[upbeat music] - Yo, yo, check me out.

I'm in Washington, D.C., the capital of the country, the most American city there is.

♪ But when you think of D.C., you mostly think of dead white guys, am I right?

Like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln.

Well, guess what.

Latinos have been here every step of the way.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] In fact, Latinx heroes have fought in every war for the United States for centuries.

This goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

American forces got major financial contributions from Cuba, and they also got help from the Spanish forces led by a young Venezuelan commander named Francisco de Miranda.

And then during the Civil War, more than 20,000 Hispanics served.

Almost half of them were Mexican-American, and that was only 13 years after the Mexican-American War.

Now where's the monument for that?

Huh?

Huh?

Huh?

Now, today, nearly 20% of the U.S. population is Latin, and our numbers are growing.

Our voting power is growing too, and about one in ten votes are being cast by Latinos, and yet we still make up less than 2% of our elected officials, but the good news is, we do have some prominent figures, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Veronica Escobar, Ritchie Torres, and Alex Padilla.

And they're in good company, because Latinos make up more than 11% of D.C.'s population.

♪ This city has a ton of Latin influence in art, in politics, and in culture, and of course food because where there's Latino culture, there's always some damn good food.

So let's get some eats.

I'm buying.

You're welcome.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] ♪ [upbeat electronic music] ♪ - I'm in D.C., so you know we're gonna talk politics, and you can't do that on an empty stomach, so first I'm hitting up La Cosecha, a space filled with Hispanic-owned businesses and restaurants bringing Latinx heritage to downtown D.C., but eating alone is no fun, so I'm bringing superstar Diane Guerrero, who you've probably seen on "Orange is the New Black," "Doom Patrol," or "Encanto" where she plays Isabela.

- Thank you.

- Oh, it's nothing.

[sighs] - Oh, and maybe you recognize this guy's voice too.

- I used to say my real gift was "acting."

[chuckles] - Anyway, I'm really excited that Diane can meet up with me.

Hey, how's it going?

Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

- Haven't seen you since the premiere.

- Yeah, that was fun.

- Did you get an extra check?

- No.

- No, me neither.

- I'm still waiting for it.

- Suckers.

Let's go.

Let's go into La Cosecha.

- Okay.

[chuckles] - How you been?

- I'm good.

I'm good.

- Yeah, yeah?

- Yeah, happy to be here.

I love D.C. [upbeat Latin-tinged music] - Diane, this place is so cool 'cause it used to be a cash and carry.

- Well, now, what's a cash and carry?

What does that mean?

- That's a great question.

I think it's like a marketplace where Latin families around here could come and get their fresh produce.

- And now they're all Latin businesses.

- Yeah, you've got a Peruvian Brothers, the Salvadorian pupusas, a Venezuelan homemade chocolate, artisanal.

What's grabbing your fancy?

- All right.

Well, I heard pupusa.

Did we not mention pupusa?

- Pupusas are cornmeal tortillas with different fillings like pork or beans and cheese and are a popular dish in El Salvador.

Which was your favorite pupusa then?

- I like bean and cheese.

- Bean and cheese.

- Yeah.

- Let's stop talking about it.

Let's go get it.

- Yeah, let's, please.

♪ [both speaking Spanish] - This is her jam.

She loves pupusas.

- Oh, my gosh.

I haven't had it in a while.

- How did you get here?

How did you come up with this incredible idea?

- Oh, my gosh.

- Spill the tea.

- The whole idea.

- Spill the tea, come on.

- Spill the tea, okay.

So basically, my parents arrived in the D.C. area in the '70s... ♪ When we grew up, we were like, "How do we create that energy of family, business in an environment that we can relate to?"

Because obviously we're first-generation.

- And what does pupusa mean?

- Well, it comes from the word "popol," right?

Which is an old Native American term.

And it also is just one of those foods that it's very nostalgic for salvadoreños.

- That's awesome.

- All right.

What are you gonna have?

- I'm gonna have the frijol con queso.

- She's gonna have what she wanted.

I want to do the chicharrón.

- You want to do the chicharrón.

Okay.

- Bringing Salvadorian classics like pupusas to D.C. is what makes Chef Iris feel at home in this city.

- You know, I was like, "How do I get back to my roots in a way that feels connected for me?

'Cause I wasn't born in El Salvador, you know what I mean?

- Right, right.

- I think a lot of young Latinos that grow up in the United States, we're struggling with that, you know?

Like, we're tied to our old country and our parents, but at the same time, we're American.

- Right.

For me, I thought the more assimilated you were, the more accepted you were, obviously.

