INTERVIEW: 39
SorAngeles “Soda”Kuczkowski.
INTERVIEW: 39 SorAngeles “Soda”Kuczkowski.
Health is not simply the absence of disease. As Latinos, the way we define “health” frames our interactions with healthcare systems and our physiological wellness. Imagine yourself having an internal battery that is only 100% when sleep health is optimized. Yet about 1 in 3 Latino adults sleep less than seven hours, according to the CDC. Latinos are the largest heterogeneous ethnic “minority” in the United States, but our collective “ health” is understudied.
A new generation of health leaders has emerged in response. Firstly, redefining “sleep health” as how well an individual or population is doing instead of defining sleep health solely with sleep disorders. Secondly, sharing the vocabulary of sleep health, with the knowledge that words like, Sleep continuity, defined as the ease of falling asleep and returning to sleep, are not well known within the Latino community.
Fortunately, New York has a champion for sleep health, SorAngeles “Soda”Kuczkowski. Our June feature, Soda, a passionate business owner, entrepreneur, and sleep advocate, is making waves in sleep health advocacy, particularly within the Latina community. And they are very timely.
Her quote:
“In many Latina households, there's a strong emphasis on hard work and resilience—qualities that are, of course, commendable. But sometimes, this can lead to a mindset where rest is viewed as a luxury or even a sign of laziness. It's a cultural script that has been passed down through generations. To start changing this narrative, it’s essential to understand where it comes from and how it impacts our health and well-being," says Kuczkowski. "
“We need to shift the narrative within our families and communities to see rest not as a sign of weakness but as an essential aspect of health. In our community, where there’s a higher prevalence of certain chronic conditions, rest becomes even more critical, as lack of sleep can exacerbate health issues and contribute to a cycle of stress and fatigue. This emphasizes the need to openly discuss the importance of sleep and setting boundaries that prioritize our well-being."
Soda's journey is deeply rooted in her Puerto Rican heritage and a passion for addressing health disparities within minority communities. "Soy Boricua," she asserts.
A second generation educator, her mother, Olga Sonia Dávila, was a trailblazer in the Buffalo Public Schools, leading initiatives for English as a second language. Learning English at age 22, Dávila earned an EdD in education and became instrumental in supporting bilingual education. Her legacy of education and advocacy profoundly influences her work. Today, Soda is an executive board member and chair of the Scholarship Committee for the Hispanic Women's League (HWL), an organization her mother co-founded 45 years ago, fortified in its mission to empower, advocate, and support Latina women.
Akin to her long-term commitment to the HWL, Soda's journey in sleep health advocacy spans over 18 years. As a certified sleep coach and educator, she has worked in various sectors of sleep medicine, from clinical to behavioral sleep to sleep health coaching. Her extensive experience informs her holistic approach to sleep health, advocating for a lifestyle that integrates restful sleep as a cornerstone of productivity.
Her perspective is lucrative and refreshing.
Though 2023 was a unique year for the healthcare industry, experts forecast a promising future for investment and growth. As the number of Latinos engaged in health-related professions, health promotion, and founding health-centered businesses increases, we take a step forward in projecting our voices within a critical sector of the US economy and affirm expert projections.
Como la flor, we only bloom when we are well watered and well rested, and like Selena’s forever trending so is sleep. If you want to stay updated on the business of sleep and its benefits follow Soda’s journey and the “Doze podcast” dedicated to sharing the importance of sleep. So your latinaherstory call to action this month is to step into health advocacy, starting with appropriately, self -advocacy for self-rest.
INTERVIEW: 38
Pura Teresa Belpré y Nogueras
Today, you began with a dream and a fresh Google search. Searching for “it,” whatever “it” may be for you. At least you can claim you pursued “it”… your own version of “it.” But you must try “it” and invest in “it.” And you’re more likely to do so, as Latinos are 33% more inclined to purchase products advertised on social media compared to 20% of non-Latinos.
Latinos share common platforms, but the way we define success is as diverse as our Amazon lists. Whether your daily goal is a dryer full of matching socks and you are one of the 58% of Latinos watching YouTube or you are one of the 60% of us on Facebook, boarding the perfectly timed departure flight, your scrolling in between means something.
