Being Latino Wasn't Cool with Antonio Rodriguez

The Latino community has seen a recent trend in folks loving on our culture and some even going a bit too far with appropriating it. In the words of Bad Bunny (or 'Ben' depending how you feel about him right now), todos quieren ser Latino pero les falta sazon which translates to "everyone wants to be Latino but they're missing the flavor."

On a positive note, we also see an increase in our people stepping into their culture proudly — something that wasn't always common for our U.S. Latinos.

Through one of my favorite partnerships with the Intuit Latinos Network, I met someone who shared their own story and struggle with identity. Meet Antonio Rodriguez, who joined Hella Latin@ to talk about how it wasn't always "cool" to be Latino. Growing up in Texas in the 70s, Antonio said being Latino wasn't celebrated, it wasn't a trend in media/entertainment and it wasn't something he took pride in. Instead, he was taught to speak English and to act American as possible.

"I could hide Spanish but I couldn't hide my brown skin."

Tune in to hear from Antonio, a 2nd generation Mexican-American on his dad’s side and 4th generation Tejano on his Mom's side, as he shares his story of owning and embracing his Latinidad.

For all Hella Latin@ updates, follow @hellalatinopodcast on Instagram and connect on LinkedIn. More at odalysjasmine.com.