341 - Empowering Our Narratives with Natalia Molina

Jan 7

341 - Empowering Our Narratives with Natalia Molina

Listeners, we are back this week with Natalia Molina

In today's episode, we have the amazing Natalia Molina joining us for an eye-opening chat. We're diving into the history of labor and resources that shaped the country. Plus, we're exploring the significance of preserving stories from working-class Mexicans. Get ready for some deep and thought-provoking conversation about community formation, public health narratives, and the barriers faced by marginalized communities.

Natalia Molina is a Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and Dean’s Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Her research explores the interconnected histories of race, place, gender, culture, and citizenship. She is the author of three award-winning books: How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts; Fit to Be Citizens?: Public Health and Race in Los Angeles, 1879-1940; and, most recently, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community, which the Los Angeles Times calls an “essential Los Angeles book.” The winner of the Popular Culture Association book award, a finalist for a James Beard Award, and the recipient of honorable mentions from several other organizations, A Place at the Nayarit chronicles the lives of immigrant workers, including Molina’s grandmother, who became placemakers, nurturing and feeding their communities at restaurants that served as urban anchors. She is at work on a new book, The Silent Hands that Shaped the Huntington: A History of Its Mexican Workers. Professor Molina has written for the LA Times, Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, and elsewhere. She is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow.

At the University of California, San Diego, she served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Diversity and Equity and as the Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities; her work was recognized by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She was also Director of the University of California Education Abroad Program in Spain and a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee for the University of California’s President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. She served a six-year term on the board of California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and currently serves on several boards, including those of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens and the Scholars Council for the Library of Congress.

Professor Molina’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as the Ford, Mellon, and Rockefeller Foundations. A Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians and an elected member of the Society of American Historians, she has given lectures in Latin America, Asia, Europe, as well as over 30 of the 50 United States. In 2018, she was the Organization of American Historians China Residency scholar. A certified mediator, she enjoys opportunities for intellectual and cultural exchange, whether in the classroom, lecture hall, or over a restaurant table.

During this episode we talked about:

00:00 Respecting diverse perspectives on Latino identity.
06:09 Grandma immigrates to 1921 Los Angeles.
08:49 Restaurant provided inclusive and welcoming environment in 50s Los Angeles.
12:30 Historical significance of Mexican food in LA.
17:01 Mexicans faced scapegoating and repatriation during Depression.
18:18 Generations endured hardships, boarding school, and immigration.
22:01 Restaurant provided opportunities for immigration and support.
25:59 Favorite coffee shop in Pasadena with diverse blends.
31:03 Latino scholars explore community and cultural identity.
35:11 Latino community struggles with healthcare representation.
37:11 System needs various roles, obstacles in access.
40:49 Huntington Library reflects overlooked immigrant labor.
46:47 Note to self: Be prepared for interviews.
48:35 Few newspaper issues, seen as magazines, retained.
52:41 I prioritize my work at the restaurant.