- Right, right, which is the messaging you're getting everywhere.

- It's the messaging you're getting everywhere.

I regret this now, because I'm like, "Damn, "all those moments where I could have let my parents "just be themselves and try out their broken English, "and it would be fine, and I thought that I was trying to protect my parents from, like, ridicule--" - Because you were the English-speaking-- the better English-speaking-- - I was, like--yeah.

And my mom would be like... [speaking Spanish] Like, let me be me.

- Yeah, right.

- But for some reason, during that time growing up, I couldn't accept that they were from somewhere else and that I was this sort of, like, mutant, you know?

- Yeah.

- And I really understand, you know, Colombian culture, but I also understand American culture, and I speak Spanglish.

- Right.

I think it takes a long time for Latin kids to understand that they have something to be proud of, you know, that everything that they are is something beautiful and powerful.

- Right.

- Takes a long time because, you know, when did you ever see Latinos really being funny as themselves?

When "Sexaholix" came out, and I'll tell you, when I was in high school, and nobody could afford HBO, and think about going to one of those shows-- - I know, everybody was bootlegging.

It was a bootlegging culture, that's for sure.

- [laughs] It was.

Everybody was trading this one tape, and everybody had it.

- And someday I'm gonna have to tell my kids the story of our origins, but it's not gonna start, "Once upon a time," because that's for white fairy tales.

Latin history starts, "You ain't never gonna believe this ."

[laughter] - And when it got to me, I couldn't believe it because I could be in on the joke.

It didn't go to just the Latino kids.

That was the beautiful part of it.

It went to, like, all the kids, the Black kids and the white kids, and so we all had something to talk about, and they knew what our jokes were.

- I started writing my own stuff to make sure that I could see the Latinos that I wanted to see onstage.

- Right, your story.

- Oh, here it is.

It's ready.

- We're ready.

♪ - Ooh, I'm so excited!

- Okay, so you got your frijole.

So curtido on top obviously.

- And curtido, please explain what curtido is.

- So curtido is a fermented cabbage, and then vinegar, a little jalapeño in there, so it's not too spicy.

♪ - Buen provecho!

- As we say in Latin America, buen provecho.

- Igualmente.

- Ooh, it's nice and hot.

- Take a bite altogether.

- [chuckles] - That's good.

- Yes, the flavor.

- Oh, that's the way you eat it, yeah.

- Yes, she does.

- Come on, oh, man.

- When you do that Spider-Man stuff, mmm.

- She's not playing.

- [imitates web shooters] - [laughs] - She's got skills.

- It's not her first pupusa.

- Not her first rodeo.

- Well, thank you; this is amazing.

- Of course, John.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you, Diane.

- This is so delicious.

- She's gonna pay for it.

- Okay, you take care.

- One second.

- I'll leave now... - Thank you.

- While she pays.

- He never pays for a thing, never.

♪ - Okay, let's check out Peruvian Brothers.

Peruvian food, I'm a big fan of Peruvian food.

- And Peruvian brothers.

- Hey, Peruvian Brothers, what's up?

How you doing, man?

- How are you, John?

- You're the tallest Peruvians in the world.

Did you play B-ball or no?

- I rowed.

I rowed for the U.S.-- for the Olympic team-- - Peru in the house.

So tell us a little bit about your incredible Peruvian Brothers establishment.

♪ - In 2013, we're like, "Let's start a food truck."

My brother started with the recipes of things that we miss from Peru.

- Like, what do you miss?

What do you miss?

The pan con chicharrón.

It's a sandwich that my dad used to take us to the markets in Peru to a mercado, and we used to, like, you know, just grab a pan con chicharrón with freshly baked French rolls.

- Is that what we're gonna be eating?

Is that what we're gonna be eating now?

- We're gonna be eating that.

We got ceviche.

We got the pan con chicharrón.

- Bring it.

- But in the meanwhile, you guys can have pisco sour slushy.

- Or do you want a pisco sour slushy?

- Pi-- - Yeah.

- Pisco sour slushy.

- Does it have alcohol in it?

- Of course.

- Yes, though.

- Very strong please.

- [laughs] - Oh, got it, got it, got it.

♪ We were talking about the memories of food and how it takes you back to your country, to your roots, to your parents, to your indigenous culture.

What is it to you?

- We want people to come here.

We want people to taste something, and we want people to say, "I want to go to Peru."

There's so much more to Peru, the culture, the textiles, the music, the scenery.

- The people.

I love the people, man.

- The people.

- That's what I wanted to do with this show, Diane.

