• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALDERON 8.12.12

THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALDERON 8.12.12

August 12, 2012 by

FOR ME SUCESS IS ABOUT “WE,” NOT “ME.”

 

I always think that, together, we can do bigger things than we can as separate individuals. I believe this in the core of my being. All of my professional choices have been made in this vein, with the idea that, if I can work hard to work with others, together we can make a lot more change happen.

But not everyone feels this way.

We live in an “every man for himself” kind of world. When you are out and about in this world talking about the power of “we,” oftentimes you get dismissed as being naive or idealistic. But, for me, there really is no other way. I think about my family, my childhood, the values that I brought with me into adulthood and I realize that this idea of community success is part of who I am as a Latina.

My father would always tell my brother and I, “You two have to love each other, because you’re all you’ve got.” When holidays would roll around, choices would be made to accommodate everyone, not just those who were calling the shots. When someone is going through a hard time, everyone pulls their resources to try to find a solution. No one is an island, especially in a Latino family.

It hadn’t occurred to me that I held such a different view of the world until I was asked about it.

But once I thought about it, I realized that thinking about how “we” can change the world as opposed to “me” has guided my life in important and fundamental ways. Why did I choose journalism? Why do I invest time building networks and communities on, and off, the Internet? Why work with younger people who ask for guidance and help? All of these professional choices fall in line with my core belief that I’m part of something larger than just my own needs and desires.

I can’t really speak for anyone else or whether they experience Latino culture as one of a more “we” mentality. Personally, I feel like my life is richer because this is the way I experience the world, I can’t imagine simply living for myself with no regard for how my actions or choices affect others, or create opportunities of inclusion for others.

If I were to be honest with myself, I’ve benefitted from people who held the same beliefs, creating opportunities and space for me. So, in a sense, I’m contributing to the circle, and hopefully, this way I’ll be able to keep it going.

—
Sara Inés Calderón
sarainescalderon.com
@SaraChicaD
Skype: SaraChicaD

la vida es dura, pero es bella

 

Copyright 2012 by Sara Inés Calderon

Filed Under: Blogs, Sara Ines Calderon

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 07.03.25 BRILLIANCE OF ÁNGEL RODRÍGUEZ-DÍAZ

July 3, 2025 By wpengine

The Brilliance of Latino Artist Ángel Rodríguez-Díaz Among the major acquisitions by the prestigious Smithsonian American Art Museum in the 1990s was an Ángel Rodríguez-Diaz painting of famed Latina novelist Sandra Cisneros. Rodríguez-Díaz painted Cisneros in a black Mexican dress decorated with sequins and embroidery, and she “holds a patterned rebozo that snakes around her […]

MIS PENSAMIENTOS with ALFREDO SANTOS 07.03.25 NO KINGS DAY PROTESTS

July 3, 2025 By wpengine

THE NO KINGS PROTEST RALLY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS On a pleasant Saturday afternoon on June 14, 2025, Austin participated in a nationwide ‘NO KINGS” protest rally along with 2,100 other cities and towns and 5,000,000 others citizens across the U.S.A.. It’s estimated that the Austin rally, held on the Texas Capital grounds, drew over 20,000 […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO 07.03.25 VIEQUES PARAÍSO AGRÍCOLA

July 3, 2025 By wpengine

Burundanga de Zocotroco José M. Umpierre Vieques Vieques es la Isla Nena del Archipiélago Borinkano que descansa a diez leguas al este de la Isla Grande;  cuenta con 132 kilómetros cuadrados, 33de largo por 7,2 de ancho, con una topografía de montes, colinas, pequeños valles y planicies costeras; abundan playas espectaculares, lagunas con algunos manantiales […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO 07. 03.25 VIEQUES AN AGRO PARADISE (ENGLISH)

July 3, 2025 By JT

Umpierre Agro Vieques Vieques is the Nena Island of the Borinkano Archipelago that rests ten leagues east of the Isla Grande; it has 132 square kilometers, 33 long by 7.2 wide, with a topography of mountains, hills, small valleys and coastal plains; spectacular beaches abound, lagoons with some springs and ravines but insufficient to supply […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA ART SONIA ROMERO 2

By Tia Tenopia on October 20, 2013

Sonia Romero is a graphic artist,muralist and print maker. In this second profile on Sonia and her work, Latinopia explores Sonia’s public murals, in particular the “Urban Oasis” mural at the MacArthur Park Metro Station in Los Angeles, California.

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

LATINOPIA WORD JOSÉ MONTOYA “PACHUCO PORTFOLIO”

By Tia Tenopia on June 12, 2011

José Montoya is a renowned poet, artist and activist who has been in the forefront of the Chicano art movement. One of his most celebrated poems is titled “Pachuco Portfolio” which pays homage to the iconic and enduring character of El Pachuco, the 1940s  Mexican American youth who dressed in the stylish Zoot Suit.

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

LATINOPIA WORD XOCHITL JULISA BERMEJO “OUR LADY OF THE WATER GALLONS”

By Tia Tenopia on May 26, 2013

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is a poet and teacher from Asuza, California. She volunteered with No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization providing water bottles in the Arizona desert where immigrants crossing from Mexico often die of exposure. She read her poem, “Our Lady of the Water Gallons” at a Mental Cocido (Mental Stew) gathering of Latino authors […]

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

© 2025 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin