Issues
-
In the Country We Love, a book review
Confession time–I have never watched Orange is the New Black, but Diane Guerrero’s character, Lina, on Jane the Virgin is one of my faves. I was excited to receive Diane Guerrero’s new book In the Country We Love: My Family Divided* to review because, at minimum I like supporting Latina authors and knew it would touch on immigration. But I was pleasantly sucker-punched-surprised when I read this book. I read it in one sitting–it is that good and necessary. First, my preconception of this book was that it would be bubble-gum lite in regards to immigration. I had heard of Diane’s story, but I’ve read some quickie memoirs before that just…
-
Keeping it Classy: how business etiquette promotes classism
When we enter the legal field, it can feel complicated and difficult to master appropriate business etiquette because most of us have not had as much exposure to this type of culture. Most of us do not come from high income families, or families with professional parents, and yet after graduation we find ourselves colleagues to those that come from higher socioeconomic positions. We do what we can to fit in, but we’re so consumed with fitting in and abiding by these rules that we don’t take time to assess them or even acknowledge why these means of communication often feel unnatural to us. Many people act as if business etiquette is just a natural part of…
-
Support Starts with You: Sexual Assault Awareness Month
As April is coming to close, I wanted to take a moment to recognize that it’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month. It’s a topic that is close to home because, as I’ve grown in my practice, my main type of work has been with advocating and representing survivors of sex assault; the majority being Latinas. Unfortunately, the stats are really dismal for our community in regards to sexual violence against both men and women. And so, it’s a sad truth that many of us have examples of experiences where we have either been victims of sexual violence or have come damn near close to being victimized. When I think of…
-
Cultural Conflict: Bridging the Family Gap
For those of us who are children of immigrants, or easily assimilated as immigrant children, there can be a feeling of disconnect between you and your family. It usually starts with a language barrier where we slowly find ourselves unable to communicate fully with our loved ones. Then the gap widens as you advance through school because the system is foreign to most of our parents*. The higher we go, the less likely our family is able to teach us or help us navigate the system. This is also often true for even those of us with parents who have professional degrees from other countries. It can be emotionally draining to feel…
-
Learning to Love Networking
The number one piece of advice all students receive to help land a job is to network. I’ve spoken before how unnatural networking has felt for me. It’s awkward and weird and it feels odd to try to make superficial connections just in case one day in the future they can help me. It feels icky. I think for many this runs counter to how we normally tend to socialize—in fact there are many articles on what women do wrong while networking that tries to shame us from doing what comes naturally to us. FYI, I just googled “things men do wrong while networking” and one (1!) article appeared…. Anyway,…
-
More than a Brown Face: Making Your Voice Heard
Ok first, if you’re not watching the People vs. OJ Simpson you need to get your life. That’s the first thing. Seriously, it so accurately touches on race in the law and what it feels like to be an attorney of color. It’s no secret that this profession has a diversity problem. It’s no secret that students of color feel isolated, and that it often gets worse once they’re actually practicing. Then we feel the pressure of feeling like a token—constantly questioning if we’re actually valued, wanted, or just there for show? The scene that really spoke to this was in this week’s episode where the prosecution is dealing with…
-
Summer Dress Code: Looking the Part as a Student Intern
When you’re new to the legal profession one of the surprising things can be just how conservative it really is–and I don’t mean politically speaking, rather how stuffy, traditional, and serious it can be (especially in firms). So it can take time to get used to understanding the business etiquette and expectations when you’re beginning a new internship. You really want to be able to look the part as soon as you can, by dressing appropriately because it will 1) make you look like you belong; 2) not call into question your judgement; 3) not make you stand out in a negative way. I know that in a perfect world,…
-
Negotiating while Latina
I went to a fantastic Latina blogger summit last weekend and there was a ton of great lessons and activities, but what I really appreciated was the mission to empower and encourage other Latinas pursuing careers in a still somewhat novel and alternative industry. During one of the breakout sessions on negotiation,the instructor–a dynamic Latina with a background in business–mentioned how the fear of the female penalty often holds us back when we try to advocate for ourselves. The penalty being that women are often labeled as too aggressive when we participate in salary negotiations; or give ourselves strong self-evaluations; or hell, just while leading, in general. So instead we may demure because we don’t want to be dinged with that…
-
Fair Pay: International Women’s Day 2016
We discussed this last year, but the theme of International Women’s Day 2016 is parity: What can we do as individuals and a community to close the pay gap so that women are paid their worth? One of Latinas Uprising’s focal points, when it comes to discussing women, equality, and progress is almost always on women and the workplace; most importantly, women and the income we earn. The sad reality is that we earn a pittance compared to other groups and that impacts our quality of life (and that of our families), our earning potential, and our economic capital. So any raised awareness on the income disparity and how to close gap…
-
Black History Month
First, big ups to Leap Year for letting me still post this during Black History Month! Second, there is so much to say on this topic and how it relates to Latinos, but I think the most important point I want to focus on today is how often we overlook the Afro-Latino experience in the U.S. Let’s keep it real and admit that within many Latino communities we struggle with deep internalized racism that makes it difficult to embrace and support Black Americans. Additionally,many Afro-Latinos are dismissed as not being Latino enough or Black enough, which is so bogus. I am obviously not an expert in this, but I…