I wanted to do a show where people watch this and go, "I want to be Latino."

- Right, right.

- "Damn, well, too bad I'm not Latino."

- And so that we can actually see the love that goes into cooking from our cultures.

Like, right now, everything that I've, like, learned about you so far, and just seeing your brother... - Oh, my God, seeing him prepare that.

- Make this dish, it's with so much love.

- That's beautiful, man, beautiful.

Right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- That's beautiful.

- Please, try it.

- Okay.

- Be honest.

[laughter] - And I don't eat fish.

- You don't eat fish?

- Not really.

- You're gonna start.

- Wow, this looks amazing.

- Mmm.

Wow.

- Mmm.

- Yeah?

Good.

- I love lime.

Lime with everything.

♪ - And then we have the chicharrón.

- If you like hot sauce... - Yes, I do.

Put some-- a little bit of rocoto, and then try it with a little bit of the smoked rocoto.

- Mmm.

- Yeah?

- Wow.

- See, one of the reasons I think it's so good is, because it combines the sweetness of the sweet potato with the saltiness of the pork, and if you add the rocoto hot sauce, it just explodes in your mouth.

- And the onions make it look good too.

- Pow, pow.

- [laughs] - When you're eating, for Latin people, it's a time to share, to share experiences.

It's a--we talk.

We like to talk.

It's a ritual, and I want to ask you, because you've been-- she's been an activist for a very long time.

[light music] For years, Diane has been out there pushing for change, whether it's getting out the vote... - Let's show up and vote this year for immigrants and for keeping families together.

- Or standing up for immigrants' rights.

- I share my struggle to help open eyes to the agony that every one of these kids will face forever.

- She's been on the front lines.

What propelled you into activism?

- Well, my family was separated when I was 14 through deportation.

My entire life, I kind of, like, lived in the shadows with them even though I wanted-- we so wanted to be alive and living amongst the living.

- Right, right.

- So I was inspired by just simply telling my truth, because my entire life I was, like, told to lie.

- Really?

- About me, my parents, everybody.

We couldn't be honest about who we were.

- Was it that you just assumed that's what people wanted you to do, or people were actively telling you?

- No, I think that my parents were actively telling-- because they didn't have their paperwork together, I knew that I had to keep quiet, and so living like that really, really hurt me.

- It traumatized you.

- It traumatized me.

So then when my parents were eventually taken away, I was left by myself.

- Oh, my God.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So you're left alone... - I was left alone at 14.

- In the home.

- But before that, I had 14 years to live with my parents where they got to experiment with food.

My father would make meals for the entire neighborhood.

- Right.

- He taught me about love through food, through our culture.

[light music] - When Diane's parents returned to Colombia, she stayed with friends and finished high school, but she traveled to see her family whenever she could.

- So when I set out to tell our story, it was that.

It was to sort of, like, trump whatever perception they had of my community, because I knew how beautiful my community was and is.

And so being here, it has such history, to see all of these Latin-owned businesses, like, express, and, like, a lot of first-generation, right?

- Right.

- Seeing them express themselves through what their parents taught them is really special.

- Right.

It's the same thing you're doing.

Well said.

Well said.

- Yeah, thank you, man.

Thank you, man.

Thank you.

- [upbeat Latin-tinged music] - That's why places like La Cosecha are so important, because they give Latinos a space in D.C. to share their culture, and that leads to greater visibility on all levels, including our government.

♪ [regal orchestral music] - So yo, I promised that I would talk politics, and believe me, I got a lot to say about equal representation, meaning who's sitting in those fancy buildings around town and who's not.

So Latinos are about 20% of the U.S. population, right?

But they're only 10% of Congress.

Does that seem right to you?

Nuh-uh.

Well, Congressman Ritchie Torres, a Puerto Rican representative from the Bronx, doesn't think so either.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] Congressman Torres has been fighting for the South Bronx since he was 25 years old, first as a New York City Council member... - I have made the decision to allocate $25,000 to establish a food pantry for employees who have felt the immediate impact of the government shutdown.

- And then in the House of Representatives winning New York's 15th Congressional District at 32, becoming the first openly gay Afro-Latino representative in Congress.

- Ritchie.

- Oh, John, how are you?

- How's it going?

How are you?

- It's good to see you.

I'm a huge fan.

- I'm a big fan as well.

- It's an honor to have you.

- Thank you for having me.

So exciting being here in the house.

- There's never a dull moment in D.C. - Oh, I bet.

You must be exhausted.

