Come Dine With Us_LatinasOnThePlaza_06Newsletter_Aug2021

WORDS OF PRESIDENT
FROM THE DESK OF LATINAS ON THE PLAZA
I am kind of a history buff, so I
remember when I first learned
about the Holocaust thinking
how many of the German
people hate the Jewish people
so much that they would go
along with a lunatic -Adolph
Hitler's plans.
Why wasn't
there an uproar amongst the
country? Why didn't
other countries
respond to
immediately stop
the atrocities
where 6 million
Jews were killed:
men, women and
children. Those were
some of my questions in my
teen years. And later while in
graduate school at the
University of Chicago, one
Saturday morning, we were
still asking ourselves how did
Adolph Hitler accomplish
demonizing and dehumanizing
Jewish people? Sorry to say, no
greater answers came from the
distinguished professors and
my fellow classmates that day.
Watching the storming of the
capital on the television, it took
me back to the days of horror
of 9-11. But this time, the
faces of the insurrectionist
were Americans. T-shirts
branding hateful words,
numerous flags represented
hate groups and the flying of
the many confederate flags
even within the walls of the
capital. There was army attire,
spears, bear spray, and guns all
signaling anarchy with hateful
and distasteful words; and that
echo in the halls of the capital
calling for someone to die.
Once again, my mind went
back to Adolph Hitler, and I
was wondering how so much
hate and vitriol could cause an
insurrection in the capital of
the United States of America.
We were already 10-months
suffering a pandemic in which

600,000 thousand lives have
died, yet that did not cause an
outrage of passion and anger.
Having read a bit more, the
insurrectionist stated they not
only acted out of fear for their
way of life but acted on the
invitation of the sitting
president. At least this time, I
know why it happened and
who spurred them on. And,
then if that was not enough,
for the sitting president to
make his last public
appearance at the border,
claiming he built the wall,
unfinished of course, but he
still took credit. Immigrants
don't just come from Mexico,
but he led the world to believe
that they did and that they
were all murderers and exprisoners.
Thus, the focus of
this newsletter, we invite you to
d i n n e r w i t h a P u e r t o
Rican(me), a Mexican, a
Columbian, and a Bi-racial
Black and Puerto Rican via
our stories.
Yes, I am not an immigrant,
my parents came from Puerto
Rico, which was ceded by
Spain to the United States in
1898 as part of the treaty that
ended the Spanish American
War. I n 1 9 1 7 ,
Congress passed
the Jones-Shafroth

Act giving Puerto
Ricans automatic
U.S. citizenship by
birth. It became a
commonwealth of the United
States in 1952. But many did
not know that when the
Category 5 hurricane Mari
knocked down the power grid
for 3-6 months on the island.
That meant, no water, no
electricity, and massive road
debris all over the island, and
many homes with blue tarps as
roofs. They did not understand
why the United States needed
to help Puerto Rico restore the
power grid. In other words,
because only few
knew that U.S.
citizens were
P u e r t o R i c a n
people, the island
lived in darkness
f o r a t l e a s t 3
months. I was there the
night the lights turned on in
front of my mother's house in
Puerto Rico, exactly three
months long living with a
generator. I had only been
there a week, yet I was so
exhilarated to see light again.
I along with 5 of my siblings
were born and raised in
Chicago's southwest, now
called the Little Village area,
aka La Villita. I have my many
stories of what it was like to
grow up as the minority. Little
Village was pretty much a
white community with Latinos
just beginning to move in in
the early 70's, so my grammar
schools was mostly white, so I
was a minority. I was once
again the minority when I
attended Farragut High
School, which was 98% black
at the time. And, later in my
banking career, I found myself
in a white institution with most
of the people of color in the
back rooms, including me. So,
although I was a United States
citizen since birth, I was always

aware that people saw me as
the other. I felt like the other.
Unlike the immigrant
stories I will share, we
didn't walk around being
afraid we were going to be
deported, although the
Feds did stop my brother
one morning to try to
deport him. But the story
is the same when it came
to how we felt. Being
seen as the other means always
being on guard, being followed
in stores, having our back
porch lit on fire in the middle
of the nights, having a big rock
thrown at me and shifting
behavior and speech to try to
fit it. So, if you wonder why
race is such a big deal for us it's
because every day, we lived
with it. It's hard to just turn it
off, and when we try, we are
reminded as we all saw in our
neighborhoods last year via the
Black Lives Matter protest that
the hate continues.
In this newsletter, I invite you
to go to dinner with a
Dominican, a Columbian, a
Mexican, and a biracial black
and Puerto Rican.
They are
my former students, now
alumni of Latinas On The
Plaza.
I believe that one of the
ways to bridge the gap of
diversity is to get to know
the other. Inside each of
us, you will find red
blood, and cells, and
organs.
Don't judge the
outside just because of
skin color or ethnicity if
you first have not gotten to
know one another.
Join us for dinner.