Despite rebrands, the Pew Research Center reports that 73% of Latino adults aged 18 to 49 get their news via digital devices, with 27% favoring social media specifically. Among Latinos over 50, 43% prefer digital devices, and 5% social media. This indicates that your political views, perhaps influenced by a cousin’s social media posts or other sources, significantly affect your Latina vote. Your voice and your vote are important. It’s not just a phrase; it’s a reality. Over 1 in 10 voters this November (11%) are expected to be Latino, a 20.5% increase from 2016, according to NALEO. That’s a powerful voice, and it belongs to you.
Data is universally influenced by one thing: your innate curiosity, leading you to the search bar If you are Latino, those search results will undoubtedly shape election results, as 36% of Latinos consider social media their primary news source. And our news informs our votes. Voting means you can have a say in the places that mean something. Like the library, and Pura Teresa Belpré y Nogueras, the first Puerto Rican librarian of the New York Public Library and author of the first bilingual book circulated in mainstream publication titled “Perez and Martinez,” who revolutionized library science utilizing her life experience to craft welcoming literacy spaces for thousands of Puerto Rican (from 1921 – 1943), would appreciate your participation.
At least I’m betting on it. Genius, artist, poet, a prolific writer of inclusive and transformative children’s literature and civic American hero.Pura provides our #latinaherstory feature quote.”To appreciate the present, one must have a knowledge of the past…to know where we go, we must know from where we came…”
Born in 1899, approximately 95 years before the first smartphone was sold, the need for bilingual communications has only increased, as in our connectivity to each other in different countries and places. And while our libraries, voting status, future diets, puppies, and home improvements may look different month to month thanks to algorithms, our individual characters shine through. For Pura, as a college student of UPR Rio Piedras, she bet on New York and a career in public service, attending the Library School of the New York Public Library. No matter how many times your major, career, and life goals change, the doers in the arena leave their mark on the world.
Like Pura and other civic pioneers who have paved the way for meaningful participation in civic and public spaces, take a moment to search “register to vote” online, and if you haven’t yet, consider making that your priority today. May is a month of abundance. Be generous to yourself and your phrase your google search terms well. And if you are registered, follow your local parties on social media. Increasingly our political leaders are altering the tune of their messages to echo within social media platforms and meet us where we are at. Online. It’s not enough to just show up; engagement is key. Respond to them, stay informed. The journey of a voter doesn’t stop at registration; it starts there.
INTERVIEW 37: KELLY CAMACHO
There’s a difference when you RECKON something and when you know something. Like the difference between when you code and when you write. Coding is defined as a language used to program (give instructions to) computers and Reckoning is defined as to think or believe, basically giving instructions to neighbors. When a neighbor says, “I reckon,” I’m full of red, white, and blue ears, with stars on top. Teachers are responsible for teaching us to write and code. I reckon they are the most important role America has seen, second to parents and awfully close to soldiers.
Buffalo Girl, Kelly Camacho, SUNY and public-school graduate, a proud Puerto Rican, knows teachers, she’s the daughter of one. Under thirty, full of motivation and life, she currently lends her energy to the New York State United Teachers. Per their website: NYSUT is a federation of more than 1,200 local unions, each representing its own members. We are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA). We are also part of organized labor – the AFL-CIO – and of Education International, with more than 20 million members worldwide. Kelly is an asset to NYSUT because her passion for helping neighbors understand the power of collective voice is connected to her deeper work of finding hers, shoes on and off, a little country, a little Urbana. Her focus word is “union.”
“Union” has meant a lot of things in America; at one point, it was a pseudonym for what we were fighting for. A word to remind our country during times of great dissent, we in the United States are people united by a national commitment to liberty, best spiced up by state identity. New York’s spice would be something in between everything bagel, sofrito, and curry powder. To a SUNY kid “meet me in the UNION” means energizing food, fun, and friends. This month, we mean all of the above, but specifically the methodology we use as Americans. When we reckon, we might have some ideas, we need some time to talk about them. Kelly’s energy is what Unions need to keep those conversations going. Kelly’s quote reads: “When people have the same problem, it becomes an issue. I would like to see our local and global communities move from a ‘me’ to a ‘we’ attitude. No matter what issue, if you fail to build solidarity and leaders, you have failed. The success of the movement hinges on our ability to build power in all communities. Our inclusion, protection, and solidarity with women, Black and Brown people, and LGBTQ+ is pivotal. The inclusion of groups for strategy and not solidarity is extractive.”