- Look, if someone had said to me a few years ago that I would become a member of Congress during a global pandemic and witness an insurrection against the U.S. Capitol and then vote to impeach an outgoing president, and all of that would happen within the first two weeks?

- That's crazy.

- Like, I can write a memoir.

- Wow.

- People like me don't normally make it to Congress.

I'm just enormously grateful to give back to my home, the Bronx.

- Right, right.

'Cause what is it exactly, what you want to give back to the BX?

- My passion is housing.

- Mm.

- So I, you know, spent almost all my life in the Bronx in poverty.

I was raised by a single mother who had to raise three of us on minimum wage, which in the 1990s was about $4.25 an hour.

So I grew up in conditions of mold and mildew, leaks and lead without consistent heat and hot water in the winter, and the mission of my life is to improve the living conditions in public housing.

- Now, you ran an unconventional campaign.

- I was an openly gay candidate running in the South Bronx, which has an element of social conservatism.

So I won on the strength of door-to-door, face-to-face campaigning.

I went into people's homes.

I heard their stories.

- It's so old-fashioned, so analog.

- It's grassroots.

- Yeah, yeah.

That's grassroots.

- And, you know, people would tell me, "In the 50 years I've been living in the South Bronx, "I've never had a candidate for public office or a public official knock on my door."

So it leaves a lasting impression.

- That you care.

- I'm gonna come to your home and meet you face-to-face.

- Takes a lot of hours and a lot of time.

- But it's worth it.

- And you felt energized by every conversation and-- - You know, I'm an introvert.

- Oh, you are?

- But I found it energizing.

- Yeah.

- I found it energizing, because you realize that places like the Bronx are full of unsung heroes.

- I told you.

Didn't I say that?

And he's verifying.

- I think the voters of the South Bronx came to see me as the embodiment of their highest hopes and aspirations for their own children and grandchildren, and that connection is more powerful than any form of prejudice, including homophobia.

- Thank you.

Good to see you.

- And I want to thank you for everything you're doing for the community.

- The average net worth in Congress is more than a million dollars.

Historically, it's been a white male oligarchy.

- Right.

- I'm Afro-Latino.

I don't have a net worth of a million dollars.

I don't even have a college degree.

- Wow, you don't?

- But what I bring to the table is the wisdom of lived experience.

I know what it's like to struggle with poverty and inequality and food insecurity and housing insecurity, and so I feel like I bring something new to the United States Congress.

- You're an anomaly in so many ways, I mean-- - You know, like, in New York City, we have one of the largest Latino populations, and yet there's not a single Latino in the leadership of the New York City government.

- What?

So that means that there's never been a Latino in any of the top three citywide elected offices in a town that is, well, so Latino.

- You know, and a wise person once said, "If you don't have a seat at the table, then you're probably on the menu."

- [chuckles] Oh, snap.

Like, break it down for some young person who doesn't understand politics, doesn't think their vote counts.

Why do you think your representation matters so much?

- Well, representation ensures that you get your fair share from the federal government.

Like, the federal government affects every aspect of your life... - Mm.

- And no one is gonna fight more vigorously for the Latino community than Latinos themselves, and we have to ensure that there's Latino representation in Congress.

We deserve a seat at the table, and there are young Latinos and Latinas who have a right to see themselves in their elected officials and to feel inspired to one day run for public office as long as they don't run against me.

- [laughs] - Just wait for me to retire, and then-- - Stay away from the BX.

♪ Talking to young politicians like Ritchie Torres gives me hope that someday our leadership will be as diverse as America itself, and with the Latinx vote on the come up, I can't wait to see more young folks running for office.

I see you, Gen Z.

[upbeat music] - Linking up with Ritchie Torres was so inspiring, but how do we get more Latinx leaders like him into office?

One important step is getting out the vote.

Right now, Latinos are the second-largest voter block in the United States, but only half of all eligible voters of any color actually vote.

♪ That's why Maria Teresa Kumar and Rosario Dawson founded Voto Latino with one mission in mind, to get more Latinx voters to the ballot box, and it's working.

Since launching in 2004, Voto Latino has registered over a million new voters and spearheaded campaigns to fight unfair redistricting and voter suppression.

- So you're here to shake it up a little bit?

- I want to try to shake it up a little bit.

Shake it up a little bit.

You're--you've been shaking it up forever.

How many years has that been?

- Oh, my gosh.

I like to say we're 18 years young.

- Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.

I mean, longevity in this game is everything.

- Well, and this is what folks don't realize is that every 30 seconds a Latino turns 18 years old.

And so when people... - Voter.

