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

- Hola, familia.

Welcome to this month's episode of Que Pasa New Jersey.

This month we're lucky enough to have producer, director and storyteller, Elaine del Valle, the Mayor of West New York New Jersey, Gabriel Rodriguez, Attorney Andy Acebo, nonprofit leader Maria Alvarez, and the legendary Emilio Estefan.

And remember familia, Que Pasa.

(upbeat Latin music) And welcome Elaine del Valle, content creator.

Well, you're a writer, a director, a producer, and a casting director.

- Yes.

I like to say a director, writer, producer, actress, and casting director in that order.

- In that order.

- Yes.

- Excellent, excellent.

So you've been very busy.

- I have been, yes.

Lately I have been directing my film, "Brownsville Bred", which is based on my award winning one woman stage play that went off Broadway and the New York Times called it, "From girlhood trials to onstage triumph."

Subsequently I adapted that as a young adult novel, "Brownsville Bred", and this year it was named a Montaigne medalist finalist and it was also named Most Inspirational Young Adult Book of 2020 by the International Latino Book Awards.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you so much.

It's always been my aim to make it as a film.

and finally now, I begin the journey of directing it as a film.

- Tell us a little bit about the plot if you could.

- Sure, well, it's my true coming of age story, right?

I'm a girl from Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York.

Well, if I tell you too much, (laughing) you'll know so much about it, but what it is, is basically every time we hear these stories that come from the welfare projects of Brownsville or any ghetto or any low-income, very often it's a sob story.

It's not a story of joy.

And really what I found in "Brownsville Bred", is that the character of Elaine, which actually is me growing up, is all about the joy and the gratitude and finding hope where the darkness exists.

And so, that has been my journey in understanding the play, because when I wrote it, I actually, I was an actress that was extraordinarily frustrated at the lack of roles available for Latinas.

And so, I decided that I would start a writers group based on my acting class.

I was studying at Carnegie Hall under the legendary Wynn Handman and together we all just started writing and we were all just writing our own pieces and I began to tell the stories of my childhood, because I felt so underrepresented and not understood by the landscape that is our entertainment.

- Sure, and I mentioned PBS.

You have a PBS project.

Tell me about Alma's Way and what your role was in contributing to that project.

- Alma's Way, wow.

I'm so excited about this project, because I get to be a part of the collaboration of creatives that is bringing this project forward to PBS Kids.

We're launching October 4th and it is created by the wonderful, the magnanimous, the iconic Sonia Manzano, who we all know as Aunt Maria, right?

Or just Maria, on "Sesame Street".

And now she is an author and I've read her books, they're amazing.

And now, she is creating this wonderful animated series that really surrounds a girl, a little Latina girl living in the Bronx, named Alma, and her Puerto Rican family, and their multicultural neighbors.

And it's such a, such a great part.

It's such a great honor to be a part of that, bringing authentic New York voices to play these characters and then to see them on screen.

It's very exciting and I have very, high hopes and faith that this series is going to be recognized like no other.

- Oh, that's great.

- [Elaine] Yes.

- That's great.

Well, thank you for all you do.

Thank you for having role models that our youth can look up to.

- Yes, definitely.

- And good luck with the project.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you for highlighting "Brownsville Bred" and definitely buy the book.

Get ready for the movie.

And check us out.

- Great.

Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- And up next, we have mayor of West New York, New Jersey, Gabriel Rodriguez.

(upbeat Latin music) Welcome back and up next, we have the mayor of West New York, New Jersey, Gabriel Rodriguez.

Welcome to Que Pasa.

- Thank you, Carlos.

It's a pleasure to be here.

Congratulations on your show.

- How's it feel to be the mayor of such a diverse community?

I've had Mayor Philip here, and I'm a Hudson County boy, so.

- You went to Saint Jo's, so you- - I went to Saint Jo's.

- You went to school across the street from my alma mater, Memorial.

It's really amazing to be able to serve a community that you feel very much a part of, you know.

I am proud to have been raised, educated, played my sports in West New York and so now a community that's given me so much, to be able to give that back is truly a blessing and an honor.

- Tell me during COVID, how you are able to serve your constituents.

I know I see you a lot on social media.

- [Gabriel] Yeah.

- I see you, night and day working for your constituents.

Tell me about some of the highlights of how you were able to serve your community.

- A lot of it was baptism by fire.

It was learning as we went.

Things were changing rapidly.

But I just, I am so proud of this community.

They were really, really, part of our collaboration.

We would not be able to be where we are today without the help of the community.

During the time that vaccination started coming out, you know, we were only getting about 200 vaccinations every 15 days.

And I just, with a community of 60,000 people in one square mile, we're the most densely populated area in the nation, a commuter population, that's going back and forth from New York.

