“That’s why we’re here: to unlearn all the fucked up shit we were taught growing up.” 

This quote is only one example of the many cathartic snippets from Love in Gravity – a new six-episode narrative podcast that sheds light on queer Latinx communities. The original stories from all six episodes aim to move our society towards empathy, increase acceptance, and reduce HIV stigma — all through the power of storytelling. 

This show is a collaboration between production company Harley & Co, ViiV Healthcare (the only pharmaceutical company whose sole focus is on HIV prevention), and a cast of over 40 actors. These actors include Tik Tik Boom’s Robin de Jesus, On My Block’s Jessica Garcia, and Glee’s Kevin McHale. The series aired throughout July and closed with its final episode on August 3rd.

Because the stigma around AIDS continues to plague the Latin American community, ViiV Healthcare and Harley & Co decided to join forces and tackle the cultural boundaries that may keep many individuals from treatment and prevention. According to WebMD, language barriers, religion, and access to healthcare are among the factors that contribute to high positive HIV diagnoses among Latinos. ViiV reported that in 2019, 29% of all new HIV diagnoses were among Hispanic/Latino people. The goal of “Love in Gravity” is to start more conversations about AIDS, sexuality, and relationships so that Latin American families have the tools to stay healthy.

LATINA spoke to Love in Gravity Executive Producer Sarah Hall, actor Alexia Garcia, and writer Estevan on a group zoom call about their work on the podcast. 

Sarah Hall explained that “[shaming] people for not doing the right thing doesn’t typically help them do the right thing.” For this reason, the Love in Gravity team worked extensively to tell stories that would not only educate the Latinx community about AIDS but also instigate understanding between members of the community who might have different perspectives.

They want everyone — from queer first-generation Latinos to white partners embracing a new culture to family-oriented gossipy tías — to feel seen and be moved by these episodes. According to Hall, the team’s motivating question was, “how do you use culture and entertainment to intentionally change culture and behavior?” As a result, these stories attempt to shift the perception of AIDS in Latinx households. 

Many episodes include scenes where queer Latinx children confront their parents with truths they fear their parents will not accept or approve of, such as explaining dynamics of their relationships or sharing a positive HIV diagnosis. In most of these situations, the parents react differently than the child expected. For example, in Episode 4 (“Our Lady of the Six Train”), Lil is terrified of telling his mother that he is HIV positive and hides this diagnosis for years. When he finally shares this information with his mom — after a life-altering encounter with Jessica (played by Alexia Garcia) — he learns that his mother’s love overpowers the prejudices he thought she had. Instead of shaming Lil, his mother embraces her son and tells him she will love and support him no matter what.

Courtesy of Harley & Co. Photo by: Gabe Gonzalez

Actor Alexia Garcia, who plays Jessica in “Our Lady of the Six Train,” hopes that such scenes will instigate conversations within families and encourage children to share hard truths with their parents, even if they are afraid of facing their reactions. One of the writers, Estevan, said, “at the end of the day, there’s a lot of love to be had… and hopefully, these stories can increase that.”

Estevan and Garcia agreed that many Latinx families struggle to have intimate conversations about emotions, sexuality, and relationships and fear that this keeps queer Latino individuals from learning about HIV prevention and treatment, among other things. They hope that Love in Gravity will bring more awareness to Latinx families about uncomfortable subjects.

Estevan also hopes to share what he has learned from his own experiences. When he decided to open up his relationship, Estevan went on the HIV prevention medication, PrEP. He included this anecdote in his semi-biographical episode so that his audience would “know that there are Mexicans on PrEP. It’s not just for white gay men.” As a means of shedding light on cultural differences within families and the distinct ways to navigate them, he added a scene where the main character’s mother finds PrEP in his room and starts sobbing because she thinks he has AIDS. 

Estevan loves that although Love in Gravity is a “niche-seeming series… there’s so much diversity within that intersection.” He is proud to be able to delve into the story of a gay Mexican man navigating an open relationship and appreciates every little detail. For example, the bird noises in the background during scenes set in Arizona are actually of local birds. In the last part of Estevan’s episode “Elote PrEParado,” the producers mailed elotes preparados to the actors so they could actually eat the Mexican treat while acting out a scene where the characters are enjoying that specific dish. “We tried to really be specific in order to be universal,” said Hall. 

