Celebrating Latino American Accomplishments Take on Today

Celebrating Latino American Accomplishments During Hispanic Heritage Month

And the issues facing different groups now and in the future

Alamy Stock Photo/AARP

Wilma Consul: Hi, I'm Wilma Consul with an AARP Take on Today. Congress recently approved the creation of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino. When completed, it will be dedicated to highlighting the contributions of these communities to the US history and culture. And it will be free to visit right here in Washington DC. Well, the news got the AARP Magazine editors thinking, which Latino icons should be included in the museum? Yvette Pena, Vice President of Hispanic Latino Audience Strategy at AARP, helped our editors deliberate. Yvette Peña: So the magazine picked a very diverse group of Latinos from all over the country, from Chile, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Icons such as Roberto Clemente, Dolores Huerta, Selena, Anthony Quinn, Johnny Pacheco, Oscar de la Renta. There were so many, it was about 10 icons that were chosen to be in the issue of the ATM. What makes them iconic is that these Latinos, all admired by people of all generations, of all races. And these are Latinos who have made their mark in a particular area or category. And these are icons that will continue inspiring future generations to do great things no matter what obstacles may come their way. Wilma Consul: And what inspired AARP to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in this way? Yvette Peña: AARP is doing so much during this month. Although we celebrate Hispanics and our heritage every single day of the year, this month, we wanted to do special things. We have a campaign that's called, we are entrelazados, we are woven together. We have over 25 events that are created to engage diverse audiences during this month. We have one coming up this weekend, which is Poderistas, Latinas Make a Difference Summit, featuring Soledad O'Brien as our moderator. We'll be also celebrating the Hispanic Heritage Awards with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, where we will be giving the arts award to Salma Hayek. So there's so many events where we really wanted to show AARP's presence in the community present in a celebratory mode Wilma Consul: To illustrate the impact these figures have had on American society. And by illustrate, we mean literally illustrate, AARP the magazine commissioned original works of art for each icon. The magazine editors also recruited legends such as Emmy award winning actor, Edward James Olmos, and rocker, Carlos Santana, to pay tribute to those who inspire them. You can find their video testimonials and the artist's portrait gallery at AARP.org/hispanicheritage. Wilma Consul: Hispanic Heritage Month isn't just an opportunity to reflect on American history. It can also be a moment to understand the issues that affect different Latino groups around the country. For instance, the Commonwealth Fund says Latino adults continue to face serious financial challenges from chronic lack of affordable healthcare during the pandemic. Here with us is David Parra, director of community outreach for AARP's Arizona state office and host of the radio show, AARP Arizona Hispanic Connections. Thanks for joining us. David Parra: My pleasure, my pleasure. Wilma Consul: And we also have Karina Hertz, AARP's director of strategic communications. Good to have you here, Karina. Karina Hertz: Thank you for having me. Wilma Consul: David Parra and Karina Hertz both have useful insights that can help guide Latinos in accessing healthcare and make sound financial decisions. Let's start with you, Karina. Employment has been big news since the pandemic began. How did coronavirus affect older Latino workers? And how are they faring these days? Karina Hertz: Well, unfortunately, the COVID 19 pandemic, as no surprise, had really devastating impacts on people, regardless of age or any other characteristics for that matter. But when we talk about older Latino adults, there are some factors that come into play that have made things worse than for other groups. So we know that while unemployment is tough to navigate at any age, a crisis like this really takes a toll on older workers, because we know it takes older workers twice as long to find a new job when compared to their younger counterparts. And that's really because, despite data and case studies telling us that a diverse workforce is good for business, that we should really encourage employers to think about how an age mix type of team is really productive and helps achieve their business goals, unfortunately, society at large still has this outdated stereotypes about age being an important factor or a defining factor on the quality of work that a person is able to produce, which is of course not the case. Karina Hertz: And so, for Latino workers specifically, and their over-representation in the service industry, for instance, at the height of the pandemic, having more than double the unemployment rate that they had the year prior. And with so many restaurants and hotels, and so many businesses closing, of course, that had a direct impact on the unemployment rate