In The Community
Continuing with our summer series, “Latinas Who Lead,” we bring you another group of impressive Latina activists in the U.S. putting in the work in their communities to improve the lives of those they are representing. Whether you’re looking for Latina women to support and champion, or you need inspiration for your own activism, these women are examples of leadership, resilience, and empowerment. Check out the first installment if you missed it, but if you’re up-to-date, here are 5 Latina activists to keep an eye on:
Juleyka Lantigua
Photo by Juleyka Lantigua
Juleyka Lantigua is a journalist and entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of award-winning digital media studio, LWC Studios, which focuses on making podcasts for clients who highlight stories that matter. LWC Studios also produces original podcasts, many of which are focused on Latino experiences and stories. Lantigua is the producer of the “Latina to Latina” podcast hosted by Alicia Menendez, a TV commentator, host, and author who also works on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” a show that provides analysis of the big events of the week. “Latina to Latina” showcases remarkable Latinas in business, politics, arts, and more, giving a platform to Latinas making an impact across industries.
Her body of work is as diverse as it is award-winning. She also produces the “70 Million: One Jail at a Time” podcast, which focuses on the effects local jails have on people and communities, and sheds light on how communities across the country are addressing jail reform. The podcast was nominated in 2020 for a Peabody Award and won Best Narrative/Documentary Podcast at the New York Festivals Radio Award in 2020.
LWC Studios also recently launched “100 Latina Birthdays,” a documentary podcast that focuses on Latina health. It’s a narrative investigative series that reports on the key health issues Latinas face in the U.S. at every stage of their lives. The first season focuses on issues starting in utero to age 20. The following seasons will continue exploring different age groups through age 100.
Lantigua was born in the Dominican Republic, and her family moved to the U.S. when she was 10 years old. She grew up in the Bronx, went to Skidmore College, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship, which provides grants for U.S. citizens to go abroad and citizens from other countries to come to the U.S. to study, teach, research, and share their talents and skills. Lantigua holds a Master's in Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, which she has used to create platforms that the Latino community can benefit from for over 20 years, and in many ways, this is only the beginning for Lantigua.
Dr. Carmen Rojas
Photo by Dr. Carmen Rojas
Of Venezuelan and Nicaraguan descent, Dr. Carmen Rojas is the President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which works for a healthy democracy and a just economy. She has had this role since 2020 when she became the youngest Latina to lead a nationally endowed philanthropic foundation. The foundation’s mission is to help create a country where underrepresented communities are no longer ignored by the government. To achieve this goal, they fund organizations, initiatives, scholars, and leaders who work on shifting the power balance to communities that are constantly excluded from having any say in society.
Under Dr. Rojas’ leadership, the foundation launched the prestigious Freedom Scholars award, a program designed to support scholars with a one-time $250,000 award to further research in areas like feminist prison abolition, Indigenous erasure, global urbanism, alternatives to movement capture, and militarized policing. Since 2020, the program has granted over $130 million in funding to a variety of organizations and individuals including Angélica Cházaro, J.D, co-founder of La Resistencia, a grassroots organization focused on ending immigrant detention, deportations, and the Northwest Detention Center; Lorgia Garcia Peña, PhD, a scholar on Latinx studies, global Blackness, and Dominican diaspora studies; Sarah Haley, PhD, whose work focuses on gender and women’s history, prison abolition, Black feminist history and theory, and more; among others.
Dr. Rojas has dedicated her entire career to working with foundations, nonprofits, and financial institutions to make a difference in the lives of working people all over the U.S. She’s also a member of the boards of Nonprofit Quarterly, Blue Ridge Labs, San Francisco Federal Reserve's Community Advisory Council, and the Confluence Racial Equity Initiative Advisory Committee. It’s not easy being one of the few, but Rojas is an advocate who dreams boldly, is a passionate philanthropist, and is an inspiring figure in the world of philanthropy where systemic change is hard to come by.
