Day 3

New Media Town Hall

First up was a town hall discussion about the importance of using new media (blogs, twitter, facebook, myspace, google groups etc) to organize our community and simultaneously change the views about Latinos in “mainstream” media. A panel of experts (one of which was our very own Ariel Cerrud, peer resource educator and talented speaker) delved into the idea that any person, in any place can use new media as a voice for themselves and their community. One panelist urged the importance of “starting small” covering an issue that doesn’t seem too large to research with the later goal of moving onto a bigger issue. “Eventually you will realize that no issue is too big to cover. 

Anther panelist spoke to the importance of holding “traditional/old” media sources accountable for what they cover through our net-activism work. That as “experts” in our own communities we have the power to make sure Latinos are portrayed in a REAL way in the media. Ariel spoke to the idea that “even by updating your facebook status when you get to the conference” you are being an activist in your community. “I would challenge you to rethink the way that you see yourself, you dont have to be a blogger or big online to make a big difference.” 

Lunch happened at the Latinas brunch where we were entertained by Jackie ______ in a “the View” style interview of four smart powerful Latinas from different fields. The conversation focused on having more positive portrayals of Latinos in tv. This brings up an interesting question for me. What is the “realistic” portrayal of Latinos. Yes we are not all gardeners or maids, were not all unemployed or uneducated. I have a hard time imagining the alternative because the only healthy successful Latinos I see are in the entertainment industry. We are more then good dancers, singers, or actors. We are activists, lawyers, professionals and educated. Can we really ask mainstream media to do this work for us, or do we need to do this work for ourselves also. We need to first and foremost hold ourselves accountable, our networks need to stop the same negative portrayals of our communities. We need to stop living in a novella life. 

Salud es Cultura: !Protegete! 
HIV/AIDS Prevention Workshop

Our workshop today was a panel on HIV/AIDS in the latino community. We heard from 3 distinguished speakers about the need for prevention work in our community. One speaker from he institute of Hispanic health presented a case study about a specific program that implemented HIV/AIDS outreach in the Latino community. She explained that while planning for the sessions they had to rethink their work even around using the word stigma. 

Stigma “estigmata” is perceived as a punishment from god for being gay. Because Stigma in the Latino community is seen as a non issue for most of the Latino community and this idea is further perpetuated by Machismo and Mariaismo. This Stigma is commonly associated with the marks of god and not as a health issue. For these reasons use of the word “stigma” can be problematic in talking about HIV infection in Latino Community. 

The second speaker, Richard Zaldivar, Executive Director, The Wall Las Memorias Project, (Who also partnered with Advocates on "Cure CVS, Unlock the Condoms") Spoke to the need of coming out in our respective communities and coming in to our communities because we forget that our communities are what keep us grounded in our past. We have to keep those links to our roots as we being to grow towards the future. He spoke about his organization and how by acknowledging that HIV/AIDS is the 6th leading cause of death in our community. Not just in the gay community, but how it affects/effects us all in real and tangible ways. We must realize that if one of us suffers, we all do and until we can unite as a people and not as segregating ourselves into even smaller minorities can we begin to dissemble this stigma in our communities.

Richard presented a lot of great information in his 20 mins addressing the group. This workshop had by far the best speakers from the NCLR conference so far. We later had the chance to interview Richard on his expertise in the HIV/AIDS community as it relates to spirituality and faith. The video (once edited) will be added to the Amplify blog, so keep a eye out for that.

I was amazed by the level of knowledge of the people I have met at the Lideres Summit.  I am really enjoying the more candid conversations that happen after the summit, in the lobby or waiting for the shuttles. Its amazing that there are soooo many youth interested in so many issues coming from a similar identity of Latin@. We are all working on equity/social justice issues and this summit is allowing us to network with each other. It reminds me that I am only one (and an important/active one, if i do say so myself) of so many. The millennial generation holds so much power and I am excited to see where this power takes us. 

more to come, 

Ernesto