- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa NJ with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, PSE&G, PNC Bank, The Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

- Ola familia.

Welcome to this month's episode of "Que Pasa".

We're very honored and lucky today to have Senator Teresa Ruiz, the new majority leader, We have Giovanna Aguilar, filmmaker and entrepreneur, Tamara Torres, visual artist from Trenton, New Jersey, and Alberto Ferreras, known for his HBO series "Habla".

And don't forget ladies and gentlemen, que pasa?

(upbeat music) Welcome to "Que Pasa" Senator Teresa Ruiz.

- Thank you for having me.

- And congratulations, Senate majority leader.

- A true honor, an epic moment, historic for Puertorriquenos and all Latinas and Latinos in the state of New Jersey.

A humbling experience, not one for myself, but one that brings a legacy of souls that came before me in an entire community that hasn't been at decision making tables in a way that we're seeing now in the State of New Jersey.

- Sure, so first elected in 2007, first Puerto Rican in the Senate at that time, elected in the Senate at that time.

- First Latina.

You would've thought it was 1957 in New Jersey, but it was not.

First Puertorriquena ever.

It had been a decade since there was a Latino voice around that Senate.

If we recall, Senator Menendez was there for a short stint.

- [Carlos] Yeah.

- And then his trajectory moved fairly quickly, which was great.

But then, we didn't have someone you know, engaging in those topic of conversations.

And I often get asked, were you prepared?

I said, look, I had the opportunity.

I was supported.

I was encouraged.

It was my moment.

Not because I was looking for it, because it was a greater calling, something that I accepted unwillingly to some extent.

But it was critically important because if there are decision making tables, and I say this to companies all the time.

I say this to businesses all the time.

If we are not all sitting at the table, just for purpose of discussion, the ultimate product is one that loses out in of its being its most optimal self.

So it's good for the corporate sector, it's good for the business sector and by far, it's critically needed in the government space when creating policy.

If you're not there, if I'm not there, then all the women and the men who came before us and our experiences and the people who will come after us gets lost in the mix and certainly gets lost in the law.

- Sure, Senator.

I often say, it's not philanthropy.

It's just good business to have boards of directors, a company C-suite, government has to look like the population that you're serving.

- Absolutely.

- To me, it's common sense.

- Right.

- Tell me a little bit about your Puerto Rican heritage.

- 100% Boricua.

My family laughs because, you know how it is.

Well, you were not, where were you born?

- I was born in Jersey.

- You were born here, just like me.

So you would go back to Puerto Rico and that's that dynamic of (speaking foreign language) from here, right?

And I was like, (speaking foreign language).

It's kind of like one leg here, one leg over there.

And later on in life, they would always laugh.

I remember being in a small like, you know, spot in San Sebastian, and the bartender brought me a drink and he's like (speaking foreign language) And I was like, I'm not gonna tell you where I'm from.

I said, but if you cut me (speaks in foreign language), if you cut me, I'll bleed the coqui which we know is very unique to Puerto Rico.

So, you know, born and raised two individuals who picked the State of New Jersey to bring their family in and improve the quality of life.

Two people who stories are very the same of stories that we find today of people crossing borders and coming to this country seeking asylum.

And they were American citizens so did not have to go through, you know, the momentous things that we make individuals go through when seeking a better quality of life for their family and their children, but still had an enormous experience filled with obstacles.

- Sure.

Tell me about your work with the Latino caucus.

I know we had Senator Powan in the past.

What are some of the initiatives for 22?

I know education is something very dear to your heart.

- So I will tell you that education is something that I started in.

Was fortunate to be in leadership in that capacity and will remain committed to.

One thing that COVID-19 did for many of us, you know, and we talk about this and it's interesting when people ask it really elevated my agenda and people say, well, what are you talking about?

Home insecurity, food insecurity, access to employment and health and education.

Learning loss is something that I've been talking about for the last decade.

And, you know, I think people got tired of me saying the same thing over and over again.

But it wasn't until learning loss bled into other parts of the State and into the entire country that people started recognizing that this is a true issue.