I just felt that 200 a week, or 200 every two weeks was not gonna cut it for us.

And so we entered into a collaboration with Holy Name Medical Center, where we established a vaccination site, right in the Memorial High School Gym in the heart of West New York and today we're happy to announce that we're above 70% vaccinated- - Wow, that's great.

- In the town of West New York, so.

- I've seen some photographs of Bergenline Avenue, West New York, full of Cuban Americans and allies.

- Yeah.

- You know, talking about the situation in Cuba.

Tell me, you know, how that impacts you, how you've been able to mobilize your community.

You know, the crisis.

It's really a humanitarian crisis that's taking place.

- You know this, as your father was Cuban, you know, I always like to say, everybody has a story and every Cuban has a story.

Everybody that you know that came from Cuba has a very specific story as to why they left, how they left.

And unfortunately most of the time they're sad stories.

And so there's this, there's a pain from the Cuban American community here that we all carry.

And so as these things unfold and those Cubans that are taking to the streets fighting for literally liberty, we felt that it was extraordinarily important to support those people by just showing solidarity with them here.

And so we organized the march, myself and the other mayors of the area, and where we had a march all the way from Hudson County Park, Braddock Park, down Bergenline Avenue, to the front of West New York City Hall and you know, it was outstanding, the level of support, and it wasn't only Cuban Americans, there were Latinos and other West New Yorkers, North Berrien, Union City, Weehawken, Guttenberg, all involved marching peacefully, in the name of solidarity with Cubans for libertad.

And I think that it's important that we shed light on this issue.

We make sure that people know what's going on and we show our support.

- That's great.

Well, I support you in that cause.

Anything you need, you know, - Thank you Carlos, thank you.

- The show is here.

You know I'm personally here and thank you for coming to Que Pasa.

- Of course, Que Pasa TV, Que Pasa New Jersey.

- And up next, Andy Acebo, attorney and chief of staff at NJCU.

(upbeat Latin music) Welcome back.

Our next guest is Andy Acebo, attorney at law.

Welcome, Andy.

- Thank you for having me.

- Welcome to the Que Pasa.

You have a new position now with NJCU, which is right down the road.

- Yes.

- New Jersey City University.

Tell me about your new position at the college.

- It's been phenomenal.

I'm the interim chief of staff, and I'm also serving as assistant university counsel for external affairs.

And I'm a Hudson County boy, born and raised, son of Cuban exiles.

The promise of this institution has been very, you know, significant in my family's life.

My wife's a double alum.

My mother-in-law graduated from NJCU.

My wife's grandmother, when she came from Cuba, she was a teacher in Cuba in order to get her degree and certifications ended up actually attending then Jersey City State college.

- Wow.

- So NJCU has played a pivotal role in my family as, you know, progress towards economic mobility and opportunity and it's great to be able to be a player in that arena and try to really, you know, cement the institution's role as a public anchor institution in Jersey City and in the region.

- With the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, you wear two different hats, one with Kaya and one with the Hispanic bar association that are both important policy organizations dealing with Cuba.

Tell me your opinion of what's going on, how my viewers could help, how allies could help the movement and get the message out there.

- Yes.

To say that the last few weeks have been anything short of historic would be ill serving the cause.

I think what we've witnessed since July 11th, when these peaceful demonstrations manifested across the island, it, I think it shocked the collective conscience of what was expected from the island.

I think it, as the Cuba Study Group, another organization that's really dedicated in this space, as I think eloquently put it, it's eradicated the myth that there can't be demonstrations on the island and that the Cuban people can't speak for themselves.

And I think, our obligation and thinks that through the Hispanic National Bar Association special committee on Cuba, the Cuban American Alliance for Leadership and Education and a host of other organizations, we're trying to stand in solidarity with those Cuban people.

We have an obligation, any just regardless of your heritage or your background, as freedom loving people, to champion the cause of freedom anywhere.

- When you say to critics that say, some of what the Cuban American population here is doing is futile.

I've heard that it could even be Cuban success guilt.

The Cuban successful entrepreneurs here are feeling guilty for family that maybe got left behind.

What do you say as you know, world's changing with the internet, so voices are getting, you know, the message is getting back to Cuba that there's support.

I've seen some boats firing fireworks off the island to show their, you know, their allegiance with the Cuban people.

- Right.

- So what do you say to some of these detractors that it's really, you guys are wasting time, wasting energy.

- So, I think, like any cause, right, there'll be detractors.

There'll be those that are, there's deep trauma in our community, right?

And it's hard to ignore that.

And I operate from a privileged lens, right?

I'm a generation removed from that.

I can't fully comprehend what it was like for my father at 19, to leave everything he knew and everything he loved and abandon it.