Dinner with
Gabriela
Introduction
Gabriela was born and raised
in Bogota, Colombia, with her
younger brother Francisco.
Her entire family worked in a
family business, which was
selling children's clothing.
They were moderately
successful until their country
became a dangerous place to
live. For those of you who
only know about Bogota from
the Netflix story Narcos, about
drug pin Pablo Escobar, it is
located in South America.
The native population of
Bogota is composed of two
l a r g e g r o u p s : r o t o s
(descendants of people who
are not native to Bogota) and
cachacos (children of
bogotanos). Bogota has gone
to great lengths to change its
formerly notorious crime rate
and its image with increasing
success after being considered
in the 1990s to be one of the
most violent cities in the world.
Please join me as we
meet Gabriela for
dinner:
My mother decided to travel to
Chicago where some of her
sisters lived in 1994; my father
stayed behind in Colombia
with me and my brother. Six
months later, it was time for
me to join my mother. I was 24
years old and in the middle of
a psychology program in
college, but I left leaving my
father and brother behind.
“I left Colombia leaving my father
and brother behind…. It was a
difficult transition… nonetheless
there was no time for weeping. It
was time for me to find courage and
grit to make a new life in the
United States”.
- Grabriela Reyna

Being in the
United States
was a difficult
transition.
First off there
was the
language
challenge.
I had taken some English
courses in Colombia, but I
h a d n ' t m a s t e r e d i t .
Additionally, I missed my
father and my brother.
Nonetheless I was here and
there was no time for weeping.
It was time for me to find
courage and grit to make a
new life in the United States.
Soon enough, my mother and
I found jobs in a factory,
following the pathway of my
aunts. While working in the
factory, I began to see
tremendous opportunities for
I believe that we can make this world a better
place for all people. But to achieve that we need
to be very intentional in connecting with people
who are not like us. We need to be deliberate to
forge relationships with enormous
generosity.
Latinos because they were a
growing community in the
country in the 90's yet few
knew how to understand and
engage this community.
I thought to myself I bet
speaking Spanish must be
valuable for someone. And so,
I immediately started looking
for a new job. I had a string of
positions that used my Spanish
language. I also began to
develop my sales skills, first
working in a car dealership
and then selling advertising for
a Latino newspaper. I even did
some telemarketing in Spanish.
Yes, I faced discrimination many times, mostly due to my
accent and broken English, but I decided to focus more on the
opportunities I was given so I put aside those moments and
chose to create more opportunities to succeed.

I found out that by using my
Spanish, I was able to do
different things and I earned
more money. My next
opportunity was to help
business owners relate to the
Hispanic community, but I
wasn't sure exactly how to do
that, yet.
In 2002, I got my first job in
the insurance field where my
Spanish was a true asset. I was
astounded to learn that many
Hispanics did not realize the
value of life insurance for their
family; this is truly a cultural
aspect to see life as Si Dios
Quiere(If God Permits) as not
to worry about mitigating risk
like providing for family after
one's death. Soon after I was
hired by a State Farm agency
in Aurora, where I learned
more about the insurance
business, took classes and
attended seminars. I now hold
two important designations in
the industry: the LUTCF ( Life
Underwriter Training Council
F e l l o w ) a n d t h e
FSCP( Financial Services
Certified Professional). In
2007, My brother and I
opened an agency for Farmers
Insurance. We grew very fast,
in part because we
concentrated our efforts on the
growing Hispanic community.
My vision for the future is to
expand my business by
opening other locations to have
the opportunity to transfer the
business or sell the business in
5 years.
At the same time, I am
opening a kitchen incubator
(nonprofit) that can serve many
entrepreneurs. My incubator
will have an education
component where we can help
our customers to create the
vision of their business and be
with them along the way to
help their business succeed.

What are we having for dinner?
Ajiaco soup
Bandeja Paisa-a platter that has:
steak or ground beef,
crunchy chicharron (pork crackling),
chorizo sausage
and served with rice and red beans,
a fried egg,
plantain,
arepa,
and fresh avocado.