Rachel Carmona
Photography by Kisha Bari
Rachel O’Leary Carmona is the current Executive Director at both Women’s March and Women’s March Network. Women’s March is one of the largest political platforms for women and the most impactful grassroots organization on the progressive spectrum. Carmona is a first-generation Mexican American, and she’s dedicated her career to inspiring, mobilizing, and empowering people to have a say in the actions and policies that affect their communities.
Carmona began as the Chief Operating Officer of Women’s March in 2018 and transitioned into her current role in 2019. She helped transform the organization by overseeing the creation of its infrastructure and the incorporation of the Women’s March Network. Carmona also established Women’s March Win, a Super PAC dedicated to empowering and mobilizing women politically.
Under Carmona’s leadership, the Women’s March has grown exponentially, mobilizing thousands of marchers every year, with 2018 boasting an estimated 300,000 marchers across the U.S. The Women’s March voter mobilization efforts played an important role in a national coalition that led to Trump’s loss in the 2020 elections.
Moreover, Carmona spearheaded a change in approach: the Women’s March isn’t just about an annual march in Washington D.C. They expanded their on-the-ground organizing efforts to take action throughout the year, with efforts focused on stopping abortion bans, standing against gun violence, rejecting white nationalism, demanding dignity for survivors, and more. Women’s March has mobilized tens of millions of individuals to work for a more feminist future, and they’re now consistently on the front lines of transformative social change.
Liz Alarcon
Photo by Liz Alarcon
Liz Alarcon is a Venezuelan American communicator, facilitator, social entrepreneur, political analyst, and speaker. She has held a variety of roles in her career, including Director of Strategic Partnerships for The Children's Movement of Florida, Producer and Reporter at Univision, Miami Director of the Leadership Program for the Millennium Campus Network, Debate Teacher at Archimedean Upper Conservatory, and Analyst at Bendixen & Amandi International. There doesn’t seem to be much this powerhouse can’t do.
Alarcon is a proud alumna of the University of Miami and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and is another Fulbright Scholarship recipient. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Pulso, a non-profit media outlet dedicated to sharing news and stories for and about Latinos. Pulso reaches a subscriber base of over 2 million Latinos across their media platforms, across the U.S., and is committed to building community for a population that rarely sees their history told accurately or their experiences reflected authentically.
Alarcon has written and provided commentary for publications like The New York Times, MSNBC, & The Atlantic, among others. One of the main focuses of her work is increasing people’s understanding of Latin America and empowering Latinos in the U.S., making them feel seen while also engaging them so they can increase their political power through civic participation and advocacy.
Irene Godinez
Photo by Vote Run Lead
Irene Godinez is a force in the world of activism, particularly within the non-profit sector. With almost 15 years of dedicated service to her community, she’s left a mark on various organizations at local, state, and national levels. Of Mexican descent, Godinez is committed to causes close to her heart, including immigration, women's health and reproductive rights, civic engagement, and community outreach.
As the founder and executive director of Poder NC Action, Godinez is leading the fight for reproductive and economic justice in North Carolina. With a decade of experience in the abortion rights space, she anticipated the challenges that have now arisen in the space of abortion rights, and she sees them as a rallying cry for action. She’s determined to elect leaders who uphold and champion the rights of women to be whole and independent humans with full bodily autonomy.
Poder NC Action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building people's power, investing in leadership development, and educating the public about critical issues and elections. At its core, Poder NC Action strives to cultivate a sense of belonging and efficacy among Latino individuals, challenging historical distrust of government and fostering a community rooted in shared values. Godinez envisions a world where political leadership reflects the diversity of its constituents, so she advocates for justice and equality, especially when it comes to reproductive rights for the Latino, Black, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
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College students are rising up across the country to protest the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the lack of action from global governments. After the initial October 7th attack on Israeli people that resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths, an estimated 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in response, with over 15,000 of those killed being children. The Palestinian death toll count is an estimate for various reasons, including an unknown number of bodies that are still under the rubble, decomposing bodies in unsafe areas that can’t be searched, and the lack of access to a government source that can accurately account for Palestinian citizens.