The attention-to-detail and specificity did not stop at sending their actors Elotes or researching birds native to Arizona. When it came to casting, the directors chose actors with specific accents to play roles that had those accents. One actor even got dialect training to perfect a Costa Rican accent. 

While they focused on intention and authenticity with casting, the producers and casting directors did not typecast. For Garcia, a trans woman, this was her first role portraying a non-trans individual. 

This show was also the first time Garcia acted on Zoom. Unlike many podcasts produced with all the speakers in the same room, Love in Gravity brought together actors from New York, LA, Mexico, and San Antonio. With their cameras turned off, the actors allowed the story to flow from them in a new way.

Understanding that the audience would only hear their words, pushed the actors to perform differently. For Garcia, this allowed her to immerse herself in the story. “It’s definitely a more free experience because you’re just using your vocal cords and your emotions,” she said.

From sex noises to rowdy family gatherings to heartfelt confessions, the actors’ voices transcend the listeners’ earbuds and place them into the scenes. Without visual distractions, listeners of Love in Gravity have the opportunity to truly put themselves in the stories and connect with the characters on a deeper level. 

The post Love In Gravity Provides an Auditory View into Queer Latino Identity appeared first on Latina.

Season two ended in a cliffhanger. The siblings of the Umbrella Academy return to the present after putting a stop to the 1963 doomsday, and after a brief celebration, realize that their father has replaced them with a new group of superhero siblings called the Sparrow Academy. Throughout season three, however, the Sparrows — which Netflix describes as “smart, stylish, and about as warm as a sea of icebergs”— become the least of the Umbrellas’ problems. 

LATINA spoke to “The Umbrella Academy” stars David Castañeda and Genesis Rodriguez on Zoom. They discussed their love of family, their Latin roots, and their experience being on the set of season three. Both commented on their surprise at the dance numbers from this season. “It’s not every day that you can go to work and dance,” shared Rodriguez.

Pictured: David Castañeda. Photographed by María Alvarez for Latina and assisted by Ethan Newmyer and Margaret Leyva. Post Production by Wanda Alvarez.

David Castañeda, 32 

Plays: Diego Hargreeves (Umbrella)

Superpower of choice: Cleaning all the water

If he could travel in time he would visit: his great-grandfather “to see if the fable matches the story” 

If he could save the world he would: Do it with a smile on his face

Castañeda returned to the show as Diego Hargreeves, one of the seven original members of the Umbrella Academy. Unlike his rebellious, knife-throwing character, Castañeda is sensitive and believes that “You don’t always have to be the strong one. You don’t always have to get it right.” He is grateful that in this season he was able to imbue some of those qualities into Diego.

Despite their differences, Castañeda also feels he has a lot in common with Diego, including his love for his family, ambition, and dexterity with knives. 

“When it comes to family you have a sense of having a higher purpose,” said Castañeda, discussing his childhood in Sinaloa, Mexico. Even though he was born to Mexican immigrants in the U.S, Castañeda moved to Sinaloa with his parents when he was seven years old. Like his character, he always got involved in his family’s ventures. He remembers being very involved in his parents’ goodwill store and burger restaurant.

David Castañeda by María Alvarez for Latina.

Like Diego, Castañeda knows that “The cloud of the family really can be a good thing, but it also can numb you from what you really really really wanna do.” Luckily, he has been able to pursue his passion for acting and his ambition for re-defining the Mexican man on and off the screen.

In his future roles, Castañeda wants to tear down the stereotype that Mexican men have to be macho and show that “It’s okay to be vulnerable.” Offscreen, he is an ambassador of Refùgio 343, an organization that helps displaced families from Venezuela in Brazil.  

The last similarity Castañeda shares with Diego is his ability to work with knives. From the age of eight or nine, Castañeda’s father taught him how to filet fish and cut tomatoes. Unlike Diego, he does not use his knife skills on other people. But, “Cutting up tomatoes is really hard… you’ll just squish them up like purée,” he remarked, laughing. 

Pictured: Genesis Rodriguez. Photographed by María Alvarez for Latina and assisted by Ethan Newmyer and Margaret Leyva. Post Production by Wanda Alvarez.