So, unfortunately we got data back in the State.

I really look at the third grade students 'cause that's the pivotal moment.

And I always say to families that I say to schools and education communities, from zero to third grade, you learn to read.

From third grade and above, even today, we read to learn.

Whatever it is that we're doing, whether you're putting together a, you know, a piece of furniture you read to learn.

If in third grade, your quality skills for reading as a fundamental resource for your academic outcomes is not as strong as it should be, you will have an experience like no other.

Obstacle upon obstacle.

And so unfortunately the COVID pandemic impacted learning loss even much greater.

40% of New Jerseyians in fourth grade, which were third graders last year, at the beginning of this academic school year below grade level.

And that's a big number.

- Yeah.

- But I'm gonna tell you what's worse.

And if we thought the pandemic was a sense of urgency, I'll tell you where there is a true pandemic and that's in the education space.

75% Latinos and 76% African Americans children in that space are below grade level.

We have gone far too long to not recognize that we're a country and people get upset when I say this, we do not make investment in education and in our infrastructure in education.

We do not make investment in our teachers and the resources in the school.

And so we certainly pretend to be a number one powerhouse, both here in the State and in this country, but we do not put our wealth and our power behind those words.

- Interesting, interesting.

You are a Latina role model.

What do you tell our viewers who are Latinas, who want to aspire in their career, whatever that career is, business, politics?

- So, I say this across the board for everybody, you have to be ready, whatever that means for you, right?

So opportunity will knock in different ways and in different spaces.

Sometimes it will pick you up and move you.

Certainly how I felt like in my case, but I had to have that kind of foundation ready.

And so for me, it was being prepared in college.

First to go to college in my household.

I picked English as my major and I did so with a very conscious thought that I didn't ever wanna be dismissed in a conference room.

I wanted to have the opportunity to, I already understood people were going to dismiss me because of gender and ethnicity and maybe sometimes every now and again, if my accent comes out, I certainly wanted to be able to have a foundation for writing skillset and for communication skillset that they wouldn't use that as an excuse not to include me in their conversation.

And so I say to everybody, be ready and be prepared.

And I'm a role model but I'm a human being.

I fall every single time.

And I say this to my daughter, the best thing about falling is that you get a chance to get up again.

And to me that's the most important thing.

It's not here I am and I'm plateauing.

It's here I am and I fell, how do I reinvent myself to be sure that I'm an asset to the community, that I'm good to myself and that I'm good to the people around me?

- Great, thank you so much.

You are an asset to our community, Latinos and Latinas.

Look up to everything that you're doing and God bless.

Thank you for being on the show.

- Thank you for having me.

- And up next, we have Giovanna Aguilar, filmmaker and entrepreneur.

(upbeat music) Welcome back.

Up next, we have filmmaker and entrepreneur, Giovanna Aguilar.

Welcome to "Que Pasa?".

- Hi, Carlos, thank you so much.

Congratulations on your show.

It's exciting to be here.

I remember when you were starting and thinking about doing this Que Pasa production a couple years ago.

Now, it's what, in its third season, I think?

- Yeah, yeah.

- That is so awesome.

Thank you for representing us, giving us a platform to share our stories.

- Oh, thank you for sharing your story.

In 2022, what's it like being a Latina?

- For me, I mean, I think we all have different experiences and I want to say that for me, I have been very fortunate that wherever I've been, I've gotten a lot of support, whether from Latinos or from, for example, I worked in finance when I was in my twenties and I was the only Latina there.

And I was working at Deutsche Bank, at the time Credit Lyonnais, and probably, you know, in a situation where it was finance and it was welcoming for me.

I think that being a Latina in 2022 is a culmination of all of the tribes that our parents have accomplished.

All of the hard work that they have, you know, given us as inspiration and as role models, but also I think is a certain responsibility in whatever accomplishments that we have.

Like you, you have this wonderful platform, is that we pay it forward, that we are gracious in how we are with other people and what we expect of ourselves.

And also securing, I think our, our position here in the States, we're Americans.

- Sure, sure.

- You know, we're second generation, first generation, third generation, or recently coming to the States.

