
just like those children did theirs.

I blamed them
for not having their life together

for letting that happen to me.

How dared they... how dared they
let them take them away?

Wasn't I special?
Wasn't I lovable? Didn't I matter?

Somehow it's your fault.

This must be my fault,
because it doesn't make any sense.

How do you take
a child's parents from them?

Because they don't have
the right paperwork?

You're going to destroy
an entire family

because they don't have
the appropriate paperwork?

I know that
this trauma last for a lifetime.

It's damaging beyond repair.

And it can be repaired,
but it takes a lot.

And we don't have
those kinds of resources.

I mean, certainly
the community I grew in

didn't have those kinds of resources.

Certainly the health care system
that we have in this country

doesn't have those kinds of resources

especially for kids of immigrants.

This is causing and will cause
generational trauma.

It's not only affecting
the children now

but it's gonna affect their children,
and their children's children.

It's not just happening
to our community.

But it is disproportionately
happening to our community.

We're gonna see more poverty,
we're gonna see more depression

we're gonna see more suicides

we're gonna see
more family separations.

And not just through deportation
but also through incarceration.

So these are all the things
that are gonna plague

that already plague our community

and will be plaguing our community

for years and years
and years to come.

The good thing about...

growing up with
the parents that I did have

was that they did teach me a lot
about love and how to be vulnerable.

And I think that really, really took
me far when I was asking for help

when I was humbling myself
because I was scared or confused.

And so I had
a beautiful, beautiful community

that lent their hand, and their homes
and their money and their food

to a kid like me that was in need.

My school was fantastic.
I went to a performance arts school.

I don't think I would have been able
to survive if I didn't have the arts.

That's why
I'm such a big advocate of the arts.

We make sure that our communities
are safe by electing people

that are going to fight
for our rights and our interests.

If we're not involved, then we say

"Oh, well, no one
cares about us anyway"

then we're never gonna get anywhere.

I know it's difficult to believe
in a democratic system that

usually doesn't really speak
to our people

but that's why we need to do
everything that we can

to be involved and part of it

because we are a part of it.

Part of me sharing my story has been

so that I can selfishly
unburden myself with it, right?

It has helped me understand
a lot of what's going on.

It has helped me understand myself.

It has helped me love myself

and not blame myself
anymore. Or my parents.

Even though it hurts me to share
my story over and over again

I want everyone to know
what community I came from.

'Cause I think
my community is beautiful.

The immigrant community is beautiful

the Latino community is beautiful.

I come from there.

Maybe one of the most important
moments in my life was

not feeding somebody

but watching my wife feeding
my daughter for the first time.

It's a very fascinating,
beautiful moment

when you are able to feed somebody.

I am a cook, I feed the few

but in the process I have the power
and the knowledge to feed the many.

Why not use that power
to feed the many?

So we show up
and we create the systems

with whatever we find to feed as
many people in need as we can reach.

A lot of people are giving me
probably more credit than I deserve

with the things that
World Central Kitchen has done

because it's never been
about "I, the person"

it's been about "We, the people".

The army of people that we have,
doing what we do, is amazing.

In Puerto Rico alone was more
than 25,000 Puerto Ricans.

When everybody forgot
about Puerto Rico

when the Federal Government
forgot about Puerto Rico

the people of Puerto Rico
fed Puerto Rico.

Bahamians fed Bahamas.

That's what
World Central Kitchen does.

I don't do it. I'm only one
more piece of the puzzle.

But together
it's a very powerful one.

I'm tired of
seeing food as the problem.

We need to start
seeing food as the solution.

Food is immigration.
Food is national security.

Food is health care.

Food is the economy.
Food is job creation.

Food is peace,
so we don't have to fight wars.

Food is at the heart of solutions
all across the planet.

And we have too many leaders
that are used

leading with telling others
what to do

without them showing us what to do.

And I think we need more leaders

that they are the ones
moving ahead and say, "Follow me!"

That's the type of leadership
we need today.

I cannot just be in the comfort
of my home and tell people:

"You! Go to Haiti
and feed the hungry!"

No, I need to be there
with them saying

"Follow me! Let's feed
the hungry together!"

Less leaders that go to the
big places and the big organizations

that they give speeches
and where everybody starts clapping.

We need to stop giving
so many speeches.

I should stop talking right now

and leave this interview
and go to feed the hungry.

Less speeches
and more doing, more action.

Obviously for me in kitchens

I arrived to America
more than 27 years ago.

The people in those kitchens,
yes, the vast majority

we were immigrants.

Unfortunately, in America
we have this situation

where immigrants,
many times voiceless

because they are
what some people call "illegals"

while I call undocumented

they are part of the system

but somehow the system doesn't
recognize that they are here.

Sure people are coming
through the borders

because America needs the people
coming through the borders

because without those people
coming through the borders

our factories and our farms
and our golf courses

they would not be functioning.

If you are a farmer
and you need hundred employees

nobody shows up to work on the farm.

And actually
they don't give you visas

to bring farmers
from other countries.

How they get them?
Because they let them come in.

What we need to change is the system,
we are using those people.

So our Congressmen and Senators
can eat their salad

on the work of the shoulders
of the undocumented

that actually no Democrats,
no Republicans

want to give the citizenship
or the Green Card

to belong to the American Dream.

Yes, you can be a Republican.
Yes, you can be a Democrat.

But what you cannot be is
against undocumented immigrants

because actually is not their fault.

It's the fault of their system.
And who is in charge of that system?

Our Congressmen, our Senators,
and our President.

We need to be asking them
to fix the system

so those people are
treated with respect

and they are part of
the American Dream.

I think we are in a moment in History
that we need to weaponize empathy

we need to weaponize goodness.

If we have consciousness
of how powerful we are

and we all come together
under one flag, one flag of goodness

everything is possible.

Translator: IYUNO