Genesis Rodriguez, 34

Plays: Sloane Hargreeves (Sparrow)

Superpower of choice: Speaking any language

If she could travel in time she would visit: The future: “just to see if we’re gonna make it.”

If she could save the world she would: “Figure this global warming thing out.”

Latina also spoke to Genesis Rodriguez, who plays Sloane Hargreeves — one of the Sparrows. Even though this is her first season on the show, Rodriguez felt that the cast openly welcomed her and the other Sparrows onto the show. “I came into a family and I had the best time ever,” she said. 

Both Sloane and Rodriguez are passionate about family. Growing up with two famous parents — Rodriguez’s father is Venezuelan singer “El Puma” and her mom is a Cuban supermodel — Rodriguez is familiar with the tension that the spotlight can create. She understands what it is like to have many talented people under one roof. Rodriguez loved waking up to her dad practicing singing exercises — albeit she would have preferred he not do them at 8 AM. Nevertheless, she also got jealous when she had to share her father’s attention at restaurants or at the movies. Rodriguez likes that “The Umbrella Academy” portrays a far-from-perfect family and hopes it can “help people with the dysfunction within their families.”

Pictured: Genesis Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is excited to share Sloane with fans. She wants viewers to love this gravity-controlling character as much as she does, not only because “she’s so cute” but also because Sloane projects hope and invites other people to dream. 

Rodriguez, like Sloane, considers herself a dreamer. She believes we are lost without hope and that “You’ve gotta keep dreaming, always.” For her, landing the role of Sloane was a dream in and of itself, “I always dreamt about being a superhero,” she said.

As fans get to know her, Rodriguez hopes they’ll see her as a bilingual actress who is proud of her Latin roots. Even though she has a very strong, Latin personality — “Yo tengo un carácter Latino,” she says while laughing — she wants to break the boxes and stereotypes Hollywood often places on Latinx characters. Rodriguez wants to portray so many different roles that eventually, audiences realize that any character can be Latino. “I want Latina to be synonymous with everyone,” she said.  

Stream Umbrella Academy today, on Netflix.

Pictured: David Castañeda and Genesis Rodriguez

The post Superheroes Offscreen: Meeting David Castañeda and Genesis Rodriguez appeared first on Latina.

At La Pulperia’s noon Drag Brunch this June 18th, host Misty Mountains Davenport performed alongside Hawaiian native Hibiscus. Donning a little black dress, long blonde wig, and rainbow fishnet stockings, Misty occasionally gave the audience a peek of her bright purple thong as she danced and collected one-dollar bills. Hibiscus, in her flame-filled, see-through one-piece, astounded the audience by doing the splits to Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time,” among other intricate moves. 

After their second show of the day, both Drag Queens spoke to Latina from the back room of La Pulperia. Counting what looked like hundreds of one-dollar bills, they discussed their passion for drag, life beyond work, and the injustices currently plaguing the Drag industry.

Misty, 32, is known off-stage as Marshall Johnson. She has been doing drag in New York since June 26th, 2016, and loves it. When Misty performs, she feels inside a fantasy, “I see myself lifting out of the floor. I see 300 dancers behind me. And literally I’m on a soap-box at Rock Park performing for three people,” she says. She has worked everywhere from Stonewall to La Pulperia–where she has been hosting drag brunch for three years.

Courtesy of @MistyMountainsD on Instagram.

Hibiscus, 33, has been living in Washington Heights and performing Drag in New York for ten years. Offstage, her name is Eli Ramiro, and she is originally from Hawaii. She chose the state flower as her stage name to exhibit pride in her roots. “I never thought drag was a career until I moved to New York,” she said. Now, she treasures waking up and doing what she loves. In her performance at La Pulperia, she used her small size to her advantage not only in the jokes she told but also by choosing to wear very high heels. 

Each drag queen brings something different to the table, according to Misty and Hibiscus. For Hibiscus, who calls herself “NYC’s pocket-sized firecracker drag queen dancing her heart out,” her talent is dance. She can drop down to a full split in a second, do a hand-stand on a brunch guest’s chair while they’re still sitting in it, and move her arms and legs at an unbelievable speed while still keeping the beat of the music. 