The University of Southern California (USC) protest is one of many now featured in heavy news coverage due to the clashes between students and law enforcement. USC protests first began after the university decided to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech, a student who has been openly pro-Palestine on social media. USC cited safety concerns for the cancellation of the speech; however, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to local NPR affiliate “LAist” last week that no crime report had been opened for the threats. USC then went on to cancel the entire main graduation ceremony.
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USC also announced a drastic change to the campus-wide commencement ceremony, and it seems that other universities in the U.S. will follow suit, including Princeton University, Emory University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, City College of New York, and George Washington University because students have joined the efforts in calling for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide on Palestinians.
Since Wednesday night, dozens of protesters have been arrested across U.S. universities. At USC, over 90 people were arrested by the LAPD during peaceful protests because they refused to disperse and disband their encampment (up since last week) in Alumni Park, which is where the university’s commencement events take place. Encampment has been an element of many student-led protests sprouting on college campuses all over the country as a quiet means of disruption. USC protesters stood their ground, but arrests eventually started, with LAPD officers zip-tying people and leading them to LAPD vans.
As reported by NPR, arrests have also been made at Princeton University and Emory University, and there has been heavy police presence at Emerson College and the University of Texas, among others. Tensions are rising on college campuses across the nation as students refuse to stay quiet about their activism and their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
A Latino Father Goes Viral
Amidst the chaos of USC protests and the violent reaction of local and campus police forces, a supportive Latino dad emerged as a gold standard for parents everywhere by showing up to support his daughter, one of the protest organizers on campus. While many parents would counsel their children to “mind your own business” or “don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you,” this Latino dad headed to campus and stood by his daughter.
This “don’t ruffle any feathers” approach is particularly pervasive in Latino culture, where it’s common to be taught to keep your head down and not make any waves - “no te metas donde no te llaman” or “no es tu problema” are phrases Latino children hear often.
@holdonnow_ #utaustin
A reporter from ABC7 Los Angeles identified the supportive father as Lazaro Aguero. He confidently stated, “I’m here to support my daughter. She’s studying here, and they’re protesting against a genocide.” He shared that the entire family is against the ongoing genocide and has been aware of his daughter’s efforts on campus.
Aguero also said, “They’re threatening, if we don’t leave the campus we’re going to get arrested. But the students are so brave, look at them, they don’t want to leave the campus.” When asked if he was concerned about his daughter he said, “It does concern me, but my daughter did a right decision. If she rather be arrested fighting for Palestine, I will be the happiest daddy. I will be the happiest daddy if she’s doing the right thing.”
This moving show of support made many Latina daughters proud across social media, and the ABC7 clip quickly went viral. To see a father breaking through machismo beliefs that often lead to controlling behavior and the repression of female power within families was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Thousands of comments can now be found showing the emotional response to seeing a Latino father stand so resolutely by his daughter as she does what so many Latino parents, especially fathers, teach their daughters not to do.
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Many commentators agreed that this viral video served as a reminder not only to other Latino parents but parents across the ethnic spectrum to support their children when they’re putting themselves on the line for acting on their beliefs and seeking change in systems that have been shown to be unjust, unfair, and inequitable.
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The younger generation, as evidenced by students across the U.S. who are raising their voices for Palestine, is following their anti-war beliefs and bringing their parents along with them. Where global governments have stayed silent and stayed put, young people are amplifying Palestinian voices and helping mobilize the masses, not just in their communities but also on social media, across all platforms.
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Dolores Huerta is one of the biggest social justice and civil rights icons in the Latino community. From humble beginnings to becoming a trailblazing activist, her career has inspired generations and her work has changed countless lives. At 94 years old, Huerta continues to dedicate her life to advocacy and fighting for the rights of marginalized people. She’s a remarkable woman, so let’s explore 10 things you should know about her influence and legacy!