There's a deep sense within I think the Cuban exile communities that they identify as exiles and not just per se immigrants.

So, I think, accepting that trauma is key.

Hope is powerful and I think that's what the Cuban people need right now is solidarity.

I think too much of the exile experience has been that we've spoken on behalf of the Cuban people.

What's different this time is that the Cuban people are speaking for themselves.

- Great.

Well, thank you for what you do.

Thanks for all the philanthropic work that you do.

- Thank you.

- It's a pleasure to have had you on the show.

- Thank you so much.

- And up next, we have Maria Alvarez, nonprofit leader.

(upbeat Latin music) And now we have nonprofit leader, Maria Alvarez.

Welcome to Que Pasa.

- Hello, Carlos, how are you?

- Thank you for joining us.

- Thank you for inviting me.

- Born in Havana, Cuba.

- Born in Havana, Cuba.

- Tell me about your journey to New Jersey from Havana, Cuba.

- Oh my goodness.

Well, my journey to New Jersey was actually, it started in New York.

My mother came to the United States in 1961, you know, right after the revolution.

And she lived in New York for a very long time.

And then she sponsored 10 of us and we arrived in 1970.

And so from New York, we relocated to New Jersey in 1972.

My uncle knew some folks here in New Brunswick and they encouraged him, persuaded him to move to New Brunswick.

I think there may have been 10 Cuban families in New Brunswick at that time.

And so why not bring another?

- Exactly.

- So, all of us, all of us came to New Brunswick and that's my journey to New Jersey.

- That's amazing.

- [Maria] Yeah.

- That's amazing.

- [Maria] Yeah.

- I know we spoke on the telephone and we were talking about the crisis taking place in Cuba.

And, you told me that you had been discussing with another gentleman, some of the- - The nuances.

- The nuances and the roots of that, you know, what I've been reading is, you know, it's been based in music and artists and more importantly, the Afro Latino community in Cuba.

- I think in Cuba, we have to, this is my opinion.

We have to be very careful to just paint, a color picture because up to yesterday, you know, we're all Cubans of course, but it really shows that it's a breaking point.

You have a situation that's impacting not just Cubans, but everyone globally, insofar as the pandemic.

And so you take a very, very weak system economically like Cuba, where folks are already experiencing hardship with food and so on and so forth.

In spite of having the vaccine, there is a storage with syringes, et cetera, et cetera.

And, it's a breaking point for many families.

And, I think, I think it's a good thing because it's an effort that, it's organic, it's happening in Cuba.

And that's very important.

I think my position of course is, now what?

And so the question becomes, you know, how does a country like Cuba evolve politically, right?

- What do you say to the Cuban Americans here in the United States and allies of Cuban Americans and some of our viewers, how can we help amplify that message and show our support to the people of Cuba?

'Cause some critics have said, you know, you're speaking to a wall, things haven't changed in 62 years.

Why are you, you know, they even asked me, why did you speak in Patterson at an event for raising the flag of Cuba?

You wasted your time.

- I don't think, it's never a waste of time.

I think as American citizen, I have just as much a right to state my opinion about what I feel about Cuba.

- Sure.

- I'm an ex, I came here also in exile.

I came as a refugee.

So I have as much a right as those folks who speak against and those who speak kind of lukewarm, right?

(both laughing) So, but I would, what I would say to our Cuban folks here is that we have to also get away from too much emotional outburst and really be very strategic, right.

Strategic about what we want and what can we do to help some leaders, folks in Cuba who may be emerging that we don't know about 'cause that's, those are the folks that are going to make the change.

- [Carlos] Very important.

- Right.

We have a generation that's no longer here, right?

That's my mother's generation and my generation to some degree.

And so we have to really allow this new cadre, of young people who don't know anything about the revolution and in terms of that time period and they want change.

They want a transformed Cuba and who can't agree with that.

I agree with that.

- I really appreciate your candor and your insight, Maria.

- [Both] Thank you.

- For being here and continue all the great work you do in the nonprofit world.

- Thank you Carlos, for inviting me.

I really appreciate that.

- Thank you.

And up next music legend, Emilio Estefan.

(upbeat Latin music) Emilio Estefan, welcome.

(speaking in Spanish) How are you today?

- Very well.

So happy to see you and here in Miami, crazy times.

(laughs) - Crazy times, crazy times.

I wanna remind you when we did do another project for PBS, you were very generous and I want our viewers to know that we went to dinner and unbeknownst to us, when we tried to pay, you didn't let Quan and I pay.

You had taken care of the bill at your restaurant.

So thank you.

The food was delicious, but your hospitality.

I've worked with a lot of people and really, I want people to know what a gentleman you are and I'll always remember that day.

- You're always welcome.

- Thank you, Emilio.

Again, as you said, things are crazy in Miami.

