Pandemic Business Survival: How did Latinas Fare?

Picture of business owner Mariela Camacho

“I think the pandemic showed me how absolutely fragile everything is, and it's all falling apart, like in our industry,” said Mariela Camacho.

Before the pandemic upended everyone’s life in 2020, Camacho was looking for a retail space for her bakery, Comadre Panadería. But as the story goes, she had to shift her business model like most business owners did during those early months to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She offered her pan dulce made with organic ingredients through weekend deliveries in Austin and San Antonio.


“It took a lot of work, but we did it, because we knew people weren't going to leave their house,” Camacho said in a recent phone interview with Luz Media. “We realize that if we want to generate income through this tiny business, we have to go out of our way and do things that aren't really very profitable.”

Luz previously reported that a survey from The American Association of University Women (AAUA) revealed the devastating economic, social and health repercussions that Latinas faced during the pandemic. A third of the Latinas surveyed lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. While the Latina pay gap has always been grossly unbalanced, it has become even worse as the gap decreased from 57 cents to a white man's dollar in 2020 to 49 cents in 2022. This is also in addition to a Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative survey that showed that Latino-owned businesses had their PPP loans approved at half the rate of white-owned businesses in 2020.

Camacho previously told Luz that she didn’t apply for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, but she did receive $1,000 from the $10,000 she requested for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. She didn’t think she qualified for the PPP loan, but after talking to some of her friends and doing some research, she eventually applied and received funds that provided a bit more financial cushion.

“It was quite a process. I personally struggled with it a lot,” said Camacho. “There was a lot of language that I didn't understand.”

As businesses reopened and vaccines were distributed, a “new normal” emerged. Camacho would occasionally sell her food at pop-ups, depending on the state of the pandemic, but she has primarily adapted to a pre-ordering system. Each week, customers can place an online order on Tuesday from an evolving weekly menu that can include conchas (brioche bread topped with a cookie shell resembling a seashell) or pink cake (corn cake with pink frosting) along with some vegan and gluten-free options. The orders can then be picked up on Saturday or Sunday morning at Nixta Taqueria in East Austin.

This has made the chef’s life easier because she knows how many items to make each week. Sometimes there are extra pastries available to purchase for walk-ups on Sunday morning, but if you’re in the area and looking to pick up some of her delicacies, a word of advice is to arrive as early as possible as she does sell out. She promotes her business through her website and social media, but it’s primarily through word of mouth. Some of the customers from her deliveries still order with her, with some occasionally making the trip from San Antonio to Austin.

“I feel like so much of it has come from just people believing in the foods that we're making,” said Camacho.

And one thing Camacho has learned through this pandemic is the importance of community.

“I am personally very introverted. I need a lot of quiet time,” said Camacho. “I really like being alone, but I 100% believe that our future is community based. We need to work together. We can't do this alone. So I think it's really important to build those relationships with people in your community.”

Camacho met the owners of Nixta, Sara Mardanbigi and Chef Edgar Rico, when she would eat there with her partner, and they eventually became friends. Mardanbigi and Rico, who was recently announced as a James Beard Award finalist, offered their space for Camacho to distribute her orders before the restaurant opens on the weekends.

“There was so much generosity on their part and they genuinely believe in what I'm doing,” said Camacho.

The owners of Nixta also host pop-ups with other businesses. Most recently, they celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20, as the city settled down from the annual South by Southwest festival. Camacho collaborated with her friend Nora El Hassouni of Masa Ruda with a special menu filled with almonds, pistachios, pomegranate, and yogurt to mark the occasion.

This August will mark four years of Camacho running Comadre Panadería full-time. She is still looking for a retail space as she did before the country went into lockdown in 2020, but her approach for that has changed.

“I have more of a co-op mindset for a kitchen space,” said Camacho. “I just think how great would it be for these small businesses or small food operations to be able to have a space where they could actually afford the rent and be able to generate some income for themselves or their family?”

The city of Austin has seen an increase in commercial real estate in addition to its housing market, especially in the last year. According to a CBRE Survey, Austin became a top target for investors in 2021 due to its strong job and population growth. However, as the property becomes more valuable, those values increase, which affects smaller businesses like Comadre Panadería.

“How are we gonna buy a $2 million building in a very wealthy city like Austin? I have no idea,” said Camacho. “It's working that part out.”

In the meantime, Camacho will continue to sell her baked goods through the pre-ordering system on her website and the occasional pop-up.

“I'm not super rich, or have a lot of power, or anything like that, but I do have independence,” said Camacho. “And I do have control of what choices I get to make and do things that I believe in.”

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.