Meanwhile, Misty has what Hibiscus called “more of a Marylin Monroe type thing.” She entrances her audience even before the show begins by greeting every table individually. She memorizes the name of at least one person at every table so she can have a go-to point anywhere in the room. That way, she can say “Yaas Brian” to someone who’s being very enthusiastic or “Mark, get your table together” to someone who may have had one too many mimosas. Beyond providing an intimate performance, Misty hosts with humor and dances with devotion. 

While drag is a big part of these Queens’ lives, it’s not everything. Misty occasionally attends Mets games, and Hibiscus likes to run or go to the movies by herself. “It’s a lot of my life, but it’s not my complete life,” said Misty.

Both Misty and Hibiscus attended college. Misty grew up in Nevada and studied theater at the University of Nevada, Reno. Hibiscus has a degree in biomedical engineering with a minor in fibers and textiles from the University of Arizona. 

“I think one thing that people forget is that we’re real people too,” said Hibiscus. She explained that most of the time they are playing a character and that even though she portrays a very sexy persona, Hibiscus can be “kind of a prude,” she said while laughing. 

The Queens also discussed the inequalities lying beneath the elaborate makeup and costumes. Hibiscus, who is Asian, felt that she was often chosen as a “token” diversity queen and that she has worked twice as hard as white queens to get more important gigs. Misty, who is biracial but presents mostly white, agreed. She said that it is a lot more difficult for BIPOC queens to headline shows and that only after the pandemic have they begun to see any improvements.

Courtesy of @getjaxed on Instagram.

A silver lining to lockdown forcing Queens to perform online was that many BIPOC queens gained more visibility. Furthermore, movements such as Black Lives Matter and #StopAsianHate–which gained more traction in 2020 and 2021– shed light on the importance of diversity in the drag world. 

As host of La Pulperia’s Drag Brunch, Misty tries to bring Queens of many different backgrounds to the show. Because the venue is a Latin-American restaurant, she often invites Latina Queens. However, in the name of true inclusivity, she does not exclusively welcome Latinx queens. 

Even though Misty acknowledges that presenting white has come with many privileges, she still struggles “as a bigger person.” Because larger drag queens are not always featured, she has had to “fight that fight.” 

Misty and Hibiscus still believe that drag has a long way to go. Nevertheless, they are optimistic. “Drag is ever-changing,” Misty said. And she’s right. Beyond the drag world becoming more inclusive post-pandemic, many places in Brooklyn are even hosting drag kings and showcasing alternative forms of drag. 

More importantly, the most successful drag queens are not those looking for fame and money. According to Hibiscus, the Queens with longer careers care about the community, the art, and the history of drag. This, they believe, bodes very well for the future. 

The post Up Close and Slaying with Drag Queens Hibiscus and Misty Mountains Davenport appeared first on Latina.

This combi, affectionately known as “The Tacombi,” is the heart of the Tacombi restaurant chain, currently comprised of fourteen locations along the East Coast, with plans to open seven more by 2024. Today, the brand encompasses more than just taquerias: it sells consumer packaged goods such as tortillas and totopos at Whole Foods and runs a community kitchen that distributes 5,000 meals a week to families in need.

Photo Courtesy of Tacombi.

Before it became an iconic destination in downtown Manhattan in 2010 and an East Coast sensation in the years that followed, Tacombi was only the Tacombi, traveling along the Yucatán Peninsula with founder and CEO Dario Wolos. 

Though Wolos was born to a Mexican mother and French father in the small town of Corning, New York, he spent most of his childhood in Monterrey, Mexico. Growing up in Mexico, with time spent in the U.S. and Canada, he dreamt of sharing his culture with the rest of the world. 

Wolos decided to start a taqueria in 2005. He knew he needed to start small and perfect his concept before taking it abroad, so he embarked on an adventure. He traveled along the Yucatán Peninsula to absorb Mexican culture and hospitality. Only after meeting countless families and eating at multiple roadside taquerias did Wolos park the Tacombi next to a nightclub in Playa Del Carmen, take it apart to turn it into a restaurant, and start selling tacos. In 2006, the first Tacombi taqueria was born.

Photo Courtesy of Tacombi.

