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BOSTON — This is week 103 at The Latino Newsletter, and today, May 27, is also our official 2nd birthday.
My notebook is filled with ideas about what I wanted to write about, from the ICE protests in New Jersey to the governor of Puerto Rico announcing on a local show that the United States will act militarily against Cuba next week, to how a Democratic Party-aligned Latino influencer christened by Latino media as the new voice of Latinos admitted to getting $400,000 from the Tom Steyer California gubernatorial campaign for an endorsement where said influencer didn’t disclose in his online posts.
The journalist, writer, and editor in me wants to cover more of these developments with our readers and followers, but I also had to share that earlier today, The Latino Newsletter team surprised me with a video about our second birthday from people who took the time to thank us for the work.
Here is our latest birthday gift:
The video features birthday wishes from LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, Mando Rayo of the Tacos of Texas podcast and United Tacos of America, Brenda Gonzalez of the Tamarindo podcast, and Bobbito Garcia, also known as Kool Bob Love.
All of these fabulous people have been on our podcast and have also been so kind to the team as we share the news about why The Latino Newsletter exists.
I created The Latino Newsletter during a time of professional uncertainty, with no idea whether our community needed an outlet like ours. Seeing this video today, two years to the day I said I had an idea — even with the “boring” name Gustavo teases me about all the time — keeps us going on so many levels. As I have said before, the proof of concept is complete, and now it’s time to make The Latino Newsletter permanent.
This startup journey has not been easy, but no journey is. I will make sure we stick to the same principles that started it all back in 2024: we will build trust and transparency with our community, we will not live behind paywalls, and we will do our very best to publish new voices and provide new opportunities and pathways for Latino media makers. We have experienced many wins, but also setbacks and criticism. Yet we are still here, and we know that without your support — whether it is signing up for our newsletter, writing back to let us know what you like and what you don’t, or sharing our work with others — we would not exist. Punto.
It’s time to keep us here, so give for our birthday, either today or whenever you can. For example, if you gave us a $20 monthly donation over 12 months, that would pay for one story. Multiply that by the 3,400+ subscribers we have on Beehiiv and LinkedIn right now, and we could run The Latino Newsletter for three years as is with no additional funding. Imagine that: a fully-funded nonprofit outlet that the community directly supports.
Seguimos. Always forward.
JRV
(I have been chronicling The Latino Newsletter’s startup journey for the last two years. All those startup journey posts are here.)
What We’re Reading
New Polling Out: Just as I was about to click publish for today’s edition, new bipartisan polling about Latino voters from UnidosUS dropped. I will share more takeaways over the next couple of days, but I did want to share the findings now.
Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. He edited and published this edition.