Moneda Moves (102): Latinx people are positioned to influence their communities, the nation
Just a few days ago marked the start of the month created by the US government to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic/Latinx champions. And since then, arguably far before, there were a few thoughts simmering in my head I’d like to share with you. It’s to do with the growing phenomenon of Latinx people to not only influence each other, but the United States and beyond. And it’s no wonder with our communities together making the 8th largest economy in the world based on GDP, holding biggest segments for new entrepreneurship, and the community growing at large.
First, some background:
If you’re reading this newsletter, you should know Moneda Moves is founded on the idea that Latinx Heritage Month is not one designated month, but to be recognized every single day. That’s the kind of power our communities have.
Historical reminder: Hispanic Heritage Month, as the observation began, started in 1968 as just a week of recognition under President Lyndon Johnson. In 1987, Rep. Esteban Torres of California expressed a week wasn't enough to represent our communities. So Torres submitted H.R. 3182, a bill to expand Hispanic Heritage Week into a Hispanic Heritage Month. A year later, Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois revived the bill via S. 2200. It was not expanded until 1988 to cover a 30-day period.
We also want to recognize the fact that the Hispanic or Latinx/o/e terms are not all-inclusive of our communities, and that’s feedback we’re getting from our own communities, as numbers explicitly show. As our communities expand in the US, so does the conversation about how we identify. Per the 2020 US Census, the amount of Latinos who identified as white fell from about 53% in 2010 to about 20% in 2020. Instead, those who identified as “other” rose from 37% to 42%, and the share identifying as two or more races jumped from 6% to 33%. What term(s) to use to identify our powerful communities instead? This is certainly a critical question in the years to come as these conversations unravel, especially as power comes in numbers.
At Moneda Moves, we see this month as a vehicle to enter spaces that Latinx people are not traditionally represented in to drive awareness and impact to the fact that it behooves the entire country for this to be a 365-days-a-year kind of conversation.
Now that we’ve established a few foundations, I want to share with you that this is the busiest Hispanic Heritage Month I’ve experienced mi gente. Yes, there are events left-and-right, but I’m observing an increase of attention on our communities from both corporates and politicians. At the same time, I’m seeing a surge of Latinx people online from all walks of life sharing their perspectives, education, services.
And to anyone involved in our communities, it should come as no surprise. As Hispanic Star frames it, we are “the new mainstream economy.” We are making a majority of the percentage of new US workers, creating jobs, more than 31 million of us are eligible to vote and contributing $215 billion to U.S. tax revenues.
My thoughts? The tides are turning, mi gente. As we continue to build our own communities, I think we are going to see us step into our power in a big way in business, policy, arts, culture and beyond. Our communities can no longer be overlooked — as we are already building this new economy.
And now, onto this week’s money headlines. Surely, it is only a fraction of the Latinx and money clips we should be reading this weekend, but some of my top picks.
Con poder,
Lyanne
Headlines to put on your radar.
How to Build Generational Wealth in Our Community: Katia Chesnok is a Latina money expert and coach and the founder of Economikat, a personal finance educational platform. She shares her strategies to build generational wealth, from investing in the stock market to creating a new business. Written for HipLatina.
More Than 70% of Hispanic Millennials Providing Financial Support to Family Members – With Many Increasing Their Support During the Pandemic: A Bank of America study found that as a result of the pandemic, nearly one-fourth Hispanic millennials increased or are increasing financial support for family. They are also starting emergency funds and taking steps towards a more secure financial future.
Meet the Latina Pros Teaching Women to Close the Pay Gap by Investing: Jannese Torres-Rodriguez of the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast, Natalie Torres-Haddad of Financially Savvy Latina, and Dannielle Romoleroux of First Gen Money share how Latinas have a lot to gain financially by investing and getting started. Written by Nafeesah Allen for Real Simple.
Thank you for joining us! Until next week, catch us here on Moneda Moves.