Dinner
with
Jacqueline
Introduction
It is not unusual to label people
strictly based on their skin
color and hair. My father's
skin tone is a deep brown, but
his hair is jet black and smooth
as silk. I used to think he
looked like Martin Luther
King Junior, one of my
heroes. My mother's skin tone
was what we call white with
curly hair; her father looked
just like Jacques Cousteau, the
famous oceanographer. She
was also born in Puerto Rico.
So, when they started to take
me and my siblings to Puerto
Rico when I was in 6 th grade, I
completely felt like the other
there. I only knew Spanglish
since English was my first
language. In Puerto Rico, I
w a s referred t o a s t h e
americana because of that. I
think I saw myself as the other
here in the United States when
in 6 th grade I was assigned to
translate for another new 6 th
grader in my class who had
just arrived from Puerto Rico
and she knew no English. I
was furious of course, who
wants that job in 6 th grade said
Luz Canino-Baker.
As I read Jacqueline Allen's
story it conjured up these
memories. I also was
saddened by the racism her
f a m i l y experienced bu t
knowing that Jacqueline is an
E M D R M e n t a l H e a l t h
Therapist shows us that she is
a powerful biracial woman
who overcame adversity and
now is helping those who
experience trauma. Please
join me as we meet Jacqueline
for dinner.

Jacqueline’s Dinner
“Growing up there were
several experiences of
injury…”
I am the youngest of three
sisters. I grew up in a mixed
home. My father is African
American, and my mother is
Puerto Rican. We grew up in a
predominately white
neighborhood. When I was a
kid, I had the chance to
observe my mom go through
counseling. Watching her
journey made me want to
become a mental health
professional. I am currently an
E M D R M e n t a l H e a l t h
Therapist at a group practice
in Chicago.
Growing up I felt confused
when it came to my identity.
Being African American,
Puerto Rican, and growing up
in a white neighborhood was a
combination that caused me to
feel like I didn't belong to any
group. I was often told I spoke
white, wasn't Puerto Rican
enough, and experienced
various micro aggressions
towards my blackness. I
constantly live with what
W.E.B Du Bois calls double
consciousness (holding in mind
my true identity and how white
America views me). This was
stressful.
“Being black in
America is
stressful. Stressful/
painful experiences and
traumatic experiences can
imprint on us negative
beliefs about ourselves. My
heart is drawn to support
black/brown people
towards mental fitness and
living lives that they love”.

I am trained in a specialty
called EMDR(Eye Movement
Desensitization Reprocessing).
This is a type of therapy that
assists the brain in processing
trauma/stress. Because of
systemic racism the solution
cannot be purely clinical, there
has to be a community change
as well. Dr. Joy Degruy says it
best when she mentions that
we cannot help heal an
individual to put them back
into a community that injures
them.
My father was a police officer
for 27 years. He went to assist
on a call and had to enter the
home of a white individual.
This individual told him that
he wanted the other police (in
reference to a white cop).
In grammar school I was
called the Nword. My
husband is dark-skinned with
locs. We went to a water park
(predominately white) and a
white family accused him of
trying to steal from them.
When my family and I moved
to the North Side of Chicago,
into a predominately white
neighborhood, a white family
moved out because of our
race.
In my job search, I often
worried how I would be
received, would they not
accept me as a black clinician.
Additionally, at school I was
often the only black women in
the classroom; this was very
lonely. But as the saying goes It
takes a village,' for me that
village was a group of my
girlfriends. They are a variety
of ethnicities. I appreciate my
sisterhood of friends that truly
pull me up and encourage me.
They are such a safe place for
me. My black girlfriends are so
embracive and a huge part of
my story.
As a mother of a beautiful
little 18-month-old girl, and a
wife it has become
increasingly important to

understand my story as a
biracial woman. I try to
respond to racism based on my
experience. I think we first
have to provide ourselves with
space to understand our own
perspective and if we have the
energy, we can hold space (in
meaningful relationships) to
seek to understand the others
perspective. Those in positions
of power should be in a
position of learning by
stepping outside of their
experiences with intention to
build relationships with those
who are not like them.
It is really hard to hate
someone when you have
built a relationship with
them.
Ok, let's eat:
Menu:
Chili
Pot Roast
Mean Grilled Salmon

