Open Letter – Latina 100
Latino/a/x/Hispanic whichever label you may choose to identify with, 62M+ of us in the USA are often looked at as a monolithic group, although we come from diverse backgrounds, most of us are the children or grandchildren of immigrants. Most of our parents or grandparents came to this country with nothing to offer us a better future. Majority did not come here on a work visa or green card. Our stories while they come with history and roots in our parents or grandparents’ home countries are just as deeply rooted and make up the fabric and back bone of the U.S. While we may have similar stories, not everyone’s journey is the same and can be strikingly polarizing.
Our experiences in the United States differentiate depending on your ethnic background, socio-economic status, when and how your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents may have arrived in the U.S., what city you were raised in, what other cultures you may have grown up alongside varies and shapes your perspective, tribes or lifestyles you may choose to identify with. The largest group of Latinos in the U.S., Millennials and Gen zers were likely born and or raised here. They make up at least 50% of the total U.S. Hispanic population. This is especially true for Latinas, 66% percent of U.S. Latinas are U.S. born, 81% speak English, Latinas make up 25% of the U.S. female population under the age of 18 and 17% of the total female U.S. population. (Nielsen Latina report).
The majority of Latinas reside near or in a major city from New York to Los Angeles, to Houston, Chicago and Miami are just a few of the major cities where you will find the largest numbers of Latinas in the U.S. All very different cities with their own unique culture, made up of a variety of different ethnicities and cultures that contribute to that city’s local flavor. Each local market has very distinct nuances and idiosyncrasies, however you can also find overarching and pulsing trends that transcend across the markets.
For far too long Latinas have been pigeonholed into one thing by a variety of industries, including the media, music, entertainment industries and Corporate America. We are expected to look a certain way, sound a certain way, be subjected to someone’s point of view of what a Latina may look, sound or act like. Sometimes we are even subjected to other Latinas’ preferences or ideologies of what Latinas all sound or look like in this country.
We are constantly told in Corporate America that we can show up our “authentic” selves… yet examples reflected in the media and how we may choose to identify, speak are imposed upon us as if we all look, speak and act the same.
The purpose of Latina 100 is to shed light on today’s Latina stories and individuals in the U.S. who are trailblazing their own path in their career or own businesses. Not following the status quo, authentically representing the girls who have been often overlooked or underrepresented in the media, corporate America and other industries.
Latina 100 represents that around the way girl who can easily switch from high tops to stilettos, part of the hoops gang, she’s book smart and street smart. While she may have grown up listening to Latin music, other genres such as Hip Hop, R&B, Reggae/Dancehall/Pop likely dominate her playlist. Authoritative and unconventional, she is ambicultural, multi-faceted and represents a diverse blend of interests and appeals that shape her own unique culture, experiences and voice. She is raw, real, unfiltered and always keeps it 100….Latina 100.