“It’s probably cliché now when people say ‘mi casa es tu casa,’ but in Mexico, it truly has meaning,” Wolos said, speaking to LATINA from the Nolita taqueria. After taking in Mexican flavor and hospitality on the road and in Playa del Carmen, he decided to create a permanent home for Tacombi, both the van and the brand, on the streets of New York. In 2010, Wolos opened the first taqueria in Nolita.

Twelve years later, Tacombi has 14 restaurants, including locations in Florida, Virginia, Maryland, and New York. In the next two years, Tacombi expects to open three restaurants in Miami, one on Long Island, another in Connecticut, and more. Since its inception, the company has also been invited to sell its tortilla products in grocery stores like Whole Foods. 

Laura Merritt, Tacombi’s Chief Operating Officer, explained that a Whole Foods buyer liked Tacombi’s products so much that in 2016 he asked an employee if he could sell them at the supermarket company. Because Tacombi makes all their products in-house, they agreed and would transport tortillas and totopos from their taquerias via the subway to Whole Foods. 

Despite Tacombi’s humble roots, the brand’s “Vista Hermosa” line of tortillas, totopos, and frozen burritos is now the top-selling tortilla brand at Whole Foods and is distributed along the East Coast and in Texas. In February, Eater even deemed Vista Hermosa totopos the best chips for nachos.

The Tacombi team works to keep the integrity of Mexican culture in all of its endeavors. “When made authentically, Mexican food is perfect,” said Meritt. She emphasized that at Tacombi, they don’t take shortcuts. Tortillas are prepared through the traditional Mayan and Aztec practice of Nixtamalization–where one treats corn with lime, cooked, dried, and ground in order to unlock flavor, aroma, vitamins, and minerals.

Photo Courtesy of Tacombi.

Still, Wolos reminds us that Mexican food is nothing without the people behind it. “Mexico’s biggest resource is not its oil, it’s not its anything, it’s its people,” he said. He started the business not only to share Mexico with the world but also to give back to the community that has given him, and taco-lovers everywhere, so much. 

Wolos believes that Tacombi is borrowing from Mexico “the recipes belong to these people: tal señorita, tal abuelita” and that the country and community deserve something in return. This belief has been as central to the brand as the combi parked in Nolita. Its mission to help the Mexican and Latin American communities is what truly drives Tacombi forward. 

Keeping this purpose in mind, Wolos constantly sought ways to invest in education for the Latino community. If schools or education-related charities asked to use the taqueria for events, Wolos always agreed. In 2019, he founded the Tacombi Foundation with the hopes of helping local Latino communities and pre-investing in Mexico through education. 

Photo Courtesy of Tacombi.

When the pandemic hit, Wolos and his team realized that the Foundation had a mission grander than education: feeding those in need. Even though they had to close their restaurants during the lockdown, they could still put their kitchens to use. As the pandemic kept many Latin American immigrants from working and earning enough money to feed their families, Tacombi established a community kitchen that is now a permanent branch of the brand. 

Susana Camarena, Senior Director of Impact and Culture at Tacombi, runs the Tacombi Foundation and Community Kitchen. Speaking to LATINA on Zoom, she highlighted the taqueria’s altruistic efforts: “Tacombi exists not only to serve our guests and customers but also our team members and our community.”

The Tacombi Foundation has donated over 400,000 meals to families in need since 2020. Every time they open a new restaurant, Tacombi finds local community partners that could benefit from the foundation’s work. They also hire locally and provide jobs to many Latin American immigrants. While they still hope to invest in Mexicano through education, the staple program of the Tacombi Foundation is currently the community kitchen.

Furthermore, Tacombi uses their foundation to instill its values onto the Tacombi staff, occasionally inviting their general managers to see the foundation’s impact firsthand. Managers sometimes help hand out meals or prepare guacamoles with local children.

“I wouldn’t be here if I knew that Tacombi is just business-oriented and not community-oriented,” says Camarena.

Their biggest philanthropic feat to date is channeling all their earnings on Cinco de Mayo, their busiest day of the year, to the foundation. Camarena likened this to Macy’s donating all their proceeds from Black Friday to a single charity. This Cinco de Mayo Tacombi raised $350,000 for the foundation.

