One of my favorite content creators is Leigh (@OldFashonedHussle). She has a bit where she introduces what she wants to talk about as a “stream of consciousness”. In that stream of consciousness, she goes on to share things that she has experienced or thought about with wit and brilliant wordplay. It is very funny. Watch now; I’ll wait here for you to thank me.
As a tribute to her, and because so much is happening at once this season, I want to share a few things that have been coming up for me. I hope it helps. Let me know what you think:
Loving Reminders
Reclaiming a Language, Culture, and Identity is Hard Work. It just is.
I have been working with some clients who have been especially hard on themselves, and what I keep reminding our community —and myself —is that this work is hard.
We cannot compare it to the ease of acquiring a skill we learned for fun that has no connection to our identity.
We cannot compare it to the ease of practicing an activity or language we have practiced all our lives.
We cannot compare it to the emotions we feel when we do an activity we learned with no expectation to be good at it from friends, family, or society.
It is not a cop-out to say it is hard. Acknowledging this doesn’t excuse us from the work we want to do. It puts into perspective that the skill is different, and therefore the approach will need to be different.
That said, if we keep showing up, even when it’s hard, we are bound to improve. It will get easier.
“Make it exist first; you can make it good later.” Adam Grant
There is Nothing More Colonial Than Judging Someone’s Language and Culture
I have seen a couple of videos of people (parents and content creators) judging how certain heritage Spanish learners speak or learn certain words in Spanish.
There are so many valid reasons why it is hard to preserve your Spanish in an English-dominant society. But an unnecessary struggle is dealing with criticism from members of our own community who judge our learning process or the different ways Spanish can be spoken when it’s learned later in life and/or influenced by Spanish-speaking groups in our community.
I can’t help but feel disappointed in people who criticize members of our/their own community and families during their learning journey.
Criticizing someone for a lack of literacy or challenges with math skills doesn’t help anyone. Skills like learning a language develop over time through practice and mistakes.
How can we expect members of our community to feel safe enough to practice and learn the language when our own people are judging us?
I know our Spanish-speaking community has dealt with a lot of trauma through laughter. But if we truly want to encourage and empower our community to speak more Spanish, we need to value the different journeys and the messy process.
“You can’t sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it.” Faith Ringgold
Hispanic Heritage Month Ends Oct. 15th, But Our Support Continues.
If we want businesses and institutions to value our language and culture, we need to show up when events are happening, follow content creators, share content, and value the educational opportunities within our own community. Here are a few of my favorite creators right now that I want to share. Please do the same and add me.
