Latino USA

Maria Garcia can still remember the first time she saw Selena Quintanilla on TV: red lips, brown skin, big hoops. Maria was just 7 years old, new to the United States, and figuring out how to belong. For her and so many others, it was nothing short of a revolution, to see a Mexican-American woman, with working class roots, take pride in who she was, and have the world love her for it. And then, suddenly, on March 31st of 1995, Selena was gone. A quarter century later, Journalist Maria Garcia investigates Selena’s legacy and what Selena can tell us about race, class, body politics, and Latinx identity. This is the first episode of a new podcast called Anything For Selena — a collaboration between WBUR and Futuro Studios, available wherever you can find podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Gabby Rivera wrote her coming-of-age novel “Juliet Takes a Breath” in 2016, she didn't know that it would get her attention from an unusual place: Marvel Comics. They asked her to write for America Chavez, their first queer Latina superhero. Gabby said yes. But as she was writing for their superhero, she found herself swept up in #comicsgate, an online harassment campaign against the comic book industry’s efforts to include more women, people of color and LGBTQ characters. In this "Portrait Of," Maria sits talked to Gabby about her beginnings as a writer, her difficult experience with #comicsgate and about returning to comic book writing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Los Angeles, you might be surprised to learn, sits on top of the largest urban oil field in the country and has been the site of oil extraction for almost 150 years. Today, nearly 5,000 oil wells remain active in Los Angeles County alone, many operating in communities of color, often very close to homes, schools and hospitals. Latino USA visits a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, the epicenter of an anti-oil-drilling movement that is gaining momentum. We meet Nalleli Cobo, the 19-year-old who’s working to shut down the oil industry, one well at a time. This story originally aired in June of 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jessie Reyez sings sad songs, but it's those songs along with her soulful voice and brutally honest lyrics that have garnered her fans around the world. In this "How I Made It" segment, Jessie Reyez talks about the role of music in her childhood, how she writes through her own emotional pain, and how even when her fans sing along to her saddest songs—she feels more connected to them than ever. This story originally aired in January of 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2005, a duo of Puerto Rican artists released their eponymously titled debut album "Calle 13." Their mix of reggaeton and rap took the Latinx music scene by storm and got them three Latin Grammy awards. In 2017, one half of that duo, René Juan Pérez Joglar—better known as Residente—released his first solo album. To find inspiration, he took a genealogical DNA test and traveled to every part of the world that showed up in the test, where he collaborated with local musicians. Now, Residente is working on his second solo album, which involves the brainwaves of worms. Maria Hinojosa sits down with Residente to dig into the mind of the man who has experimented with so many musical genres. This story originally aired in March of 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1998, JJ Velazquez was sentenced to life for the murder of a police officer in Harlem, New York. The twenty-one-year-old father had an alibi that day, yet was placed in a lineup and identified as the shooter. Since then, identifying witnesses have recanted their testimony that JJ was the shooter and there is no evidence placing JJ at the scene. In fact, new evidence points away from JJ. The real killer is still out there and JJ has been in prison for over 20 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas and the holiday season are usually a time for Latinos and Latinas to gather together and celebrate, but COVID-19 has turned those holiday celebrations upside down. Yet for many people in the Latino community, spending the holidays away from family is not new. In this episode of Latino USA we hear from Latinos and Latinas who are used to not being able to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones, and we learn some tips on how to cope with these socially distant holidays.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Gascón was recently elected as Los Angeles County’s District Attorney, and his victory was hailed as a big win for a movement of progressive prosecutors aiming to end mass incarceration. Gascón immigrated from Cuba to Cudahy, a suburb of Los Angeles, as a teenager. He spent more than thirty years as a police officer before becoming District Attorney for San Francisco in 2011. On this episode of Latino USA, Gascón talks with Maria Hinojosa about getting harassed by the cops as a teenager, how his years as a cop shaped his philosophy of law enforcement, and his vision for his new job.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez was denied access to Los Angeles Police Department’s arrest records for her research on mass incarceration, she decided that she would not go down without a fight. Kelly sued the LAPD for access to this data and used the information gathered to create Million Dollar Hoods, a project that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. We speak with Kelly and her students about how they are using this data to create equations for reparations and liberation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was only a few years ago that Erik Rodriguez was attending medical school in his native Cuba, following his family of careerists’ footsteps. But then, when he heard James Brown’s "I feel good," he realized that he was meant for a different path. In this segment of “How I Made It,” Erik takes us through his transformation into Afro-Cuban artist Cimafunk—a Billboard’s “Top 10 Latin Artists to Watch”—and explains how someone who had never studied music before found the confidence to listen to himself and be listened to by others.