The Cinco de Mayo fundraiser truly captures what Tacombi is about: not only sharing Mexican culture with the world but also coming together and helping the Mexican community. This community, however, is not exclusive to Mexican citizens. After all, “everybody that loves Mexico [in] the end is a part of the Mexican community,” says Camarena. 

The post Tacombi Serves Tacos With a Cause appeared first on Latina.

Becoming a Boss

When Delgado first started selling Virgencita Jackets six years ago, she sewed the gold, green and red sequin patches onto the denim jackets by hand. Her dad helped her package and mail orders while her friends modeled the piece for her. Today, Hija de tu Madre has seven employees, most of them full-time, and a warehouse in Downtown LA.

The Virgencita Jacket was the first product Delgado sold under the Hija de tu Madre brand name. Now, the LA-based self-described “latina lifestyle brand” sells everything: apparel, such as sweat shorts printed with the words “yo hago lo que me da la gana,” “I do whatever I want”; accessories like necklaces with inspirational messages; and even office supplies. One popular product is a pink planner that reads “échale ganas,” or “work hard” on the cover. Delgado started the brand with only $500, and now Hija de tu Madre sells to over 30 countries. Forbes predicted that in 2020 the brand would earn over $2 million in revenue. 

Speaking to LATINA via Zoom, Delgado, Hija de tu Madre founder and designer discussed how lucky she feels to be able to share her culture and work with the Latinx community. “I love being Latina… I love that I have to think in two languages. I love that I’m a hybrid,” she said. 

Cultural Confusion

For a long time, Delgado struggled to make sense of her multi-cultural identity. She even credits her career to being culturally confused and jokes that she one day hopes to do a Ted-Talk “on how being confused is the key to success.”

Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles with Mexican parents, she wasn’t sure where she fit in. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Religious Studies, she worked as a freelance graphic designer. When she was 25 she moved to Mexico City for six months in an effort to come to terms with who she was.

“Hija de tu madre,” her parents said to her when she announced her plan to re-discover herself in Mexico City, “We left Mexico, why are you going back?” The sometimes endearing and sometimes pejorative phrase, that translates literally to “daughter of your mother” but can range in meaning from “you bad bitch!” to  “you horrible mess,” stuck. While documenting her adventures in “the motherland,” as she called it, Delgado started a travel blog called “Hija de tu Madre.” Her stay in Mexico City also inspired her to combine her Mexican-ness and American-ness into the now-legendary Virgencita Jacket.

“What’s more American than denim? And what’s more Mexican than la Virgen de Guadalupe?” she remarked.

Patty Delgado, creator of Hija de Tu Madre. Courtesy of Patty Delgado.

Building Community

Some people have asked Delgado whether the name Hija de tu Madre has anything to do with her customers all being daughters of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Even though she did not intend this while picking the name, the brand has forged a sacred sisterhood that is very much centered around the Latina identity.

“We’re in the business of seeing people,” said Delgado. She believes that an Hija de tu Madre t-shirt has the power to bring a customer closer to her family and that a necklace can catalyze conversations at work. 

On the day she spoke with Latina, Delgado was very proud of a customer review of the brand’s Belize Necklace. A young woman was grateful to Hija de tu Madre for making jewelry that celebrated her country “because no one else is doing Belize anything,” said Delgado. From Perú Bandera Jackets to Nicaragua Necklaces, Delgado wants to represent the diversity of what it means to be Latina.

“This is very much a community-backed business,” said Delgado. She explained that Hija de Tu Madre customers are not just individuals who purchase a pair of  “Jefa Hoops” and never interact with the brand again. They engage with Hija de Tu Madre on social media, they wait in block-long lines to attend pop-ups, and she has even hired some as employees of the company.

In return, Hija de tu Madre does more than sell products. Not only do Delgado and her team occasionally stage pop-ups around the country with U-Hauls, delivering their popular pieces to states like Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, but they also act as a second family to their customers. 

Recently, the brand hosted a free graduation photoshoot for class of 2022 graduates in their Los Angeles warehouse. Delgado says she wanted to create a space where girls didn’t have to spend money to get beautiful graduation photos. Even though the brand wasn’t selling products at this event, their merch held so much meaning for the graduates that many of them wore Hija de tu Madre necklaces and t-shirts during the shoot.