I think it's an exciting time.

There are a lot of things that we can look at.

Let's say a glass of opportunities where I know that we have a lot more to accomplish and to overcome, but the fact that we have women that have their businesses, Latinas, even though in COVID, you know, it really impacted businesses, the ones that are right now pushing forward and opening up businesses.

I was reading in the news yesterday that Latinas are right now the number one entrepreneurs opening up their businesses.

So for me, I think 2022 is about turning the page and really delving into that thing that we have, that fire that we have as a culture and as a community to strive for more.

But also as we do that, hopefully that we, we also share our successes with the people that from all different communities.

- Yeah, it's a balance.

I often, and I know we talked about this offline.

How do you balance that the huge numbers that Hispanic entrepreneurs, for example, Bank of America, did a study.

97 billion dollars is what New Jersey Hispanics contribute annually to the New Jersey economy.

97 billion.

And the same time there's folks saying, you know, Hispanics are a drag on the economy.

So how do you know it's hard to balance these things.

I like to use facts and figures and beyond emotional about it.

We're doing well, we're helping the economy.

But even within the Hispanic community, you have had Hispanics that maybe have a chip on the shoulder.

Wow it's me.

- Yeah, right.

- And I'm more about let's move forward.

Whatever happened in the past is the past.

Let's move in a positive fashion with Hispanic being a superpower.

It's definitely not a drag to me.

I think-- - Absolutely!

- The ability to conduct business, to be very social and to expand your network, which is so important in business, are all things that Hispanics do very well.

So I would argue that Hispanics have an edge in business quite often.

- We have an edge, we're visionary.

I think we, as a friend of mine, her name is Jasmine, she's from the Dominican Republic, she made me laugh many years ago when we were talking about certain things.

We both come, 'cause I also come from banking and she's like, you know, Giovanna, Latinas, we are really like, we're super women.

And I'm like, yes, tell me more.

And what she says, like, you know of go say it in Spanish, little Spanglish.

(speaking in foreign language) We can make anything.

And it's true.

Like I mean get a plantain what do we do?

We do (speaking in foreign language), we do soup, we do, we do a whole slew of things and I thought, you know, that's so funny, you know, being me being a foodie.

But the analogy there is very powerful because it means that with the resources, the little resources that we might have, we can get a lot going.

We are also a very humble culture.

I think we don't like to brag about what we do, but I think we need to start making some noise.

And we don't have to be obnoxious about it.

I think it's really showing, you know, like in storytelling we talk about, show me, don't tell me.

So let's show people.

- Yeah, well thank you for being a guest and thank you for coming to Jersey City, New Jersey.

- Thank you, Carlos.

Congratulations again.

- Thank you.

- Thank you very much.

- And up next we have Tamara Torres, artist and social activist.

(upbeat music) Welcome back.

Up next, we have Tamara Torres, artist and social justice advocate.

Thank you for joining us Tamara.

- Thank you for having me.

I'm really excited to be here.

Very cool building you have too.

- Thank you, thank you.

I thought you'd appreciate the Clemente mural as you enter.

- It's first thing I saw when I came in, I was like awesome.

- Very cool, very cool.

Tell me about the different mediums that you work in.

- So yeah.

I started with photography at very young age.

I think it was like around 12 years old.

Someone gave me a camera and then I kind of went into collaging and then painting abstract painting.

But everything, every single piece of art that I make is always, you know, kind of put for women's right, social issues.

It's almost like telling my story as an artist, as a Latina artist and sharing stories of people I grew up with, so to speak, it's almost documentary type of style.

- Sure, sure.

Tell me how your Puerto Rican heritage plays into your art and the expression of art.

- So this show at King University where I have a solo exhibition now is sort of this idea came about from that.

So I went to Puerto Rico for a month and there's this huge uprising in feminism in Puerto Rico, right?

These women are out there changing laws and boundaries and kind of twisting things, old traditional culture and stuff.

So I wanted to kind of work on a project that how do us as Latina women balance our traditions and culture and also independence?

