In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, check out this special edition of Meetup Live, where we’ll discuss what the American dream looks like for Hispanic and Latino (Latinx) immigrants. In this installment of the Dismantling Social Injustice series, we’ll hear first-hand about the experience of migrating to the United States.
Watch the recording for a conversation with Elaine Montilla, Founder of 5xminority as she shares her journey of coming to the United States from the Dominican Republic. She’ll discuss the challenges she faced including language barriers and cultural differences along with her understanding of success. You’ll learn how she overcame these challenges and has supported her community.
Main Takeaways on Latinx Migration:
- I’ve heard a lot of people say, “You know, if you go to the U.S. and you work really hard you’re going to get ahead.” That is not always the truth.
I know a lot of people that work really hard and are in the same position for 10 years.
And so I think that sometimes it’s who you know. I’m going to go back to networking over and over again because I don’t think people understand how important it is to network. You never know where you’re going to end up, so it’s good to connect with as many people as you can - A lot of us deal with something called imposter syndrome.
And so what I did is I started this document in the cloud, and I write down all of my accomplishments, with the month, with the year, with the date, every single thing that I accomplished is in that document.
I’ve had that document for probably 10 years now, and I would recommend anyone listening to me right now to start that document. And let me tell you how this could help you.
If you feel like imposter syndrome is coming and you’re doubting yourself, you go to the document and you read it, and you remind yourself of all the things that you have accomplished. - Resources:
- Ladies get paid
- Latinas in tech
- Out in tech
- Techqueria
- Tribaja
- Women in tech (Slack group)
- Women in tech caribbean
- Book: Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Top Q&A Questions:
- What is most helpful to hear from Allies.
- The best thing I hear is “I have your back. I’ve got your back. You can count on me.”
If you are uncomfortable going into a meeting and you feel like people are not listening to you and they don’t let you speak. I want you to pair up with another person, and tell them, you’re going to plan all of this in advance, “If I get interrupted I want you to come in and have my back and if you get interrupted, I’m going to have your back.” I want you to use that strategy moving forward because I needed to use that strategy and I didn’t know about it until later.
- The best thing I hear is “I have your back. I’ve got your back. You can count on me.”
- How can we tell another Spanish or minority what they’re doing is out of place without offending the person?
- I’m going to bring compassion again.
With someone like that. The first thing that I would say is, “would you like to have coffee or tea with me?” and want to have a conversation.
I want you to bring with you curiosity. If you are curious and people can see that you are curious, they don’t get defensive because they know you’re trying to learn something that you don’t know. So start by asking questions, instead of saying, you know what, when you do this, this is horrible.
- I’m going to bring compassion again.
- What advice do you give to Latinx people that are proud of their queerness but have been abandoned by their family and culture because of who they are?
- Be patient. When I first came out, my mom was devastated. She did not know what to do with herself. She felt that it was her fault and I learned that I needed to be patient and give her time to process.
In the end, you need to do what’s best for you. I can tell you that a lot of my family members did not agree with my lifestyle and I just let them go. And I’m perfectly ok with that because I only want to surround myself with people that love me and appreciate me for who I am and if you don’t, I don’t need you in my life.
- Be patient. When I first came out, my mom was devastated. She did not know what to do with herself. She felt that it was her fault and I learned that I needed to be patient and give her time to process.
Last modified on September 27, 2021