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The arrival of the novel coronavirus in Munduruku territory, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, has threatened the lives of the group, and its entire culture. COVID-19 took the life of an important Munduruku leader, bringing both sadness to an embattled people and hampering language revitalization efforts. But the Munduruku are a warrior people defined by their fierceness and tenacity. They have approached this struggle as they have all their battles, whether against miners, loggers, and invaders of a different stripe: without reservations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pregnancy comes with all kinds of questions, but the journey to pregnancy and the mishaps along the way are often overlooked or taboo in the Latino community. How can we as a community help break the silences surrounding some of the more difficult aspects of pregnancy? Maria Hinojosa sits down with producer Jeanne Montalvo – who is currently pregnant – and certified birth doula Elizabeth Perez to discuss all things pregnancy: the highs, the lows, the miscarriages, the triumphs, and having babies during the COVID-19 pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ilia Calderón was still a little girl when she first experienced racism. But being rejected by part of her native Colombia's society would not deter her from following her dreams. She became the anchor of a national news network in Colombia and, after joining Univision in Miami, the first Afro-Latina to host a national newscast in the U.S. Listen to Ilia as she tells us about her debut book, her journey to becoming a prominent journalist, and what it's like to raise a mixed-race child.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cecilia Peña-Govea who calls herself La Doña, grew up in the Mission District in San Francisco. She started playing music in her family's band at just seven years old. Now, she's blazing her own musical path and keeping the city she grew up in at the heart of her work. In her debut EP “Algo Nuevo” she touches on love, heartbreak, and rising rent. In this edition of our “How I Made It” series La Doña breaks down one of her new songs “Cuando Se Van” and talks about taking her fears and turning them into a powerful anthem for a gentrifying city.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds of people gather on Alcatraz Island, the famous former prison and one of the largest tourist attractions in San Francisco, for a sunrise ceremony to honor Indigenous culture and history. In 1969, an intertribal group of students and activists took over the island for over 16 months in an act of political resistance. Richard Oakes, a young Mohawk from New York, was one of the leaders in this movement dubbed the "Red Power Movement." Latino USA tells the story of Richard Oakes' life, from his first involvement in activism to his untimely death at the age of 30. This episode originally aired on November, 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The summer of 2020 was filled with uncertainty as more than 20 million people in the U.S. were left unemployed — including Kate Bustamante’s parents. Bustamante is a 20-year-old student at Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, California. She’s always worked part-time and attended school as long as she can remember. But this summer was different. Overnight, Bustamante dropped out of classes and became her family’s breadwinner. In this personal piece Bustamante, through diary recordings and personal reflections, takes us into her world and what she went through over the summer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia was a shy, quiet young woman who joined a band named the Miami Latin Boys. Although she had no plans of international fame, and intended to continue her studies, life had different plans for her. The Miami Latin Boys became The Miami Sound Machine, Emilio and Gloria married, and the newlywed, Gloria Estefan began to take over the spotlight. The rest, is music history. In this Portrait Of: Gloria Estefan, Latino USA sits down with the icon to discuss her life, her relationships, how she overcame trauma, and how she manages to be excited about everything she does.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When she was nine years-old, Xiomara Torres fled the civil war in her home country of El Salvador and came to the U.S. As a child she adjusted to her new life in East Los Angeles before she was removed from her family and put into foster care—where she spent six years of her life moving from home to home. Now, she's the subject of a local play in Oregon titled, "Judge Torres." In this edition of “How I Made It,” Judge Torres shares how she overcame the hurdles of the foster system and made her way to the Oregon Circuit Court. This story originally aired in March of 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major lesson from the 2020 election is one that Latinos already know: The idea of a single “Latino vote” is a myth. Latinos and Latinas throughout the United States draw from different histories that have shaped their different policy interests, ideologies, and personal experiences—and that all inform how they ultimately cast their ballots. President Trump won Florida, including nearly half of all Latinx-identifying voters in the state. But across the country in Arizona, grassroots groups led a wave of younger Latinx voters to flip the state blue for President-elect Joe Biden. In this episode of Latino USA, we take a closer look at the Latino and Latina voters that made it out to the polls in these states and how they decided who to cast their critical votes for.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Las Cafeteras are a band out of East LA that met while doing community organizing. They began playing at the Eastside Cafe, where they discovered Son Jarocho, traditional Afro-Mexican music from Veracruz. They quickly began to adapt the music to their realities fusing it with hip hop, rock, ska, and spoken word. They are known for their politically charged lyrics, speaking out against injustices within the immigrant community and their experiences as chicanos in East LA. On today’s “How I Made It”, we sat down with members of the group to discuss how they got started, and their work to tell and preserve brown stories.