Like, you know, how do we kind of go from this up rise and also keep our little history, keep our tradition and culture that is important to us.

So I went and photographed women of Puerto Rican descent there.

And I talked to 'em about their feminism and I didn't wanna get into the conversation of what women in your life changed, you know, made you a feminist?

Or what, you know, was it your aunt and grandmother, your sister?

That's an easy question.

But I flipped it to what men actually advocated for your feminism.

And the reason was 'cause my dad raised me and my brother.

- So tell me about the project in Trenton called 'Fabrica de Fotos', which roughly translates to factory of photographs.

- Yes, so 'Fabrica de Fotos' started, it started doing the COVID quarantining.

I do a lot of community work as well apart from my art.

And I was, you know, I was at home like everyone else and I was just staring at like TVs, cooking channels and stuff and I finally said, you know, I wonder if there's any students out there who were interested to talk photography with me.

And I reached out to a couple organizations.

I got only six students that were willing to meet with me through zoom every Friday.

And they were all like I had students from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti.

These are like different backgrounds and culture.

And then we all came together with a theme on what we were gonna photograph and learn.

I got them cameras by the end of the pandemic, we had a whole exhibition of their works, their photos that they've learned.

And I have mentors come in and talk to the students that were local photographers.

And it was, it was a really wonderful thing.

I did it twice already.

So I went from six students to the second time, 13 students with parents now involved in it.

And the next one I'm looking to do in Puerto Rico.

- Excellent.

- Yeah.

- You know, we talked earlier in the lobby, how sometimes any family may may or not be supportive of such a career.

What do you tell our young viewers.

- If you're gonna be a real artist in this world is, you know, we're all gonna go at some point so it's mainly your work that you see is your truth.

So at, in later on in life, they'll be like, you know, I understand this artist because this is, this is what they were feeling, this is their truth.

And I think that's like such a key important part to tell young artists now, 'cause everyone's like, you know, I wanna do NFTs (murmuring) all these things quickly and it's, you know, you have to focus on your journey, your truth, your passion, your art, no matter what your parents or family or whatever people around you, you know.

- Sure, great.

Well thank you for sharing your journey with us and best of luck.

- Thank you.

- And up next Alberto Ferreras, filmmaker, writer and content creator.

(upbeat music) Welcome back.

Up next, we have Alberto Ferreras, writer, filmmaker and content creator.

Welcome to "Que Pasa?"

- Thank you, thank you.

Thank you for having me.

It's lovely out here in New Jersey.

(both laughing) - It took the long commute from Manhattan.

- It's a long commute.

It is actually my, no, it's not my first time out since you know the pandemic, but it's absolutely, it's a beautiful day to come here.

- Yeah.

- So thank you so much for making me.

- I appreciate you coming.

- Tell me about your soon to be, I don't know if it has a record yet, your longest running show on HBO.

- The okay so-- - Docu series from 2003.

- Until now.

So, the story of 'Habla' is that back in 2003, I was, I worked for HBO for many, many years and I did general market and I also did Hispanic market, but for maybe four years, I was in charge of creative services for HBO Latino.

And at the time I felt very strongly.

We were a very nice team.

I worked with my right hand was Trina Bardusco and we kept, we kept noticing that, you know, there was not, there was not enough of the US Latino presence on Latino media because very often the Hispanic networks in the US relied on content from Latin America.

So if you really wanted to see what was happening, you would have to watch the news.

And the news sometimes didn't have room for nuance, you know, for, you know, how you, you know, for the stories of children who, who had to translate for their parents.

- Yeah.

- They didn't have stories of the frustration of people who tried to speak English, but they couldn't.

They didn't have room for Spanglish.

You know, you could be in the Hispanic networks, if you spoke perfect Spanish.

You could be in the general market networks if you spoke perfect English.

But what if you didn't speak perfect anything?

You also have the right to speak up.

So that's where 'Habla' came about.

I don't know, I've learned so much.

I feel like I'm the luckiest person on earth because you know, I started working on this show in 2003 and now, you know, over almost, you know, 20 years later, we're still doing it.

- Amazing.