Latinas are no stranger to “unions.” Historically, we have contributed to their evolution, creation, and cupcake sales. Looking into the future, our roles will continue to evolve, but one thing will stay the same: the need to sign that card.. And if you’re spicy, you can join the ranks of folks like Kelly changing the world, it’s like dinner, the more, the merrier,” and like you girls know, there’s work to do. — Connect with Kelly Camacho on LinkedIn and or a NYSUT near you or via email at Kelly.Camacho@nysut.org
INterview 36: Aileen Marti
“Projections” are defined as forecasts of a future situation, like when we try to guess which of our cousins will get the biggest rice and beans plate from Abuela or the extra Pegao. I like to inform my personal projections with lunch (at least) then data, good data, from solid sources, I deem reputable. I hope that #Latinaherstory is one of those solid sources for you. This spring, our “focus” words will be defined here in our community and then redefined in reality as you experience them with our #latinaherstory definitions as anchors. Along with definitions, offering a necessary layer of data from industry and academic reports to frame our individual experiences, we hope to intentionally contribute to our community discernment when choosing cosas like products, news, places, leaders, churches, cars, music, teams, and whatever else we want to #invest our time, streams, energy, and “likes” into. Shared vocabularies inspire future growth. As a Latina community, who we are and what is important to us influences our shopping. And our dollars say so, as we Latinos shop with purpose. According to McKinsey and Company, Latinos are conscious of our impact, choosing brands that value the environment and their employees, which makes us unique. Shopping trends and numbers have a huge economic impact over time, as the U.S. Census indicates over 1 in 4 Americans are likely to be Latino by 2060.
In 2060, 3.4 million of the older adult population will be Latinos, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. And time is face cream and money, baby (New York Accent). We have infinite options as we decide how to support older members of our community and ourselves. Firstly, depending on how we feel: con cafe con pan or cafe solo, lol. As we know, #latinas are culturally diverse but face common statistical realities. Commonalities bring us closer to the dinner table of life, and Latinaherstory is ringing the dinner bell. While we need data, shared vocabularies, and humor to thrive through creative problem-solving in the carpool/school drop-off lane of life, our most valuable resources are our tias, abuelas, and mothers and their infinite wisdom that smells like fresh her perfect laundry and the hug you needed.
Centering on quotes of #Latina wisdom, this month our quote belongs to Aileen Marti of Buffalo, New York, NEW Older Adult Program Manager at West Side Community Services of Buffalo, a bustling nonprofit full of diverse peoples and cultures, as a leader, Aileen states:
“Let’s celebrate their lives, as much as we celebrate ours.”
She brings her passion for life through artistry, leadership, and working with our older adults. Back to you this March as you decide which STEAM programs, summer camps, daycares, senior programs, nonprofits, and or businesses you are trusting with your summer plans and or as you are starting, running, or supporting your own any of the above think of Aileen and her #latinaherstory wisdom, add in a couple shakes of data (approximately “no mucho”), add your prayers, and maybe call your Tia who has been waiting to hear from you or actually ask your older neighbor, “Dona qué piensas.”
At Westside Community Services, Aileen is asking that question and informing programming with feedback directly from the source, our elders. As we plan for our community at large, first individually, we must project our household summer expenses to master the spring season. You will join the rest of us sneaking in our extra #makeup that we need legitimately. Check our scholarship tab for Latina-specific scholarships and more information about organizations like West Side Community Services, which we LOVE and give back. As we look forward to El Verano, projections are necessary. 111 days away from March 01st. Amen.
INTERVIEW: 35 Data resilience
What is your mother’s favorite song? The answer is par of her “consumer profile”, and part of her consumer data. Consumer data is big business, along with computer science and the tech field.
Latinas drive data by generating an information trail when we naturally and organically navigate to the digital sites, physical places, and businesses that are important to us.
For my country folks, go back and think Hansel and Gretel.
Each one of us and our data path, individually, is of interest to the benevolent forces that work to support our economy. As a community, mastering our data helps us to better invest in ourselves. As individuals, increasing our own families’ individual data mastery, and understanding of our consumer/spending profile, helps us to better invest in our families and the critical factors they need to succeed. Flatly knowing your stuff makes you a better spender, and we are BIG spenders.
As exhausting as being bilingual and or bilingualism” is, we must learn new words. For example, in the C-suite, corporate world, “Data resilience” is a word hot like a new TAKIS flavor. It is defined as an actor’s ability to rebound from connectivity and data breaches.