of Latinos, which at the height of the pandemic was over 9%. So when you have that convergence of ethnicity, in this case in age, what happens is that it's harder to recover because you have less time to make up for the lack of employment. And so it really has a rippling effect in a negative way. Karina Hertz: Because specifically when you talk about Latino women, for instance, who, from the get go, make less money, by the power of compounding, that means that over time women will earn less than men. And their ability to save is going to be lesser than men. And they're also expected to provide care or be the ones that are more likely to provide care for either children or older adults or family members. And so, they also have to face the risk of age bias. As more Latinos try to re-enter the workforce, we're going to see that the older workers, the 50 plus workers that are of Latino heritage or ethnicity will face these barriers because we're still not in full recovery mode, although the unemployment rate has dropped for Latinos, we're currently at 6.6%, based on August data. Karina Hertz: What we'll see is that, hopefully, it will continue to drop. But we're not quite there yet in terms of full recovery. And because a lot of our community has representation in the service industry, and the service industry hasn't fully recovered, we're still very contingent and dependent on that happening first. But the good news is that it has improved. And hopefully, we will continue to see that trend. Wilma Consul: How are you encouraging these out of work adults to keep their skills up? Karina Hertz: So the ability to refresh existing skills and acquiring new skills are extremely important factors, especially when you're looking for a job. This is based also on information that we get from employers, that it really showcases that the person is not only willing to continue to learn and open to learning new things, but also that they are willing to invest whatever they can in staying competitive in the workforce. Karina Hertz: And so, there are several things that a person that's, for instance, looking for a job right now, or that lost their job during the pandemic and is trying to rejoin the workforce, can do from the comfort of their homes. I think one of the really positive byproducts of the pandemic is that we are now investing, as society, just more than ever in virtual offerings. And so there's a lot to choose from in terms of what could serve your purposes based on your specific career and professional goals. And you don't have to break the bank either. There are a lot of free resources that workers can look into. Karina Hertz: If they want to go a step further, we really encourage looking into what we call micro credentials or certifications that can really aid their career journey, especially for types of business that require specialty skills. This can really be handy, and they can really make your resumes stand out, or your applications stand out as you're looking for a job. So we strongly suggest that they check our resources that we have available for free for everyone, could be a good first step. But look into the things that you can do that are attainable, that are practical in nature, and that are not costly. That can really make a worker, a job seeker, put their best foot forward. Wilma Consul: Let me get David in this conversation. David, first tell me about your radio show, and who are listening and what are you hearing from your listeners about employment? David Parra: The radio show, it's a Spanish radio show, and it's also streamed live through our a AARP Arizona Hispanic Connection Facebook page. And the help that the government gave in terms of adding to whatever the state already gives in unemployment helped a lot. The stimulus money helped a lot. But now, as Karina said, it's becoming more of the real thing, now that the helps, the assistance from government are basically expiring. And this is the real thing. This is the real challenge now. David Parra: Because I take calls on our radio show, and I once asked a question, if you know of someone who is either struggling, who has lost a job or struggling to get a job, can you call me? And the interesting thing is that I only got one call, and I didn't get a lot of feedback to kind of know. On the other hand, I have family members who work, one in construction, and another one in the hotel industry. And it was amazing what they told me. They basically said that there was a lot of work that they couldn't hire. Obviously, this is due to the fact that they were making more money when the additional benefit on unemployment was still active. And they said it was like kind of messy in construction and in the hotel industry, because they just could not hire. David Parra: So I have to believe that as the economy gets better, there will be a lot of hiring. As Karina said, the unemployment is going down, which is good. So that's what I'm able to say in terms of what I am hearing at the radio show. I do take calls. And though we focus more on social security, Medicare, healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, retirement, et cetera. But we do, obviously, especially when the unemployment benefits were