- And I'm learning every time I do it and I get to talk to fabulous people.

We talk to Rita Moreno, we've talked to, oh my God, Franklin Chang-Diaz from NASA, we have talked to José Andrés, Diane Guerrero, I mean, pretty much every actor, Latino actor, actress out there.

And, and the good news is that we didn't just talk about, "Oh, what's your new movie?"

"What's up with your book?"

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's like tell us about your life.

- Exactly.

- Tell us about your experience of being Latino in the US and so, anyway.

- No, I love what you're saying because even when I came to PBS with this idea and I would go year after year kind of knock on the door, have my annual meeting, I realize that nuance that you're speaking of, 'cause I've done a stint on Univision where I was a special correspondent on a show called "Amigos de Univision."

But a lot of big names didn't want to come on 'cause they were worried about their Spanish, like you said.

So I had like a, what I considered a big lead, you know, let's say a Jennifer Lopez.

I don't have Jennifer yet, but she'd be like, oh I would love to be on, but I'm nervous that this could hurt my image.

'Cause if I stutter and do one mispronunciation, that's it, it could hurt my career.

So I think shows like "Que Pasa?"

and what you're doing, where they could speak whatever language they want, Spanglish, English gives, it's a wider audience.

Tell me about your newest project on stage in New York "Hamlet in Harlem."

- "Hamlet in Harlem."

Okay, so, it all started with a screenplay, wrote a screenplay based on an experience, which is a dear friend of mine who happens to be Caucasian.

He had written a screenplay about Latinos that was frankly terrible and really offensive, but he didn't know, this is a sweet guy, dear friend of mine, love him to death.

He showed me his script and I was like, "Dude, this is full of like really offensive stereotypes."

And he was like, "Really?"

And not being Latino he just didn't know enough about the culture.

So we had this conversation over two martinis where I told him, you might need to change this and this and this and this and this.

And when I walked away, I said, wow, that's a funny premise for a movie.

You know, this guy who has very good intentions, but he doesn't have the knowledge to write a story about Latinos.

And so, "Hamlet in Harlem" is the story of a white filmmaker who wants to do an all Latino version of Hamlet.

Unfortunately, he doesn't know much about Latinos and actually he doesn't know much about Hamlet either.

- Okay.

- So it's a comedy, quite farcical.

It must be funny because we've been rehearsing that thing for over a month now and we laugh on every rehearsal.

It moves very fast and I think we bring up a lot of issues that you discuss in your show and that anyone who's a Latino and who's not a Latino, but, but empathizes will say, yes.

We talk about culture appropriation.

We talk about media stereotypes.

We talk about gender roles.

We talk about at all these things, but we are joking about it.

And I think what we want to say at the end of the day is that we just need to talk about these things.

- Yes, yeah.

Alberto, but gimme some words for our viewers, young entrepreneurs, young filmmakers, young business people.

- I can tell you this one that I have to remind myself constantly.

Aim high, 'cause you know something, you don't know if you're gonna get it.

So, you know, whatever, if you shoot really high, maybe the arrow will fall, you know, on the tree.

Not on the floor.

- Exactly, exactly.

- So, I think that is especially when it comes to media projects, especially when it comes to the world we're living in when you know, if you have a phone, you can make a movie with your phone.

You can shoot pictures that end up in a museum with your phone.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So I think especially for young people, I wish somebody had told me that.

I learned along the way that sometimes, you know, I was shortchanging myself and I was saying, oh, you know, who cares?

What a Latino with this accent, who's gonna gimme a chance?

Well, knock on the door, you know.

- Exactly.

- Knock on the door.

Ask.

If they don't give you something, ask for it.

- Thank you Alberto.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us and your story.

It's very inspirational.

- Thank, thank you, Carlos.

And thank you everybody.

Thank you for watching.

- Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap, some real inspirational stories and points of view that you don't see anywhere else.

Don't forget ladies and gentlemen, "Que Pasa?"

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa NJ with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, PSE&G, PNC Bank, The Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI NJ Business Magazine, Hackensack Meridian Health.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(upbeat music)