In our Latina everyday life, “Data resilience” can be likened to your family’s ability to rebound from when your favorite child or cat knocks off the Wi-Fi, and screech from the Disney + ears / Youtubers raise. The cost to your family’s social capital is the emotional despair to each member and child when your Wi-Fi fails you, and children need their Wi-Fi. ‘Gloria Dios’, don’t lose their tablet, lol, they are super not playing!
If you are “la unica que sabes el Wi-Fi code”, or the one who does the household shopping, you are the Chief Information Officer. A new title, congratulations! We must build data terms into our language and work to keep our kids and our family’s data as safe as their physical bodies. Miha, the internet is a new rodeo but (and we have new boots with sparkles-yeehaw).
Increased awareness of our data includes your passwords, usernames, your children’s personal information, your personal information like birth dates, your parents’ information (if you are caring for them), and so much more, etc. Everyone has a kind of techy primo that we call or contact, but today, we have substantial help from within, urging us to enter the tech field and shape it to our desire.
Organizations like “Latinas in Tech”, with chapters in 23 cities, a job board, a business directory, and memberships, LIT is a source of inspiration, joy, and constancy.
TECHERIA is another organization aimed at encouraging and engaging Latinos in the professional Tech space, and you can find local tech initiatives near you, just in case.
Immediately though, be aware of the way you store and form passwords and usernames. Some websites generate passwords because using Abuelas’ maiden name is no longer the vibe and they are free Google “password generators.”
Stay connected with us and read this column as trending data, business, and other topics will be the focus of our spring season. This month’s word focuses are Data, Data resilience, Chief Information Officer, and Computer Science. Mi amor, if you are the techy weird cousin, you are the winning kid, and if you are the mother or Tia of one, be proud. We need them.
Last thing. Computer science is the field of study of the development and testing of software and software systems. And it’s what the young ones with yesterday’s sweatpants and ramen noodle diet are studying. FEED THEM and send them your love. We will need them!
To all my #latinaherstory Chief Information Officers, In between Takis, rice and beans, basketball/hockey practice, chorus/cheer, church, meetings, your home business, the laundry, amazon orders (a must), Walmart runs, and going missing at target for quiet time.
You got this data stuff, and we promise that we are here to help at makinglatinaherstory.us
Note: Hansel and Gretel (sometimes Grethel) is a famous fairy tale from the collection of the brothers Grimm. It has an amazing history and offers many astonishing interpretations (https://owlcation.com/humanities/hansel_and_gretel)
INTERVIEW: 34
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, passed away on December 1, 2023, at the age of 93. She was a trailblazer and a role model for many women in the legal profession. Her funeral was held on December 20, 2023.
First day of my internship at the United States Supreme Court the tour guide stopped in front of the portrait of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and said “When she got here, WE (the women) were allowed to wear pants”.
I was wearing a skirt of course, but it was the way (the tour guide, a New Yorker and Columbia grad) looked at the portrait. The look of admiration stayed with me. I decided success was having other women believe in your leadership. And then immediately spotted the cafeteria.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor served our nation as a jurist, as a leader, and as a living example of justice, you know how hard that is when you have a bad hair day and the same hairspray as everyone else?
If you ever WORE a full suit but FELT like a Denim Jacket, you know service is the personal commitment to transform yourself, in the interest of others.
As a Justice, service is a commitment made forever. All-American Hero, big like her Texas heart, her impact on the law is immeasurable.
As Latinos, we are often made to feel the distance between ourselves and the judicial branch and the courts, but that distance is proximity. The first Latina intern to staff the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office hailed from the innovative SUNY Brockport Washington Internship program, Jody, who works at John Jay.
The second was me, part of the same program. The first Latina Supreme Court Justice was Justice Sotomayor, and the day I mean the actual day she opened her chambers (office), I was in attendance in a thrift store sourced suit, eating a bagel, thinking “WOW – how did I get here?”
As a member of the Supreme Court Intern Family, my privilege is to lift Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and sing the praise of a country girl who fought for me.
A home school kid turned Stanford graduate, Presidential Medal recipient, Female senator, and the first woman to serve as majority leader for the Arizona Senate, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. And my role model.
I feel and will always feel a part of the institution that Sandra embodied. My boss told me “We are a family at the Supreme Court” so when I was exploring DC, when I felt lost or hit the wrong button on the Google directions button, I knew I could call them at any time. They could come to get me.
I never lost that feeling, the Supreme Court itself is an institution that thousands of us have invested in. Its authority is self-evident in our shared belief that the common good can be determined by a select few, who are trusted.
