Latina South - Nury Castillo Crawford on Bilingual Books and How They Empower Bicultural Communities | Ep. 11

Nury Castillo Crawford on Bilingual Books and How They Empower Bicultural Communities | Ep. 11

02/08/21 • 28 min

“I still hold myself accountable for sitting at the table and having a voice at the table when others don’t. For me that’s a huge responsibility but it’s also a huge honor to be able to be a voice for people who perhaps feel unheard or unseen.” – Nury Castillo Crawford

In 2016, Nury Castillo Crawford was driven to write her own book based upon her own personal journey from Peru to the US in order to counter the negative immigrant narratives being circulated on the time. While doing the research in publishing her book, she decided to create her own publishing house, 1010 Publishing which focuses on bilingual stories. Her book, 3585 Miles to Be an American Girl, is the first in her Sofia series.

Nury talks about how being Latina has always been a big part of who she is and how it helped her to thrive in a new and changing world. Education and giving back to the community is very important to her. Nury shares her experience of living in the South and speaking up, even when others may not like it. She has some tips for both children and adults on how to speak your voice – it’s not always what you have to say, but how you say it.

Nury talks about another book, Soy Mexicana, Soy Me, a story of a young girl moving between two countries and two cultures. Her publishing company is also expanding offerings in multiple languages.

We can best support Nury and her work by visiting 1010Publishing.com and by sharing on social media @1010Publishing to help increase awareness of biliteracy which helps to empower bicultural communities.

Nury offers words of wisdom: you can make a difference, even if you help one person. She encourages everyone to think about elevating others in their daily lives, even just one person at time.

Thank you for listening! You can support Latina South on Patreon and by sharing this episode with a friend.

Nury talks about another book, Soy Mexicana, Soy Me, a story of a young girl moving between two countries and two cultures. Her publishing company is also expanding offerings in multiple languages.

Nury offers words of wisdom: you can make a difference, even if you help one person. She encourages everyone to think about elevating others in their daily lives, even just one person at time.

Thank you for listening! You can support Latina South on Patreon and by sharing this episode with a friend.

Previous Episode

Rita Bautista on Latina Podcasters Network and Being Catracha in the South | Ep. 10

“I don’t necessarily believe in the idea we were fed that everybody is in competition with each other. I truly believe that with collaboration you can actually accomplish a lot more, and what better way to be able to grow in so many different markets if you’re able to work with us instead of against us.” – Rita Bautista

Rita shares her vision for the Latina Podcasters Network. Adela asks, “Why Latinas? And Why now?” Rita says “Why not Latinas?” The Latinx community have a 1.7 Trillion dollar buying power and Latinas are the fastest growing segment of small business developers. It is time and representation matters. Latinas are an important part of what is going to shape this country.

Rita talks about the beauty of Honduras and mentions a recent hurricane that devastated the area. She shares her parent’s background - her father was a merchant marine and her mother who bravely moved to the US on her own as a young woman. Rita describes how she brings the bold and gritty aspects of being Catratcha, or Hondureńa, to her everyday life.

Living as Latina in the South, specifically in the unique cities of Houston and New Orleans, leads her to appreciate the prevailing sense of tradition and keeping those traditions alive - whether good or bad. Kindness, football and food are also important aspects she enjoys. She talks more about sports and how it allowed her to be loud with her family.

Her family had a big influence on her being a visionary and tells us all to stop worrying about what other people think. She shares more about the 10:10:1 concept: 10 goals she wants to accomplish, 10 things to be grateful for, and the 1 next step to help you get you closer to accomplishing at least one goal. It’s how she trains her mind to see the opportunities all around her.

Rita talks about her approach to being welcoming and providing support to Latina podcasters which includes building community and resources for helping to monetize their work. She talks about the uniqueness of Latina voices in the South and showing the talent coming out of the region and changing the narrative of Latina’s contributions in the community.

She reveals how she’s worked on herself a lot and having been in some challenging and uncertain times in her life.

She shares some words of wisdom – we must be the ones to determine what happiness looks like and position yourself to get want you want. And also take a second to look at the happiness you already have around you.

To support Rita, follow the list of Latina Podcasters on Spotify playlist and connect to the Latina Podcasters Network .

Thank you for listening! Please visit us at https://www.latinasouth.com/

Next Episode

Deborah Gonzalez on Making History as the First Latina District Attorney in Georgia | Ep. 12

“Don’t assume people are always against something...but also don’t assume that people are going to be supportive. You have to have logical arguments, you have to do your homework, you have to have the statistics and the research as to why you want to implement a change. I think it’s really important that you are prepared.” - Hon. Deborah Gonzalez, District Attorney of the Western Judicial Circuit in Georgia.

Deborah talks about her Latina identity and how being Boricua shows up in her everyday life. Deborah shares her journey to making history by becoming the first Latina district attorney in Georgia and the first woman district attorney in the Western judicial circuit. Before she was able to run, she took on the governor with a lawsuit that was appealed 5 times and ultimately resulted in a unanimous vote from the state supreme court which allowed an election to take place.

Adela asks, “Deborah, what kept you going?” She kept going because she felt that she was right. She thinks about this message often from her father - if there is something that needs to be done and you are the only one that could do it, it is your duty to do that thing.

Deborah has a message to the voters who did not vote for her: give her a chance. Her word for 2021 is to ‘listen’ which for her means having an open-door policy and inviting everyone to conversation. Her approach also includes frequent communication and keeping people informed so they know more about what happens in the district attorney’s office.

She shares some lessons learned from her time serving in the Georgia General Assembly. Being prepared is very important for her and is what the people who elected her deserve in order to effect change.

Deborah opens up about the demands of public service and shares strategies that help mitigate the impact on her time and energy. It is important to have a support system and for each person to define parameters that work for them and their situation. For her, support comes from her husband and taking the time for self-care in order to keep from burning the candle at both ends. Watching Netflix with a glass of wine and her kitten on her lap provides her with needed respite.

She talks more about her family, her grown children and grandchildren. Her grandsons provide Deborah with inspiration to approach the important work of criminal justice with humanity. While living in the South presented some challenges for her at first, now she feels confident in calling Georgia home. Her choice to live in Georgia inspires her to work harder to make her home a better place for all people.

Deborah shares some words of wisdom – you have what you need inside of you. What you have to offer the world is what the community needs. You have a role to play and people need you to fulfill that role.

Deborah invites us to learn more about criminal justice reform, a bipartisan issue. To support criminal justice work, consider Justice is On the Agenda Fund designed to bridge the gap between resources needed for reform and available dollars. Donations are used for training and community outreach and other activities the District Attorney's office could not fund on its own. Other organizations include The Georgia Justice Reform Partnership and the Georgia Justice Project. You can also contact Deborah directly at [email protected] and follow her on Facebook @DG4DA.