- Voter.

- And that's for folks-- you know, and people say, "Well, why do you do what you do?"

Well, if we deeply believe that Latinos are part of America, well, citizenship is, voting is.

- Do we not vote?

- You know, John, one of the biggest myths out there is that Latinos don't vote.

- Right.

- That is actually not our problem.

The biggest challenge of the Latino community is that we can't keep up with the amount of people turning 18 every single year.

- Right.

What can we as a regular civilian do to help what you're doing?

- Well, you know that peer to peer?

[speaks Spanish] When you talk to your friends, that's who you believe and who you trust, you know?

It's not enough just to register.

- Right.

- Bring your aunts.

Bring your cousins.

You know.

- When people say, you know, "Latinos are not a monolith," I agree.

- Oh, yeah.

- Not only are we not a monolith, but we're also facing generational changes.

- Also, because we're going further than our parents did, so now we're bumping against a society that doesn't always include us or want us to be there.

- They don't want to include us in the spaces that they feel we're not supposed to.

- Right.

- Right?

And when people say voting doesn't work, I say, "It works when you participate."

Because that same person that's trying to dissuade you, they're dusting off themselves on, like, that Tuesday on that November election day, and they're voting.

- See?

- You better believe it.

- Participate.

- Participate.

- That's the key takeaway.

Participate.

- And run for office, and run for office.

- Thank you, Maria.

What a pleasure.

- God bless you.

- I feel like Maria Teresa just gave me a challenge.

Register more Latinos to vote.

And that's why I'm tapping Clarissa Martinez de Castro of Unidos U.S. for some help.

♪ Unidos U.S. got its start in the civil rights movement and since then has partnered with over 300 organizations to support door knocking, phone calling, and canvassing.

Clarissa is one of their top organizers, an unstoppable force.

She went from undocumented immigrant to leading voter campaigns across the country.

How did you end up in D.C.?

- So interesting story.

I came to the United States from Mexico.

[acoustic guitar music] I was a teenager, and it was my mom's decision.

I was undocumented at the time.

- Right.

- We didn't know what the future was gonna hold, and there was a passionate group of advocates working at that time to make a legalization program possible.

That allowed me to become a citizen, and I feel a responsibility to work towards creating opportunities that I never thought I would have.

- And so you're an immigrant, and instead of just, you know, sitting back or just working and taking care of your life, you started working with all these advocates.

You took the torch, and you said, "This is what I gotta do to help others."

I find it amazing.

- Right now, when so many of the things around us seem so challenging and overwhelming... - Oh, my God, they do.

- What it tells me is that... - Right, every little action, every little move that we make does move the needle forward a little bit.

- Or in democracy, like, love and happiness are not our destination or our journey, and I think sometimes we forget that we gotta stay ever vigilant... - Yes.

- And nurture it and feed it and protect it, and right now, we're being reminded of that.

♪ - Clarissa invited me to canvass with her and her colleague Olianka, and we're about to make good on Maria's challenge and register some voters.

What made you want to register?

- I mean, I've been involved in, like, working, like, with politicians and with immigration reform ever since I was, like, six, seven years old.

- Wow.

- Been going to, like, marches with my parents.

- What made you get so motivated politically?

Oh, this is your mom.

What a pleasure.

- Yeah.

- You've done a good job.

[light music] - So here is a flag.

♪ - What motivated you to register to vote today?

- It's important because my mom comes from an immigrant family, and it's just so important to get your voice out there.

- This your first time voting?

- Yeah, I'll be able to vote in the next election.

- I gotcha.

- Yeah.

- It's interesting to register people to vote, and we're not saying vote Democrat or Republican.

We're doing a great service for citizenship in America.

- We want to make sure people have the ability to exercise that precious right to vote and to make sure that politicians of whatever stripe they are, they're accountable to all of us.

- Preach, preach, Clarissa.

Thank you.

♪ So vote, mi gente, my people.

Get out there and do it already.

It's time to stand up and be heard.

♪ [acoustic guitar music] - D.C. has a museum for everything: American history, African American history and culture, the National Archives, and the list goes on and on.

But yo, there's a big one missing, a museum honoring the contributions of Latinos, and we deserve a place on the National Mall.

Believe me, I know.

I did my homework for my show "Latin History for Morons."

Yo, what happened in the 3,000 years between our great indigenous civilizations and us?

How did we become so goddamn nonexistent?

[gentle orchestral music] The good news is, the Smithsonian and Congress are building the Museum of the American Latino, and I've been pushing to make it happen by raising money and joining the board for the Friends of the American Latino Museum.