Dolores Huerta gets her feminist roots from her mother
Photo by Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF)
Dolores Huerta grew up in Stockton, California, and she inherited her values from both of her parents, who were also activists and civil rights champions. Alicia, Dolores’ mother, shaped her with her fierce independence and compassion. Alicia also had strong feminist ideals and an unwavering sense of social responsibility, which became the foundation of Dolores’ lifelong commitment to gender discrimination and injustice. Dolores certainly took honoring your parents to a whole other level!
She’s a trailblazer for women’s rights
Photo by Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF)
Dolores was César Chávez's right-hand woman in the farm workers' movement, but she never hesitated to challenge gender discrimination within the movement itself. She collaborated with feminists like Gloria Steinem and helped bring attention to women’s issues. Her integrity made waves and it’s a huge part of how she has managed to accomplish so much in her career.
Dolores was committed to non-violence, with no exceptions
Photo by Susan Ruggles on Wikimedia Commons
As it happens for many advocates, especially female ones, Dolores has been no stranger to physical assaults and violence during her protests. However, her commitment to non-violence as a core part of her advocacy has never wavered. In doing so, she prioritized long-term goals and the safety of everyone involved in the fight. There’s a lot of strength in turning the other cheek when you can mobilize masses, and that’s an incredible show of good character.
She’s a survivor
Photo by Trace Murphy on Flickr
Speaking of falling victim to physical assaults as a social justice warrior, Dolores survived a life-threatening assault at the age of 58 by police officers. This happened while she was protesting against presidential candidate George Bush, and her resilience worked in her favor. The public was outraged by the attack and combined with legal action, this incident led to major reforms in police practices.
Dolores has received 15 honorary doctorates and degrees
Photo by US Department of Labor on Wikimedia Commons
Dolores Huerta has about 15 honorary doctorates and degrees from many different universities across the United States. Including Mills College, the University of the Pacific, the University of Southern California, Yale, and others. All of her honorary doctorates and degrees have been in honor of her social justice work and the change she has helped to create in the country for so many marginalized communities.
She holds the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Photo by Alexeinikolayevichromanov on Wikimedia Commons
Back in 2015, Dolores received the Order of the Aztec Eagle, which is the highest decoration the Mexican government has for foreign nationals. She received this in recognition for her unwavering service to the Mexican community in the U.S. Dolores has helped Latinos in the country fight for equal pay, workplace dignity, and fair employment practices, making a huge difference for immigrants working on farms.
Dolores was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Photo by LBJ Library on Flickr
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a civilian award and it’s given to people who have contributed to national interests, world peace, or have had significant public or private achievements. Dolores received this recognition in 2012 from President Barack Obama and it’s not the first award she gets from a U.S. President. Back in 1998, she also received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights from President Bill Clinton.
Her intersectional activism has paved the way for inclusivity
Photo by Eric Guo on Wikimedia Commons
One of the things that Dolores has always understood well is how social struggles are interconnected. As such, she’s one of the fiercest advocates for intersectional activism. She has fought for the rights of marginalized communities at large, not just people of color, but also LGBTQ+ individuals. This commitment to intersectionality has paved the way for greater inclusivity and has inspired solidarity within the social justice movement at a larger scale. Just another example of her positive influence!
Dolores even advocates for environmental justice
Photo by Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF)
Dolores Huerta’s work is not just focused on labor rights, immigrant rights, and women’s rights, she has also been vocal about environmental justice. One of the issues that she recognizes is how environmental destruction has a disproportional effect on marginalized communities. As such, she has been a huge advocate for safe drinking water, sustainable agriculture, and clean air in often neglected communities.
She has created a legacy of empowerment and hope
Photo by Montclair Film on Wikimedia Commons
At 94 years old, Dolores Huerta continues to inspire activists and make ripples. Her commitment to justice and equality are unmatched and she has built a legacy of empowerment and hope. This legacy will outlive her and inspire generations of activists to come. The fire that she has ignited and consistently stoked throughout her life will burn for generations and be the catalyst for even more change. Her mark on the American socio-political landscape is a fixed point, inspiring millions to continue fighting for a more just society for all.
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