That trust is well placed and the American servants that serve as jurists are navigating a new world of challenges with the same dedication as the old-world traveling court justices (before we had a building the Supreme Court would travel from place to place) with the visibility of modern stars/attorney like Kim Kardashian.
It’s hard. They are people. They are our trusted people. And at the end of her life, Sandy wrote children’s books.
Her Amazon book review of “Finding Sandy” reads in part:
“Sandra’s parents let her learn for herself that these animals are best suited to the wild, though it is often hard to let them go.”
As Latinas and as Americans, many of our lessons are learned at home, and as a close this column, I think of the important role many of us play in educating the future Sandy’s of America.
Tell them her story, tell them she did it so we could wear pants, the literal and physical ones. And buy these cute books from Amazon and honor her journey which laid the path for theirs.
INTERVIEW 33
ALICIA GRANTO, MAKING OUR COMMUNITY PROUD
I struggled to learn to read in both languages. I always felt old-fashioned red, white, and blue smart but with spelling, I wasn’t a winner. After 46 months of Latinaherstory as a published “columnist”, the Doctorate, etc., I still remember STARING at the page: BLANK, SAD, MAD, and Tiny. Mrs. Gilbert knew I was smart and her 6:30 AM prep period was dedicated to helping us both prove it to the world, all before school breakfast at 7:30 AM.
When I didn’t feel good enough, down to my bones, I thought about God. Abuela was Pentecostal, You y’all know I wasn’t ever the first one to the passage when Pastor called it, but I got the message. I tell my son who is in first grade now. God makes us all perfect, it’s the journey that shows your gumption, and that’s if you have any.
I call myself a “folk writer” because I write to talk to people, directly, like my neighbors. That’s why “AI’ and “Chat GPT’ didn’t sit right with me, at first. Till someone pointed out, the very real fact, I would be toast, with and without a cafe, but for SPELLCHECK. He said spellcheck was “artificial intelligence” and I started hearing differently because, I know, I know, a lot of words I cannot spell.
For the “kids” (with their little backpacks) It’s a new ball game, and it’s faster. They don’t know what it feels like to WONDER, they don’t know the world without instant answers, or the fear of them. I remember the sound of AOL Dial-up.
We all need We all need guidance, and a living example for me was Alicia Granto, in a skirt suit, at the Hispanic Women’s League brunch and other places. Always upright, a vision of civility, and the perfect mix of business attire and warmness, I needed, to feel like my cardigan would someday be a blazer. Undeterred, I missed the deadline for the Hispanic Women’s League’s scholarship that year but within days of research, I found AAUW and later the confidence to apply for a grant. Dedication to a persistent call to excellence powered by empathy is what she embodied for me as a student.
She reflects on the values she learned as a child. The values that I acquired as a child were much more modeled by my parents than taught to me per se. No one sat with me and said, “This is what you do, and this is what you do not!” That inculcated in me the importance of showing our youth how to empower themselves as happy, productive human beings by role-modeling that behavior rather than preaching to them.
I have worn numerous hats in my life career-wise and professionally. I started in the educational field and after dabbling in other areas, here I am today still pursuing my passion and what I believe I am really good at which is helping others maximize their potential. I am convinced no other endeavor would make me feel as fulfilled as being an educator and a provider of overall wellness.
When asked to define a leader she states: “A leader to me is someone that others tend to follow spontaneously not necessarily because they brand themselves as leaders.”
Alicia Granto is one single person whose investment in WNY is felt globally through the work of her family and through the thousands of hands belonging to students whose hearts she shaped. Alicia has served as a counselor and academic advisor at SUNY College at Buffalo. Ms. Granto, born and raised in Santiago de Cuba, has a master’s degree from Long Island University in Education/Counseling and Bilingual Education, and a Bachelor of Science from Empire State College in Educational Studies. Alicia Granto has a teaching, administration, and counseling background. She has served as Co-chair of the Educational Committee of the Western New York Hispanic and Friends Civic Association; a member of the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Women’s League and chair of the membership committee; and a member of the Board of Directors of Los Taino Senior Citizens – and this is just a short list of her achievements and accomplishments.
Oh and think of me, and give a kid some space, a calculator, and spell check (and a snack if you’ve got one handy), and see what happens next.
Genius – is my guess. #gloriadios for the world is better because of teachers and nourishing souls like Alicia.
Oh, and thank you, Mrs. Gilbert, I guess you were right!
Alicia Granto