Dinner with
Amell Feliz
Introduction
I met Amell Feliz a few years
ago when I was a coach for the
Mujeres De HACE program,
the very first program I created
for Latina women. So, it did
not surprise me when I was
recruiting students to test drive
a new program for young
L a t i n a s w h o h a d h i g h
aspirations to be visible, valued
and paid equitably, when
Amell immediately applied.
And, in the very first class I
knew that Amell was going to
rise above all the other
students in the room. I want
to introduce you. to
Amell Feliz, so take a
seat at our virtual dinner
table.
I was born in the Dominican
Republic, one of Caribbean
islands. They never see snow,
but hurricanes are a threat.
My mother had arrived in
Chicago in 1996, she was
following her brother who
brought all her brothers and
sisters to the United States
legally. I stayed behind with
my grandmother and aunts
until she I was 7 years old.
Here it is what I remember:
“I remember getting on the
airplane. I wasn't afraid
because I knew soon, I would
be with my mother. Back then
on the island, everyone wants
to come to Nueva York (New
York), it was the American
Dream. It didn't matter that I
was going to Chicago, it was
like Chicago, New York same
thing”. - Amell
With green card in hand, I was
considered a resident, so she
went to school and really didn't
know any better until she tried

to apply for scholarships to go
to college, and she quickly
realized she needed to get
naturalized, or rather pursue
becoming a U.S. Citizen.
When I first arrived, I was put
in ESL programs at my
school. I was living in the
Irving Park area, which at the
time was mostly a Latino
community. Later, when my
family moved to Cicero, I saw
some inequity with some
Latino students who did not
qualified for any scholarships
because of their
undocumented status.
Like many Latinas I've spoken
to, college was limited to the
local college. I felt I needed to
stay close to home and not
b e i n g a b l e t o g e t f u l l
scholarships so I opted to go to
University of Illinois-Chicago.
I really wanted to attend
Loyola University, but she
could not afford it. But later,
Amell received her master's
degree from the Chicago
School of Professional
Psychology.
As I began my working
career, I became aware
that my skin color
identified me as different.
I am a dark-skinned
Dominican, and many
often thought I was black,
which meant that I had to
pay close attention to my
interactions with others in
the workplace. I didn't
know how to be a professional
woman, mostly because I
never had role models that I
could mirror. So, I went in full
pursuit of those role models
and that is when I met Luz in
the Mujeres De Hace
program. My confidence grew,
I saw myself as valuable and
decided to pursue more.
Who is Amell today?

I am a manager at an HR
firm. I have a master's degree
in industrial organizational
psychology. In my spare time,
I help lead an organization
that is helping women be their
best. She uses her training to
coach women, and she wants
to help women become
financially secure.
I believe that we need to
start the diversity and
inclusion conversation in
our homes. That may
require you to correct a
family member, which
culturally is wrong, but
we must be brave and
speak up. Women of color
need to reach their nieces
and cousins and help them
in their journey. And we
also need to check
ourselves.
So, what are we having
for dinner at Amell's
house today?
Platanos (mangu)
Salami, egg, cheese
(tres golpes)
(Lunch is the bigger
meal)

Dinner with
Karen
Introduction
Having been born in the. U.S.
as a Puerto Rican girl, I had a
great deal of ignorance about
the immigrant's story. Sadly,
the schools that I attended
never really taught me, or at
least in a memorable way
about the dangerous journeys
immigrants face getting here
and the long-term impact
these children experience
having faced dangers at such a
young age. When I heard
Karen's story the first time, I
was captivated by the intensity
of her journey to America.

Here are her words:
My mom and I came to
America when I was ten
years old (1999). I vividly
remember it like it was
yesterday. The never ending
walking, the exhaustion, and
the lack of sleep are the most
m e m o r a b l e p a i n s I
experienced. But I will never
forget seeing the worry on my
mom's face as we crossed the
Rio Grande. She was holding
my brother's hand with a death
grip. It was a mother's worst
n i g h t m a r e, g e t t i n g t w o
children through a river.
H o w e v e r, s h e w a s s o
determined to give us a better
l i f e i n A m e r i c a . T h i s
dangerous journey is
something I will never forget,
it helped me become who I am
today.
I started working when I was
16 years old. My work ethic
was work hard and give it my
best and thankfully it has paid
off. At my current job where I
started as a general worker, fast
forward 14 years and I'm now
the Quality Manager of our

Woodridge/DownersGrove
location for one of the 2nd
largest American packing
companies. I don't think I
focused on the fact that I was a
L a t i n a , i n s t e a d I u s e d
perseverance, grit, as the key
to my success.
So it wasn't so much that I was
a Latina, I think for me the
competition challenge was that
I am a woman. In my
c o m p a n y 9 0 % o f
management are white
males. It's definitely rare to
see Latinos in high ranking
positions. Not only do you
have to prove yourself as hard
worker because you are female,
but you have to work twice as
hard.
What you want most
people who hate black/
brown people to know?
I don't want them to know, I
want them to understand that
we are not here to take
anyone's job. Everything that
we have achieved has been
through hard work and
struggles, nothing has been
handed to us. Also, we are not
so different, we like them want
to strive for a better life for us
and for our families. The only
difference is that we are a
different shade on the outside,
that should not be a reason to
hate us.

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