Commentary | Recognition of Creative Professionals

After watching last nights Oscar’s presentation. I really need to applaud the efforts of organizations such as; National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), Imagen Foundation and Nosotros for recognizing our community’s talents and achievements. These non-profit organizations have been around for years doing great work placing the spotlight on our creative community while surviving the toughest of economic times. Side note this being Women’s History Month, I noticed a majority of the these organizations are currently lead by women.

Sure I would like to see more Latinos, Latinas, LatinX representation at the Oscars, but I was  glad to see Salma Hayek, Guillermo del Toro,  Eva Longoria, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Saldaña, Antonio Banderas  to name a few. I did get sentimental when I saw Raquel Welch’s photo during the “In Memoriam” segment. Her performance in the movie Tortilla Soup is priceless.

As a business owner and media producer, I have come to realize that we are who we are and we do what we can do to share our stories with the community. I have stopped complaining and now focus on the end result. Like many of you, I do the best job I can to produce the best product I can. I appreciate the support of our sponsors and the viewers of our programing. 

Of course I believe there should be equitable support for Latino projects. However I have spent way to much time trying to understand why some projects get funded and others don’t.  As a community we must keep moving forward. We should celebrate the creators, the innovators of our community.  Recognize them as role models so others can see that it is possible to achieve success in the creative space and make a decent living.

Thank you to the numerous organizations that recognize the achievements of Latinos throughout the United States, please keep up the good work. Our community is paying attention.