We need this mecca where we can all come and bring our grandchildren so they see themselves celebrated, honored, respected.

'cause this country wasn't made without us.

It was made because of us.

[cheers and applause] In the meantime, I'm gonna get a sneak peak of the new Latin history exhibit at the Smithsonian with director Jorge Zamanillo.

- Welcome to the National Museum of American History, John.

- I love it.

- This is the Molina Family Latino Gallery.

It's really the first physical presence of the National Museum of the American Latino.

- Finally, thank you!

- Yeah, let me show you around.

- Yeah, please, please.

I'm so curious, because I love history.

What about Latin culture did you feel that we have to offer America?

- Well, one thing I discovered when I first visited museums here in D.C. is that they did a great job telling the American narrative, the American history that we learned in textbooks, but I didn't see our story being told, right?

- Yeah, hello?

- So that representation was missing.

I knew we had to tell the stories.

- There's so many Americans that think we just got here, like, yesterday... - Right.

- When we've been here for 500 years, and then before that, we were these incredible empires.

That's a lot of history, a lot of museum artifacts.

That's a lot of information, people, heroes.

How do you fix that here?

- Well, you gotta do a deep dive.

This gallery here is kind of a 101 of the history of the American Latinos in the United States.

This section is Colonial Legacies.

[upbeat tribal music] - And I know a thing or two about colonization.

Indigenous people were doing just fine until the Europeans showed up bringing war and disease that wiped out their villages... [gunshots] And obliterated their cultures.

♪ It was a bloodbath.

And the struggle continues to this day as Latinx Indigenous people and Native Americans fight to have their culture and accomplishments recognized.

- It's really the beginning of this American empire, right?

Here we really get into the wars of expansion, that expansion to the west and leading to the Mexican-American War.

- Right, this was kind of, like, during the gold rush in California.

It was all Mexico, and then it became the United States when the people who had stakes there for thousands of years are now pushed out.

- Yeah, so now you're driving out indigenous people.

You're driving out Mexican citizens.

- All these landowners that were Mexican, some of them had big ranches.

They stripped them of their land.

- Yeah, and that's where you get the vaquero term.

- Right, everything vaquero is Latino.

"Lasso" is a Spanish word.

"Rodeo" is a Spanish word.

"Corral."

- "Buckaroo" is from vaquero.

When you start reading through all these little different narratives and stories, you start uncovering all these little things and gems that you didn't realize were true.

- Right, you didn't realize what an influence Latin people had in the making of American culture.

Now, Americans love their westerns, but let's remember where much of that lingo came from, buckaroo.

[gunshot] - So here we enter immigration, talk about immigration stories and what does it mean to seek democracy, you know, seek safety possibly from another country's dictatorship, struggles?

- Asylum seekers, yeah.

- Asylum seekers... - Refugees.

- Looking for work opportunities.

- Right.

- Here you have a great example.

This is a small raft made of Styrofoam... - Yeah, incredible.

- Fabric, wood.

- This is a real-- - Yeah, real Cuban raft.

- Wow.

- Two men came on this.

- What is it, 90 miles from Cuba?

- It's 90 miles at the closest point from Key West to Cuba.

- Yeah.

[upbeat orchestral music] For all immigrants, not just Latinos, America is a beacon of opportunity, a chance to build a better life and make this country stronger.

The journey is hard, and let's face it, it can be unwelcoming, but Latinos keep trying to make the dream a reality.

♪ - This is a beautiful piece here called "The Tree of Life."

[bright acoustic guitar music] - The Smithsonian had this sculpture made for the exhibit, and it's a who's who of Latinx history.

Is that Dolores Huerta?

- That's Dolores Huerta right there.

- No, get out.

I recognize her.

Dolores Huerta is a legendary labor leader who fought for farm workers' rights alongside Cesar Chavez, and this woman knows how to strike for what Latinos want and need.

- Sonia Sotomayor.

- Oh, yeah, there she is at the top.

Sonia Sotomayor made history as the first Latina judge on the Supreme Court and the youngest in the New York District Court.

- Mariano Rivera, so you have some athletes also.

- Mariano, Mo, Sandman was the Yankees go-to closing pitcher winning five world championships.

Now, I may be a Mets fan, but I gotta admit, he truly is an all-star.

- So you see all these different events and protests and symbols that really capture the Latino story in the United States.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] - When Latinos see themselves in spaces like the Smithsonian, it gives them a sense of pride and belonging, because Latinx history is American history, and Latinos deserve a museum to house all their stories, so I'm gonna keep the pressure on till the Museum of the American Latino becomes a reality.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] - As I make my way around D.C., Latinx history can be hard to find, but if you know where to look, there are hidden gems, places like Monte Placer, or Mount Pleasant on the city's northwest side.