changing, we did a lot of educating on that aspect as well. So this is what I'm able to say from the callers' input. Wilma Consul: Now, Karina, related to employment and retirement is always healthcare. Tell me about healthcare access for older Latinos. What's going on there? Karina Hertz: Yeah, absolutely. So not a shocking statement. We know that healthcare is extremely expensive. And it shouldn't be. In fact, we are right now encouraging everyone to show how expensive healthcare can be on our social media channels, using the hashtag, show your receipts. In Spanish, muestra tus recibos. And this is really part of an effort to help us make some noise around the issue of affordability, which is an ongoing battle that we have at different levels, legislative, policy, you name it. We just don't think, as an organization, that it is fair for so many families to have to choose between paying for rent or being forced to cut their grocery spend in order to afford their prescription drugs. Wilma Consul: So, for both of you, you are basically in contact with the community. You're hearing a lot of their questions and the challenges. What do you give them as advice? David Parra: The system, the infrastructure, especially from the side of the nonprofit, it's getting better. For instance, in Arizona, there is a network, it's called Cover Arizona. And it's a network of over 100 nonprofit organizations who assist in the application process, in the understanding of these programs. Obviously, people can call Medicare, they can call social security, they can call Medicaid program. But I have to pleasantly say that the help available, it's getting better. At least I can say that in Arizona. Wilma Consul: Well, that's Good to hear. And you keep saying, here in Arizona. And Arizona has a lot of Latino population there, a bigger population, so they're more access. So Karina, what about for you, you're working nationally? What about in states where there aren't very many nonprofits that can help Latino communities? Karina Hertz: As a general rule, I think our social mission for the Latino community and all the communities we serve, it's built on the foundation that knowledge is really power. And so, the more that we equip ourselves as a community in terms of the resources and the offerings and the information that's out there, and be actively seeking for answers that we may not have today, but they're out there. And to David's point, I think there are a lot of organizations that understand that the Latino experience is different. It can be more challenging in certain areas, certainly the ones that we're discussing. But there are offerings that can really help equip ourselves and empower ourselves to take the best decisions for our specific situations. Karina Hertz: So the more prepared we become, the more savvy we become on these issues, the more empowered we will feel to be able to navigate through complex processes and decisions. So I think, individually and collectively, seeking that access to information and resources is beneficial for the community at large. Culturally, we like to share what we learn, and that certainly helps spread the word and have folks learn in the process as well. And we do have a lot of resources in Spanish across all our core social mission, including of course, employment and access to healthcare. And they're all housed for free under AARP.org/espanol, which is our Spanish language website. And these can be accessed by anybody. You don't need to be an AARP member. These are resources that we put out there for free. So folks really can leverage them and help them take the decisions that will ultimately lead them to a better quality of life. But of course, that will fulfill our mission so that Latinos can choose how they live as they age. Wilma Consul: Karina Hertz is AARP's director of strategic communications. And David Parra is director of community outreach for AARP's Arizona state office, and the host of the radio show, AARP Arizona Hispanic Connections. Thank you both for taking the time to talk to us. Karina Hertz: Thank you. David Parra: My pleasure. Karina Hertz: For more about Hispanic heritage month, visit AARP.org/hispanicheritage. And let us know your thoughts about this episode by emailing us at [email protected]. Thanks to our news team, producers, Colby Nelson and Danny Alarcon. Production assistant, Bianca Trotter. Engineer, Julio Gonzalez. Executive producer, Jason Young. And of course, my co-hosts, Mike Ellison and Bob Edwards. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend and become a subscriber on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or other apps. Be sure to rate our show as well. For an AARP Take on Today, I'm Wilma Consul. Thank you for listening. Hispanic Heritage Month is a time where people celebrate the contributions of Latino Americans to our country's history, but it's also an opportunity to reflect on the issues that currently affect different Latino groups around the country. Today, we do both. We'll discuss the cultural icons that made their mark on our collective culture and the health and economic problems older Latinos are facing. Subscribe:

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