303 - Exploring Latinidad with Fidel Martinez
303 - Exploring Latinidad with Fidel Martinez
Listeners, we are back this week with Fidel Martinez
Fidel Martinez is the Editorial Director for Latino Initiatives at the Los Angeles Times. He also writes the Latinx Files, a weekly newsletter that focuses on the American Latinx experience. He started at The Times in 2018 as an audience engagement editor, focusing on sports. Previously he worked as politics editor for Mitu, as a social storytelling producer for Fusion Media Group and content curator and managing editor for Break Media. He is a proud Tejano who will fight anyone who disparages flour tortillas.
During our conversation we talked about:
03:30 - Living in Mexico during the pandemic and the Mexica-American identity
05:03 - Growing up crossing the border and the recent incident in Matamoros
06:30 - “It was a painful reminder for Mexican that even in their own country the lives of Americans mean more”
08:34 - Going to college
09:16 - “It’s the only time I really felt impostor syndrome”
11:05 - “I was very fortunate”
15:25 - Taking a mental health leave and talking about therapy with his parents
16:01 - “I felt like a failure”
17:38 - “My major was a happy coincidence”
20:38 - After College
28:25 - Journalism
28:55 - “I wasn’t telling our stories”
30:05 - Having people challenge his latinidad
30:21 - “The Mexican game”
31:09 - “If your sense of identity is threaten by the existence of one letter…”
32:11 - “Does latinidad even exists?”
33:30 - The newsletter
40:56 - Writting for the white gaze and actively thinking about the audience
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