♪ For decades, starting in the '60s, this neighborhood was home to tons of Black and Latinx folks.

Think of it as an unofficial embassy of culture.

It was all here, businesses, shops, art, and poetry.

♪ - What does it feel like inside?

♪ What color is this Latin dude?

♪ How does he do what he does?

- Salvadorian poet and activist Quique Avilés has been a fixture in this community for years.

- I came here in 1980 fleeing the war in El Salvador that was being supported by the United States.

- Right because El Salvador was about to get an egalitarian government that was democratic, and the U.S. said, "No, we want the right wing "and the militia to have weapons and power and usurp all the power."

- So all of a sudden, El Salvador exploded, and my family sneak me out, and then I came here legally, and I really did not know what to expect, you know?

- Right.

So how did this neighborhood shape you as an artist and a poet?

- This neighborhood is what feeds me.

This is the last little sliver of the Latino community that was here before.

♪ Mount Pleasant is a historic district.

A lot of this housing that you see here was built for federal workers, and I grew up mostly with Black folk.

♪ I got into street theater, doing political theater, you know, demonstrating all the atrocities that were happening.

- It's amazing how they become our allies and give us a way to express ourselves that the white community doesn't allow us.

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

- There was a lot of poetry that was used in the performances, you know?

Because most of us were writers.

There were a lot of people here that were former hippies, and we would go to the demonstrations, to the concerts.

♪ - But it wasn't all good.

There were language barriers, high unemployment, unaffordable and overcrowded housing, and one night in 1991 the cops shot a Latinx man, and no one was held accountable, so it was no surprise when it all exploded.

There was an incident, a riot that happened here.

Can you tell me a little bit about that?

- Yeah, in 1991, Cinco de Mayo, a guy gets drunk and belligerent in a joint over here, you know, and they call the police.

- The trouble started when police shot a man they say failed to follow their order to drop a knife.

Some witnesses say the man was in handcuffs when he was shot.

- But that time, there was a lot of Latinos here, you know?

- Right, right.

- And especially in this neighborhood, and people just had had it.

- Dealing with the pressure and police brutality and lack of services, right?

- Oh, you know it.

So and this incident just kind of was the spark, and people just took over the streets.

- Police responded with tear gas only after repeatedly being pelted with rocks and bottles.

More city vehicles, including a bus, were set ablaze as Hispanics called for an independent investigation of the Sunday night police shooting of a Hispanic man they were trying to arrest.

[loud explosion] - You thought that you were back in El Salvador, you know?

I mean, it just felt like that.

- You need policeman that are culturally aware.

They don't know our people.

- This is the only way we have to make them know that we exist here.

- After the riot, the community pushed for police reform, and a few changes did happen.

The city created a Latino civil rights task force and hired a slew of bilingual officers.

Now that's progress, my people.

[upbeat music] Okay, so relations with the city seemed to improve, but soon, there were other problems.

Rents went up, and many Latin families and businesses were forced out, your classic gentrification story.

- Mount Pleasant is turning very, very, very white.

And now it feels like we become the correction.

- That is what Quique and other poets are speaking out against.

Their poetry has become an oral history and a voice for Latinos in D.C.

They inspire others to fight back using words, not violence.

- They ask me to write down my race, and I think very seriously and consider writing down the truth and have my answer read, "I have 18th and Columbia Road, "Julio Iglesias, The Jackson 5, "and Lilo Gonzalez inside this body.

"I have a son named John Enrique "who's brown and Black "and human and tender.

I have you inside this body."

But I stop, and I simply write down Hispanic.

[cheers and applause] [inspirational music] - When you think about a community, the first thing you think about for us is a greeting.

- Mm-hmm.

- Right?

You walk through a neighborhood that's a neighborhood, and I say hello, you say... [together] Hello.

- Now here's the thing.

You know gentrification has taken hold when that hello becomes...

When a street full of greetings gets invaded by silence, we think about fear.

[jazzy music] - I am the clave that beats your timbales, the pearls that shake in maracas, salsa dancing in your soul.

I am the child of... [speaks Spanish] A ripe mango that dribbles on your chin, the sugar cane that sweetens your tongue, coffee brewing in your blood.

- Things my daughter must know.

You are beautiful.

Be your complexion, a cluster of quartz, a cousin of liquid bronze, of pure ebony that flows into the garden of black gardenias kissing your skull.