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 14th of 2020, Martha Escudero and her two daughters became the first of a dozen unhoused families to occupy one of over a hundred vacant houses in El Sereno, Los Angeles. Some call them squatters, but they call themselves the Reclaimers. The houses the Reclaimers are occupying actually belong to a state agency that purchased the houses in the 1960’s in order to demolish them and build a freeway through this largely Latinx and immigrant neighborhood. This is the story of one of these houses, and its residents, past and present, who have fought to make it their home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On paper, author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the poster child for the American Dream. She’s a Harvard graduate, a Yale Ph.D. candidate, and, now, a 2020 National Book Award finalist for her debut book, “The Undocumented Americans.” As a child, Villavicencio’s parents left her in their native Ecuador while they worked in the U.S., a period that continues to shape her and her work today. From parent-child separation to the stigma of mental health among the Latinx community, Villavicencio sits down to talk about the painful, tragicomic, and warm moments that come with being a child of immigrants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do Latinos support Trump? Many people have asked this question since 2016, when, after launching his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants rapists, Trump still won almost a third of the Latino vote. Polls indicate that Trump could do it again—or even increase his support among Latino voters in 2020. In this episode, we talk to historian Geraldo Cadava and to longtime Latino Republicans to understand why roughly a third of Latino voters have supported Republican presidential candidates ever since the 1970s.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States runs on migrant labor. That’s been the case for most of this country’s history, and the demand for cheap workers over the past two centuries led to waves of immigration from China, Japan, Europe, and Latin America, especially Mexico. This trend also led to the creation of the deportation machine. That’s how Adam Goodman, a professor of Latin American and Latino/a Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, describes the U.S.’s systemic efforts to expel noncitizens. In his recent book, "The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Expelling Immigrants", Goodman explores how today’s “country of immigrants” is built on a long history of deportation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thirty two million Latinos are eligible to vote this election – a record. But research suggests that, in battleground states, 57% of them are not going to cast ballots. Historically, Latino turnout has been lower than that of whites, Blacks and Asians. Many hoped things would be different this time around. Instead, traditional political strategies plus the challenges presented by COVID-19 made Latino voters a low priority again. Reporter Gisele Regatāo reports on how that is playing out in two key swing states, Florida and Pennsylvania.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa sits down with actor and entrepreneur Danny Trejo. Trejo has starred in over 300 films, often playing villains and tough guys of all sorts. He now runs Trejo's Tacos, Trejo's Cantina, and Trejo's Donuts in Los Angeles. He shares how he went from regular stints in prison to being one of Hollywood's most recognizable faces. This story originally aired in April of 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a common sight in Puerto Rico—men in bright yellow T-shirts going door-to door-selling cakes. They're residents at Hogares CREA, Puerto Rico's biggest drug treatment program. Since CREA’s founding 1968, they've grown to a sprawling network of about 150 centers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland and elsewhere in Latin America. But since the 1990s, the organization has been under fire for their methods. Latino USA takes a look at how this rehab empire built by a former heroin addict continues to be funded by millions of tax dollars, despite dozens of reported cases of physical and sexual abuse. This story originally aired in December of 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buscabulla is a Puerto Rican indie duo formed by wife and husband Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo del Valle. Around 2018, Buscabulla was one of the most beloved Latinx bands in New York City. Raquel and Luis had just released their second EP and confirmed a performance in that year’s Coachella music festival. Around this time of success, Raquel and Luis decided to move back to Puerto Rico. It was a significant life change, but one they were certain they wanted to make... as artists, and as new parents. In this segment of our "How I Made It" series, Raquel and Luis join us from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and they tell us about their debut album "Regresa."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2018, a young Guatemalan man named Reynaldo Castro Tum was ordered deported even though no one in the U.S. government knew where he was, or how to find him. Now, more than two years later, his unusual journey through the United States' immigration system has sucked another man back into a legal quagmire he thought that he'd escaped. This episode follows both of their stories and the fateful moment they collided.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When cities across the country began going on lockdown in March, parents all over the U.S. had to scramble to balance taking care of their children, helping them with remote learning, while also working. Essential workers had to figure out who would watch their kids, and many of those same parents had to make difficult decisions. Seven months in, the mental load on parents continues to take its toll. Latino USA sits down with a group of mothers and fathers across the country to discuss how it has been going for them, how they’ve coped, and how they have found a silver lining parenting during the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in March, Lili Ruiz moved out of New York City to reunite with her family in Chicago. As the first months of quarantine passed by, Lili’s family remained safe and kept in communication with their indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico. At the beginning of June, however, things would take a turn. Through intimate calls and memory descriptions, Lili takes us through a tumultuous summer with her family – from fighting bureaucracy to finding peace in the midst of grief.