Hispanic Heritage Month | Celebrating Latine Leaders in the Minnesota Fifth
Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District is home to a wide range of incredible and vibrant communities, including many Latine communities across the district. As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, we are thrilled to highlight some amazing Latine leaders and the incredible work they do.
Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez-Simula:
Mayor Amáda Márquez-Simula is currently serving her second term as Mayor of Columbia Heights. She is only the second Latina mayor in Minnesota’s history.
What motivates you to make positive change?
What motivates me is the possibility of improvement. Using connections to expand our current systems so that they work for more people. I also am motivated by seeing the impact that my voice as a Latina woman has on the people of Columbia Heights. Whether they’re a first generation immigrant, or second or third, there are people who have had moments of being marginalized, so diversity is important to me. It’s important that our council is diverse, too. I see how people can thrive when we are actively reaching out to them and bringing them into the democratic process, so I try to lift as many people up as possible to help them be a part of the process.
What are you proudest to have achieved in your work?
I’m proud of the connections I have not only created, but strengthened while in office. This city is part of a larger government entity, and much like Congresswoman Omar, I try and co-govern with our state reps and county commissioners. Having these connections will ensure that we have resources and that our community feels more connected. I see connection as my superpower.
I’m also proud of the work we’ve done to advocate for fair wages for city employees. Not just our police and firefighters, but all city employees. I am proud to stand with the city’s employees, unions, and to stand up for fair wages.
Who is your favorite Latine singer/artist/performer?
Linda Ronstadt. She first became popular through rock and roll, but as she got older she wanted to embrace her Mexican roots. She has had a strong influence on me. I think our culture as a country has shifted away from calling for assimilation, instead embracing people who, like Linda, hold on to their cultural identity. Linda Ronstadt showed how artists can honor their heritage while also succeeding in their work.
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez Cruz:
Council Member Jason Chavez is currently representing the Ninth Ward on the Minneapolis City Council.
What motivates you to make positive change?
There’s a lot that motivates me. At the end of the day, when I’m in community and a young single mother tells me how much my voice on the city council keeps her going, that motivates me. When I receive small pieces of encouragement, particularly from marginalized people in my community, that’s what keeps me going. When I see young people and how inspired they are by seeing a young person in office, it’s motivating. I’m inspired and motivated by the young people who look at elected officials like me and think “that could be me one day”.
What are you proudest to have achieved in your work?
It’s a tossup between two things. Firstly, I’m really proud of a measure that the council just passed which is a thirty-day eviction notification for renters. Landlords now have to give their tenants thirty days’ notice, when it used to be fourteen. I knew this was important for many residents, particularly the people in my ward. I had a conversation with a resident shortly after the vote, and she was really emotional because this policy change was huge for her. So often she was late on rent because she was just waiting for her next paycheck to come in. Helping people like her certainly makes me proud.
Secondly, I’m immensely proud of my work on the East Phillips Urban Farm Project. I see this as an intersectional project, because the residents of the Phillips neighborhood are from so many different backgrounds. This project has changed their lives, and has brought many communities of color together — including Black, Latino, and Native residents in the neighborhood. I will always be proud to have pushed for this project and to have brought our community together in this way.
Who is your favorite Latine singer/artist/performer?
Aventura or Maluma. I love to dance!
Jovita Francisco Morales:
Jovita Morales is an activist in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities. As an immigrant, she helped lead the effort to pass the Driver’s Licenses for All bill in the Minnesota state legislature. She was also the recipient of the Orville L. Freeman Award at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner earlier this year.
What motivates you to make positive change?
I think the thing that motivates me is the work that other activists and leaders around me are doing. It motivates me because I have two kids who I have to be the model for in order to create people who can create change in the future. As an immigrant, I do everything I can to make change. If I don’t do that, I can’t show them the power that they have as citizens. I show them what I do and what I have done because I want them to know that they have.
I’m also motivated by the community issues that are affecting us. A lot of immigrant communities live in the shadows where we have no voice and are not a part of society. When I saw how we were not being included, I realized that I had the power to create change. Seeing the effects of that work really motivates me.
What are you proudest to have achieved in your work?
I’m really proud of what I have done as an indigenous woman who speaks a language other than Spanish and English. I wasn’t able to go and finish school, but now the work I’ve done helped implement the Driver’s Licenses for All bill at the state legislature. The bill was supported by over 100 organizations. This network of organizations and legislators now know me as an advocate. Now, I look back and think about how much I’ve done, bringing the voice of the Latine community to the Capitol. I feel so proud that I was able to do that. I’m proud that we built a group of Latinos and immigrants who are fighting for these issues — and will continue fighting.
Who is your favorite Latine singer/artist/performer?
Lila Downs. I like her songs and what they say, especially about fighting for justice.
Minneapolis School Board Member Kim Ellison:
Kim Ellison has served on the Minneapolis school board since 2012. In her time on the school board, she has been a staunch advocate for dual-immersion programs, and has helped lead the effort to expand the ethnic studies program in the Minneapolis School District.
What motivates you to make positive change?
What motivates me is family. I learned from my mother and her mother, they left me the blueprint. Everything they did was about the love of family and so that was something I learned growing up. I’m also motivated by my children. I want to create a world that works for all children.
What are you proudest to have achieved in your work?
On the school board, I’m proud of the growth of our ethnic studies courses. Our students weren’t seeing themselves reflected in the courses they were taking, so I started working with teachers and other educators to change that. We started creating ethnic studies courses by adding about one or two a year. A year ago, ethnic studies became mandatory which was exciting. Now, the state is looking at changing their standards to match ours.
We are making sure that our curriculum is diverse, since Latino students are underrepresented. But, we also wanted to make sure that students weren’t only seeing themselves in ethnic studies courses. Both the International Baccalaureate and Spanish-Immersion programs have been successful to that end. We need to expand these successful programs, because seeing that worldview helps our Latino students see the role that their history has played.
Who is your favorite Latine singer/artist/performer?
Celia Cruz. That’s the music I heard growing up in my grandmother’s house. The impact she has had is decades-long, introducing salsa music to the world. For me, music is the language that everybody speaks. You don’t have to understand the words to understand the meaning.