Each coily petal caresses your mind, your mind that must know you are beautiful.

[cheers and applause] All right, so I actually want to bring up one more creative.

So please help me welcome Mr. John Leguizamo up to the stage.

- Here it goes.

[cheers and applause] - You got it.

- I mean, I feel inadequate coming up here after these beautiful, beautiful poems you shared with me.

You know, obviously, I love words.

I'm a wordsmith myself.

I mean, I write differently than y'all, but, I mean, words are so powerful, right?

I mean, they change us.

They say sometimes, when we experience certain sentences, our brains change forever, and I really believe that.

That's my religion.

The power of language.

I think it's the most powerful tool there is to change people, to change society, and it is a tool that I choose.

And so this, I think, was so healing, you know?

What everybody here does is so healing and so powerful, I felt it so deeply, and I just love what you're doing, and thank you for sharing with us.

Yeah.

[cheers and applause] The struggle for visibility is painful, and yet the art that comes out of this community is a powerful reminder that Latinos will continue to fight to define themselves.

It's all about taking that anger and frustration and channeling it into something beautiful, cathartic, and timeless.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] - Like the poetry scene, the Gala Theatre in Northwest D.C. is by Latinos for Latinos, keeping it real since the '70s, and it all started in this townhouse, a refuge for Latino ex-pats who wanted to get down and political onstage.

And today it's a full-blown theater offering bilingual performances from all over the world.

- Paso Nuevo or New Step is a free-- that's right, I said free-- year-round theater program for young adults.

Many of the students are immigrants juggling multiple jobs, classes, and learning English.

Gala is that safe space where they can let go and just be themselves, and in a country where they often feel invisible, Gala makes sure that they get the spotlight.

- [speaks Spanish] - [speaks Spanish] [both speaking Spanish] [cheers and applause] - Oh, yeah.

[cheers and applause] Thank you.

- Hey.

- Aldo.

- Aldo, John.

Fran.

- Fran.

- Yeah, why not?

I'm ready for a challenge.

- Okay.

- Yeah, come on, man, yeah.

- Call the high-- call the medic.

- I'm not sure if that's for public consumption.

[laughter] - Okay, why don't we gather a little bit, guys?

- Sure, sure.

I sit on the ground, or-- - Yeah, sit in a circle.

- Do a little communion.

- Yeah.

- While politicians on Capitol Hill endlessly debate immigration, the real life impact is often left out of the conversation.

These students want to be heard.

I'm just curious, how has the Gala Theatre changed you?

- Even though I was-- like, I have immigrant parents, my Spanish is horrible, and, like, it's kind of, like, embarrassing for me, but, like, I think reading it and, like, speaking it in front of other people, it made me more comfortable, especially.

- I used to be very nervous myself, like a lot of you, very shy and introverted, and the acting, you know, helped me.

- Even if they have to work and support their families, Paso Nuevo gives them the opportunity to imagine other futures for them.

- Yeah, yeah.

- This is a safe space to do that.

- Exactly, I mean, theater helped me focus my energy in a more positive way, and it gave me goals, and it kept me out of trouble and saved me.

What kind of stories would you like to see told more onstage and movies?

See, I was there too.

- Oh, were you?

- Yeah, I was there.

- Yeah, I'd love to see those stories like that.

She wants to be very political.

- Yeah.

[chuckles] - Yeah, yeah.

- I love it.

- And you?

- Oh, it's okay.

- A lot of our students have come with half of their family, and they come here, and we get to, like, speak about it.

- Right.

People don't understand that, being an immigrant, there's a PTSD that happens.

There's so much stress.

You're in a whole new culture.

So I hear you.

I feel you.

But if you take your trauma, and art is the best place to use it and to get control of it.

- Yes, you get control of your own story, and you tell it from your perspective.

- Yes.

- So you own it.

- Yes.

- And that makes you powerful.

- Yes!

And all of a sudden, it's not a demon anymore.

- Yeah.

- Now it's your power.

♪ - What's amazing about a place like this, we all have a stage to be whatever you want to be, probably the best person that you can be.

- Well, thank you for sharing these amazing stories.

I was very moved by them, and I'm just very proud of all of you and everything that you do in this space.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- If there's one thing that I've learned during my time in the capital, it's the power of one's voice.

Latinos are here and have been contributing to this nation's history and its growth, and when it feels like Latinos are invisible, remember that... [speaking in Spanish] Every grain of sand counts.

[upbeat Latin-tinged music] ♪ ♪♪