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chicano Batman is out with their newest album "Invisible People," which celebrates diversity. The band from Southern California has been on an upward climb since forming in 2008, fusing a kind of vintage psychedelic rock with more traditional Latin American rhythms. With this album, the band explores something new as they play around with R&B, funky bass lines, and prog-rock. While the sound of Chicano Batman keeps evolving, their music has managed to stay true to what got them noticed in the first place. On this week's "How I Made It" segment, the band talks about their rise to the top, playing with beats, and how they were never pigeon-holed as a Latinx/alternative band. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In February of 2017, ICE agents arrested Estrella, an undocumented trans woman, inside an El Paso courthouse. Estrella was there after filing for a protective order, testifying in a domestic abuse hearing against her U.S. citizen ex-boyfriend. Her case became national news — it was the first time that federal immigration agents had ever arrested someone at court. Estrella was later sentenced to serve nine years behind bars for a non-violent crime that she has always maintained her abuser forced her to participate in. In this episode of Latino USA Estrella takes us into the maximum-security Texas men's prison where she is serving out her sentence. Through intimate phone conversation with Maria Hinojosa, we follow Estrella through her first years of incarceration — through the joys of transitioning and finally feeling at home in her body, to the dangers that come from being a woman in one of Texas' most infamous men's prisons. We also learn about a surprising accusation that puts Estrella's relationship with Maria at risk.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1950s, singer and diva Yma Sumac took over the North American airwaves with her mystical voice. The Queen of Exotica and Inca Princess was said to cast a spell on anyone who came across her with her exotic look and nearly five-octave range. But while Yma Sumac rose to prominence across the globe, the Peruvian public in her home country, was not seduced by her song—or her representation of indigenous Peruvians. Today, Latino USA breaks down the phenomena behind one of the original divas, her conflicts and criticisms, and the impact of her legacy. This story originally aired in September of 2019.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria Hinojosa talks with reporter Jean Guerrero about her new book, "Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda," which chronicles the rise of one of President Trump's most influential advisors. Guerrero discusses Miller's California roots, the right-wing figures who mentored him as a young man, and how he's transformed the United States' immigration system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, September 15th, marks the launch of Maria Hinojosa's new book, "Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America." So we are bringing you an extended version of the conversation Maria had with Lulu Garcia-Navarro for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. An edited version of this interview first aired on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday on September 13th.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latino USA and Black Public Media bring you Alzheimer's In Color. It's the story of Ramona Latty, a Dominican immigrant, told by her daughter Yvonne, and it mirrors countless other families of color navigating a disease that is ravaging the Latino community. It's been four years now since Ramona was diagnosed. Four years of the lonely journey, which in the end her daughter walks alone, because her mom has no idea what day it is, how old she is or where she is. Ramona lives in a nursing home and COVID-19, and months of separation have accelerated the disease, and Yvonne's despair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you tell us how to get to Sesame Street? Rosita can! In this installment of our How I Made It series, we visit the friendliest block on television to speak with the first full-time bilingual muppet on Sesame Street: Rosita, la Monstrua de las Cuevas. The fuzzy, turquoise-colored 5-year-old first appeared on the show nearly 30 years ago with muppeteer Carmen Osbahr, who helped create the muppet's bright look and personality. Rosita and Carmen talk about their journeys moving from Mexico to Sesame Street and revisit their greatest adventures after nearly 30 years on the show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta tells us how her experience of migration led to her love of Afro-Colombian music, how a beauty pageant and its underlying anti-blackness inspired her new album, and how she came to collaborate with the legendary Afro-Colombian ensemble, Sexteto Tabalá, in her track "Pelo Cucú."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part two of our two-part special, we continue our investigation into the death of a man in a U.S. immigration detention center in 2015. José de Jesús turned himself into Border Patrol saying somebody was after him. Three days later, he died by suicide after stuffing a sock down his throat. In part two of this story, surveillance video reveals clues about what happened inside his cell, and an internal investigation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement answers many of our questions about what happened to José in the days leading up to his death. This story originally aired in July of 2016.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A man dies in a U.S. immigration detention center, under unusual circumstances. He is found unresponsive in his cell, with a sock stuffed down his throat. His death is ruled a suicide, but little information is put out about what happened, and the family wants answers. In this first part of a special two-part series, Latino USA investigates why José de Jesús died in the custody of the U.S. government, and what his death tells us about conditions—especially mental health services—inside the immigration detention system. This story originally aired in July of 2016.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