Things, you know, are probably not as crazy here in New Jersey, but we have a very large Cuban American population and just wanna talk to you.

Thank you for joining us about the humanitarian crisis and the outcry that's taking place in Cuba.

Can you first tell me, I know you recently had a meeting with Gloria at the White House, or there was a White House listening session.

Can you tell us what happened at that session?

- Yeah.

Well, listen, I have a privilege to produce 43 events in the White House and I work with six different presidents and everyone that I talk, you know, every president, when I mentioned, we have to wait until Cuban people make the first move.

This is the first time in 62 years, you know, they act because the internet is the worst enemy that the regime has because you know, people are seeing exactly what they've been doing for 62 years.

And this is nothing compared with when I was a kid.

Some of the things that I saw when I was a kid was so depressing because you know, the way they abuse and women and men.

And remember in Cuba, probably 70% of the population is a African American.

So they have no limits.

They don't care, you're African American, you're Latino, you are whatever, I mean, you're Cuban.

What happens there is, you know, it's about anything against the revolution, you're gonna get punished in a big way and your family is gonna get punished.

- Exactly.

Emilio, especially with what you do, you know, a legend in the music industry.

Tell our viewers a little bit about the nexus of how this started, 'cause it was really music, that helped propel the people and like you said, many Afro Latino performers were in the streets and there was a video that came out and you recently produced something called "Libertad for Cuba".

Can you talk to us about those, both those topics?

- Yeah.

I gotta tell you, this is the first time, even I've been nominated 43 times for Grammy's and I won 19, that wasn't it about music.

We did the music to show the, all the things of the videos that we collect from internet, about the abuse in Cuba.

To see how they beat people, how they put the kids in the street.

I mean how they are, oh my God, it's incredible how they go to your house and take some of your family out.

But you know, people capture that on phone.

So then, my idea was I wrote this music like eight months ago and told the gentleman, he runs all the foundation for human rights in Cuba, but he's in Miami.

We wanna wait for the right moment to play this out and when this start happening, we wanted to finish the video, put it out and it's been a big hit because you're not realistic, people feel the pain.

I think like I told you, he say, it's a moment that, you know, we are, we know that every minute counts and we needed support.

We're lucky enough that, you know, they need to feel that like everyone in the song is speaking from here and over there, because even when we came we was really young.

We never forget.

I'm a true Cuban American.

I never forgot Cuba and I love this country.

- Yeah and that was my next question.

The critics, as you said earlier, saying that it's the result of the embargo what's happening and this is a cry against the embargo.

But you would argue, it's a cry for freedom, not for food.

It's a cry for freedom.

The ability to vote for the people that they wanna see elected, to practice the religion that they wanna practice, listen to the music that they wanna listen to.

I mean, people here do not realize the oppression that's going on right now in Cuba.

People do not have freedom.

- The embargoes is only an excuse.

I mean, I don't know if you know that even Cuba trade with the United States.

I don't know how many millions of dollars in sugar and you know, every chicken that goes from the, they buy their chicken from the States.

Now, they get supplies from global anywhere you go.

Now, the only way you can buy that, if you have dollar, you have to be a tourist for that.

If you're a Cuban, citizen, you only get like $20 a month and you are allowed to go with a little restrict card and they tell you, you have to get one pound of rice.

This is what you're gonna get, a little bit of coffee.

Now, if you go with dollar, you can buy whatever you want.

So I think to me that, that's what I say, take the embargo out.

Don't even think that they have an embargo.

And, we're not begging for anything.

The only thing we're begging is a little bit of help, about the internet and help to support people to have the right to have an election.

- Emilio, lastly, what can our viewers who wanna be allies, what do you feel our viewers can do to support this very important cause?

- Listen, the main thing is, you know, share that footage, that we showing to anybody, global, so people know the reality.

Grateful for freedom.

Show the world that we live in a country that we are blessed.

We just wanna thank the United States and thank you for all this because you know something, what we've tried to do, the only thing is the images.

Show the images, you know, how hard is for the people and looking forward, you know, to one day that we can celebrate what we live in this country that is, is freedom and opportunities.

And you know, it's not, this is not even about money.

I mean, what we asking just to have the right to let people choose the president, a new president in Cuba.

- Thank you so much, Emilio.

Thank you for everything you do for the community, gracias.

- You're welcome, gracias.

Thank you so much for doing this and I appreciate and I hope, you're always welcome to Miami.

So come back to Miami to.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap.

We had great storytellers and a specific emphasis this month on the crisis in Cuba and please don't forget, 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, PSE&G, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Hackensack Meridian Health, the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative 825, ROI NJ Business Magazine, PNC Bank.

This has been a production of The Modesto Educational Foundation.

(upbeat Latin music)