Latino Identity in 2024

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Happy Friday to our 837 email subscribers and our social audience of 7,000 followers across all our platforms. We are on a 21-week streak of posting daily. Breaking news: you have spoken in the poll, and we will do some weekend posts. Let’s see how it goes.

So this week was intense, to say the least. Sunday’s Puerto Rico “joke” felt different, and as Alberto Medina writes, the conversation has to go deeper than American electoral political takes, but when J.Lo is now giving Kamala Harris rally speeches, it appears as if the American political system has now realized that Puerto Rican voters who live stateside could be (wait for it) actual electoral power brokers. But, and rightly so, this discussion cannot just be about presidential politics and getting out the vote.

On Tuesday, Puerto Rico will hold its elections, and if you really want to find out more about how historic that vote will be, read Yarimar Bonilla’s fantastic New York Times opinion piece. (Gift Article).

I cited Yarimar’s piece when I went on Wajahat Ali’s show on Friday to talk about Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, we published two stories for the Latino Election Project and part two of “La Voz de Mi Gente 2024.” 

Rest up this weekend.

Ok, on to Episode 14.

Episode 14: Latino Identity in 2024

My co-producer Joaquin Cotler suggested that we have a different kind of pre-election show, and after doing a lot of political coverage this week, I enthusiastically agreed. Joaquin book OC taco journalist Mando Rayo, one of the kindest and coolest souls I know. Mando and I met during the fun days of Latino “bloggers” in the 2000s. I haven’t seen him since 2014 at SXSW but I have been following his career for years.

We did talk politics but also so much more, including how Latino identity in 2024 has evolved over time.

This was a money quote from Mando about why we no longer need to explain our Latinidad.

“If in 2024, you still have to explain things to [people] and they don't get it or they're still kind of like 20 years behind. You're kind of barking up the wrong tree. They’re never gonna get it.”

But we do. We will always get it.

Enjoy the show.

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What We’re Reading

Latinos and the 2024 Vote: On Friday, Florida International University shared the findings of a pre-election poll, saying “that 80% of respondents nationwide are ‘very likely’ to vote, indicating rising participation, compared to previous election cycles.”

About the Author

Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder and interim publisher of The Latino Newsletter.

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