Journalists as storytellers

One thing I noticed about most of the books we read this semester is that they tell wonderful stories about real people. As a journalist one must be ethical and truthful and present well balanced facts, but sometimes reporters forget what we do best. That is why I always try to start my articles with a good anecdote that I can use throughout my story.
For instance, this semester I had the privilege of interviewing survivors of horrible domestic violence and orphans living on the edge of an international border. Both of the stories I wrote went into the special issue of El Nuevo Sol, our school's Spanish language newspaper, of which I am one of the editors. Many of my sources thanked me for taking the time to listen to their stories, because they trusted me to retell them to the public, who might not be aware of the issues that affect them on a regular basis. And that is what I hope to achieve with every story I write, ahem, tell.

Here are a few examples of some solid storytelling in:

The Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
ColorLines magazine

Enrique's Journey

I could talk about the assigned sections of Enrique's Journey but I would much rather talk about the book overall. There are many words that come to mind if someone were to ask me what I thought about the book altogther but the first word that comes to mind is, inspiring. Though the book did not have a cliche happy ending like I usually prefer, it was still a happy and positive story in so many ways. Enrique, unlike others who aren't so fortunate, finished his journey.

Sonia Nazario does an excellent job making the book come to life and allowing the readers to envision the harships Enrique had to go through. I really respect her writing because she is telling a story that is real.

Reading about Enrique's encounter was not surprising to me at all. The majority of my family had to go through similar experiences when they migrated from El Salvador to this country. Though i do not know the extent of what they went through, I do know it was a struggle like Enriques. Also similar to Enrique, it took more then one try for them to finally make it to the U.S.

Men's March

On Saturday April 24th men took to the street in Sherman Oaks to show appreciation for women. A Walk in Her Shoes is an international men's march that promoted awareness for violence against women. The march focused on sexual violence as well as gender violence in general. I attended this even and was over whelmed by the amount of support from the community. There were even younger people there to support the cause. Men walked in high heels for a mile so that they could literally walk a mile in her shoes. There were balloons, music, and food to try to take a light approach to a very heavy subject. I covered the event as a news feature for broadcast. Many people were eager to speak with me, and I even got to speak with a sexual assault survivor. My heart went out to the women because she opened up to me and told me that she had been all over California, and had even had problems with people trying to use her as a prostitute. She was extremely grateful for the event and told me that she had personally been to the Valley Trauma Center to look for a way out of the situation. She encouraged women who went through a situation similar to hers to have hope.

I love events like these because they take the real message into the street to create awareness in the community.

Maid In L.A

Maid In L.A. is a very interesting reading that opens the eyes of non Latino entities who have never known women like the ones described in the chapter. The reading not only talks about the experiences both "live in" and "live out" maids went through, but it allows you to hear the voice of the maids by hearing about their personal experiences.

This reading was particulary interesting to me because I have known many women (family members) who have gone through the experiences that the women in the reading went through. In the first paragraph, it says that the poorest of the poor migrate to the U.S and simply cannot afford to make a living. I couldn't agree more. People migrate here to make a better living and to make more money and they are taken advantage of by businesses that know they can get away with paying them the bare minimun.

Maribel Centeno, the first live in maid talked about, was getting paid a measly $80 a week to care for a child and a 23 bedroom home. A server in a restaurant makes more than that on one five hour shift. The sad part is that Maribel was actually a smart, educated women but because of her age and situation, she got taken advantage of as far as not being provided a better income.

The section about house cleaners also hit home to me because I also know many women who continue to learn a living in this way. Of course, even though still not getting paid enough, they make more than the women being talked about in the reading. I think it's sad and disgusting that someone (for example the family that Maribel worked for), can have so much money to own a 23 bedroom home and be okay with paying someone less than a hundred dollars for the amount of work done.

De Colores Means All of Us

Elizabeth Martinez’s “De Colores Means All of Us” was one of those books that had me thinking about issues concerning women in the Latin community and the terms “Chicano/a” and “Hispanic or Latino/a.” In part 5 (Woman Talk: No Taco Belles here), chapter 18 (The pursuit of Latina liberation) she discusses the story about Latina feminists whose main purpose was to “demolish the stereotype of the ‘passive Latin woman’ (163).” In Martinez’s style of writing she is trying to persuade women to be involved in politics and to have a voice. From my impression she is a feminist who wanted to fight racism, the oppression of people and break the stereotype of feminists being seen as bra-burning and man-haters. Overall, I did enjoy Martinez's form of writing. Not only did she use historical facts but she also used her own experience in a story-tell format.

In the Land of God and Man

Silvana Paternostro’s “In the Land of God and Man” had an interesting approach of writing. She wrote the book in a storytelling format which made it easier for me to read and she also captured my interests about the topics that she discussed. The topic Paternostro was talking about in her book was about women’s sexuality in Latin and Latino America. Various people she interviewed in order to write were women from different types of backgrounds, factories, brothels, and boardrooms. She also wrote about her own experiences in the book. My favorite chapters from the book were chapter one: The Invitation and chapter four: A Love Story. Chapter one discussed about her life in Colombia and she also mentioned that she attended a private school where they were taught to be “proper ladies” in society. It was drilled in their head that were to stay virgins until they got married because if they had sex before that they would be looked at as whores or “easy.” I find it to be a double standard that women are to remain virgins or else they would be looked down upon. Whereas, men were allowed to do anything they wanted including have sex with other men then go back home to their wives. I loved Paternostro’s style of writing which drawn different types of emotions.

Enrique's Journey

The story of Enrique’s Journey really opened up my eyes to the world around me. Having never heard any stories of this nature from anyone in the Latin community, all I know in regards to the immigration process was what I saw on TV. Television often portrays illegal immigrants from Latin American countries as uneducated and violent criminals that come to the United States in search for basic necessities. It never however looks at the children of immigrant works that are left behind as a result of the journey that their parents make. It also does not show the kind of hardships that Latin American immigrants face while having to deal with the immigration process. Not just the customs and police inceptions at the border, but also the long journey from their small villages in rural Latin America to the United States border.

Anyone who is interested in the top should take a look at the movie “ Which Way Home”. It is a great documentary film that gives great insight into the issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPqHzfX-70