José Ralat is the Taco Editor at Texas Monthly Magazine and consequently the only taco editor in the United States. In his book, "American Tacos: A History and Guide," Ralat dives into the evolution of tacos in the United States and its history in the borderlands. According to Ralat, tacos were introduced into the U.S. in the late 1800s. Since then, tacos have evolved into fusions —like Korean and Cajun tacos— as cultures blended with one another and chefs across the country experimented with different flavors. In this episode, Ralat gives us a brief history of the American taco and why eventually, all foods will make its way into a tortilla.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 300,000 students in the U.S. migrate every year to work in agriculture, from spring to fall. At a high school in South Texas, when these students return, they gather at the Migrant Student Club to discuss their experiences and get support from a migrant student counselor. At a special gathering of the club we met Reyes, who started picking asparagus in Michigan to help support his family when he was 9 years old. And over the course of his last semester of school, we follow him as he works to graduate, financially support his family, and deal with an unexpected twist: the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Puerto Rican population living in the United States is largely concentrated in New York, New Jersey, and Florida — all of which are regions hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. An investigation by the Puerto Rico-based Center for Investigative Journalism (or CPI in Spanish) found that stateside Puerto Rican communities live in areas that are at the highest risk of infection and death by COVID-19, a vulnerable position only compounded by factors such as poverty, high unemployment rates, English-language barriers, and lack of health care and insurance. On this episode of Latino USA, CPI reporters Vanessa Colón Almenas and Coral Murphy break down their findings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maira Mendez's parents work at a massive pork processing plant in Nebraska. Last March, as meatpacking plants across the nation quickly became invisible hotspots for the coronavirus, it became clear to her that the plant, owned by Smithfield Foods, wasn't able to ensure social distancing or provide enough protective equipment. Maira was alarmed at the conditions—and that workers found it difficult to speak up. So she became part of a group called the "The Children of Smithfield," joining other family members of meatpacking workers, to begin calling for action from the plant and the state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August 7th, 2019 was the day that tore apart an unlikely community of Guatemalan immigrants in central Mississippi. A year ago, hundreds of ICE agents arrived at seven chicken processing plants and arrested 680 workers. Many of them were fathers and mothers whose kids were left behind for days, weeks, or even months. Today, many families are still dealing with the consequences of those arrests, many remain unable to work, as they grapple with the traumatic psychological repercussions. Latino USA traveled to the heart of Mississippi to hear about the long term effects of the largest single-state immigration raid in U.S. history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Alice Bag, punk is much more than just a genre, it is an attitude and a way to challenge the expectations and limitations placed on her due to her race, gender, or age. Alice Bag was the lead singer and co-founder of "The Bags," one of the first bands in LA's punk scene in the 1970's. In 2019 Alice performed at "Quinceañera Reimagined," a party that brought together women of color artists across disciplines to challenge the patriarchal history of the quinceañera tradition, and celebrate milestones of growth beyond age and beauty. In this episode of our How I Made It series, Alice Bag looks back at her own growth as an artist, reflecting on how she came to be the fearless musician and feminist she is today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost 70 years ago, a group of majority Mexican-American miners in New Mexico readied themselves for a showdown with their bosses. The miners were going on strike to demand an end to discriminatory practices at the mines. The events inspired the 1954 film "Salt of the Earth"—made by filmmakers who had been blacklisted in Hollywood for supposed leftist sympathies. Latino USA heads to Grant County, New Mexico, to uncover the history of the The Empire Zinc Strike, to find out how a sleepy mining town erupted in protest and if almost 70 years later, anyone still remembers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this segment of our "How I Made It" series, Charlie Uruchima shares his journey with his ancestral language and tells us how he created "Kichwa Hatari," the first Kichwa-language radio station in the U.S. From a bedroom-turned-radio studio, to building an entire community of radio hosts and language activists, Charlie tells us how he discovered the power of radio to build solidarity that defies borders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Anthony Ramos discovered theater in high school, it changed his life. As a teenager, he had his sights set on baseball, but an injury led him down a very different path. Ramos first burst onto the scene in the 2015 smash Broadway hit "Hamilton," but since then he's had roles in major Hollywood films and television. In October of 2019, Ramos released his debut album 'The Good and the Bad', a personal journey set to funky bass lines and R&B vocals. Latino USA sits down with Ramos to discuss growing up in Brooklyn, how mentorship has played an important role in his career, and finding himself in "the room where it happens."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.