For Delgado, the success of the last six years is just the beginning.“From the outside it probably looks very well put together, but we’re still scrappy, we’re still very lean… we’ve barely scratched the surface.”

The post Patty Delgado: The ‘Hija de tu Madre’ Behind The Popular Latina Lifestyle Brand  appeared first on Latina.

Nitzia Logothetis — Founder and Executive Director of the Seleni Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to improving individuals’ mental health during family-building years — spoke to LATINA over the phone. Logothetis explained how COVID-19 put everyone in a collective state of trauma that we are unlikely to escape until the pandemic is truly over.

“I think [mental health] is going to get a little bit worse before it can get better,” said Logothetis. The uncertainty that the pandemic brought about has caused an enormous disruption in general mental health, and Logothetis believes improvement in the public’s mental health won’t fully happen until much of the uncertainty is truly behind us. Until then, she says that it is important for people to “be compassionate with themselves in their process and in their journey.”

Adriana Alejandre, founder of Latinx Therapy — an organization dedicated to destigmatizing mental health in the Latinx community — agrees. On a Zoom interview with LATINA, she shared how the pandemic exacerbated a “mental health crisis that already existed.”

Alejandre thinks that having a month to emphasize, celebrate and bring awareness to mental health is crucial for people to get the resources and information they need. She also thinks it is useful to view every May as a marker to look back on one’s mental health and coping mechanisms, and to see what is working and what is not. Without a designated month to reflect on mental health, we may never really sit down to see if what we’re doing is right for us or if we need to change it.

Mental Health Awareness month can also serve to make us more conscious about how other people are doing. “It’s a good practice to sort of look around and think about your friends and loved ones, and think about who might need a little more support right now. And try to offer more support,” said Logothetis. 

Still, Logothetis wishes “we could have mental health month every month… Because these issues are relevant the entire year round, not just in May.” 

Both Logothetis and Alejandre are concerned about the stigma that continues to surround mental health in many communities — but especially the Latinx community. Alejandre explained that some families believe prayer and religion should be a good enough coping mechanism. According to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report, only 34 percent of Latino adults with mental illness are provided treatment each year.  

As Mental Health Awareness Month draws to a close, here are some pieces of advice that these two mental health professionals believe are important to keep in mind beyond the month of May. 

Logothetis recommends that people manage their expectations and have a steady routine. “Keep your expectations in line with reality,” she said. People should not expect to be where they thought they would be before the pandemic began. They should be kind to themselves and not put too much pressure on what they — or society —think they should be doing. Instead, people can make sure they eat, sleep, exercise and do things they enjoy. 

Alejandre also thinks it is vital to make time to do the things that bring you joy. Even though there are dreadful things going on around us, Alejandre suggests that you “find joy in your day-to-day.” 

A great way to start figuring out how to manage your expectations, how to distribute your time and how to find happiness despite being surrounded by fear is to go to therapy. “Therapy works,” said Logothetis, “It is an incredible gift you can give to yourself.”

Alejandre understands that many people may not know where to begin when it comes to finding a therapist, but she has many useful tips. 

For people planning to use health insurance to pay for therapy, Alejandre suggests that they call their provider and ask for a list of professionals. Often these include culture and language filters that people can use to find a therapist that best fits their needs. When it comes to paying out of pocket, Alejandre’s organization Latinx Therapy provides a directory of therapists around the country. These therapists offer a free first consultation so that patients can decide whether or not they connect with their therapist. Even if you cannot afford therapy, many nonprofits provide free guidance and support. A quick google search of mental health nonprofits in your area can yield life-changing results.

“We often think of mental health as ‘Oh, I have to go to an Ashram and lock myself in for 10 days and meditate quietly so that I can recover from the stress.’ I don’t think that’s realistic,” says Logothetis. Mental health is different for everyone. From going for a walk, to talking to a friend, to seeing a therapist, different practices help different people. But, everyone needs to focus on their mental health as much as they focus on their physical health. Even though the month designated to Mental Health Awareness is over, our consciousness and efforts are not. 

The post Two Latina Therapists on the Importance of Prioritizing Mental Health appeared first on Latina.

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