LatinosUSA

A short story – Poetry – Bookshelf – Essays – Hotel of the Broken Hearts – Interviews – Contact- English Edition

LatinosUSA Editors: Barbara Leonhard, J. Ré Crivello, Nolcha Fox, Michelle Ayón Navajas, Francisco Bravo, Robbie Cheadle
Masticadores -en español / LatinosUsa —Click to read in Spanish
A Short Story

Being Validated by J. Ré Crivello

The “abuse of the self” that J. Ré Crivello diagnoses in his book Sacred Town is the consequence of an attention economy in which visibility has replaced presence as a form of social recognition.

The like—that small gesture of digital approval that takes less effort than a blink—functions in Ré Crivello’s texts as a symptom of a degradation of recognition: it is no longer enough to be recognized by those who know you; you must be validated by those who don’t know you and who dedicate to your existence the time it takes to move a thumb—(Rafael Julivert, Analysis of the work Sacred Town, by J. Ré Crivello)

“Being validated.” Such a short but significant phrase.

I remember around 1973—while I was studying Journalism—I attended classes wearing a green sweater that attracted too much attention, but my youth compelled me to question a professor of Social Communication. Such was my capacity to annoy that one day, in the middle of the professor’s class, his response was:

«Mr. Ré, my assignment must be too much for you, because you keep insisting.» I could have stayed there, caught in the bonfire of vanities, but I left.

To connote, sometimes, suggests a set of meanings. «Engineer Justin Rosenstein was the main creator of Facebook’s ‘Like’ button, developed in 2007 and launched in 2009. Although Rosenstein built the prototype, engineer Leah Pearlman also collaborated significantly on its creation. The feature was born to allow users to quickly show approval without writing comments» (Google AI).

Back in 1973, the ‘like’ didn’t exist. Life was quieter, and we didn’t need to give approval—to others, as if we were students of existentialism. Our capacity didn’t increase, nor did our personal capacity for connection. Except for a few details, like my impertinence or a garish green sweater, life unfolded with nothing more than whispers, conversations, and friendships that shifted every so often.

Is the «like» a symptom of the degradation of recognition, as I argue in my latest book, set in 2026?

Perhaps it’s a symptom of superficiality and the anxiety of not being reciprocated. At the end of the day, we have a ranking of likes, and this influences our mood. Can we say that it’s more difficult to maintain psychological well-being in 2026 than it was in 1973?

It’s likely. And if you don’t like my post…? I’ll be devastated—I confess.

This article appears in Catalan (in the newspaper EixDiari), Spanish (in Masticadores.com), Portuguese (in Brazil), English (in LatinosUSA) and Italian (in MasticadoresItalia)

“When I freed the character, I felt that I was also freeing myself as a writer”: A Conversation with Emma Sepúlveda

by Adriana Pacheco

Emma Sepúlveda—a Chilean writer, educator, politician, and activist based in the United States—is a pioneering figure for Latina women in the United States and in Spanish-language literature. She was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the Fulbright scholarship selection committee, becoming the first Latina woman selected for this position. She ran for the Senate in Nevada and founded the Latino Research Center. As a researcher, she has explored significant and heartbreaking moments in Chilean history, such as the tragedy of the thirty-three miners trapped in a mine in northern Chile, as well as the establishment and consolidation of the clandestine detention center Colonia Dignidad. We had the opportunity to interview her and talk about her book Cuando mi cuerpo dejó de ser tu casa (Editorial Catalonia, 2022), which Argentine translator Denise Kripper has translated into English under the title When My Body Ceased to Be Your Home, published by Literal Publishing and Hablemos, escritoras.

This is an adapted excerpt from the conversation on the Hablemos, escritoras podcast, hosted by Adriana Pacheco.

Adriana Pacheco: Welcome, Emma. Thank you so much for joining Hablemos, escritoras.

Emma Sepúlveda: Thank you very much for the invitation, Adriana, and it will be a pleasure to speak with you from Spain this afternoon.

A.P.: From Spain, from Valencia. But you lived in the United States for a long time, right?

E.S.: In Nevada, exactly. Forty-seven years in Nevada, where I was a professor at the University of Nevada in Reno, a political activist to the core, and, well, I wrote; I spent almost most of my life writing.

A.P.: How wonderful. I know you’ve had an active life in politics. How did that come about, Emma?

E.S.: Look, I was always very involved in politics from the time I was very young at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago. I left Chile after the military coup of 1973. And when I arrived in the United States, although I still didn’t speak much English, I became very interested in getting involved in everything that had to do with empowerment, specifically of Latinos, because I realized that they were a minority-majority group, especially in Nevada. I started at the most basic level: registering people to vote and participating in political campaigns for other candidates. 

Later, I remember a phrase that kind of changed my life: “Democracy is not a spectator sport.” So there came a moment when I said: no, I can’t stay on the sidelines; I have to get more involved and try to be a voice for the people who don’t have a voice in our community. I was fortunate enough to win the primaries, but I lost the general election. It was very difficult, as you can imagine, because of course I have an accent when I speak English and as soon as they looked at me they knew I wasn’t from the United States. Also, it was the year 1994, when an anti-immigration movement was already beginning in California with Governor Pete Wilson. It was a very difficult campaign. I even wrote a book about it that is included among biographies of Latinas in the United States. There I was able to talk about what had truly been a brutal campaign, with death threats; we had to have police protection. It was a tough campaign, but I learned so much.

Read more LALT

You can send your collaborations, there are still free spaces at. (fleminglabwork@gmail.com)

Reviews / Books recommended by Masticadores

Masticadores —To day —in spanish

Epicentre South Africa

Editor: Robbie Cheadle

Poetry

Editors: Michelle Ayón Navajas, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, J. Re Crivello

  • «REFLECTIONS» by Elena Maria Mana-ay Parcon

    «REFLECTIONS» by Elena Maria Mana-ay Parcon

    «REFLECTIONS» by Elena Maria Mana-ay Parcon Pastel skies too slowTo bring the night,And the night, the dawnThe incandescent moon too discreetTo beckon the earthAnd the…

  • Off The Wall  by Lynn White

    Off The Wall  by Lynn White

    “Ceci n’est pas de la soupe de tomates” Magritte might have said with irony. But even off the wall straight from the can the same…

  • Regretful

    Regretful

    By John RC Potter “Birds in the Setting Sun” painting is by the author’s god-daughter, Nisa Winter. Another year passes… Up at 4 AM daily.…

  • Variations on a Theme  by Edward Ahern

    Variations on a Theme  by Edward Ahern

    Lighting the Cold                                                The imperious winter sun glares at                                        snowbanks and windshields, exposing every aberration in overloaded brightness and shadow. Warmth and thaw are ignored…

Bookshelf (Poetry, Book News, Articles)

Editors: Nolcha Fox & Barbara Leonhard

Little Chews
Editor: Nolcha Fox

MasticadoresAfrica —Today’s publications

Essay
Hotel: «Hotel of the Broken Hearts»

Editor: Michelle Ayón Navajas

«Wild like The Wind Again» by Selma Martin

I saw it pass before my eyes
translucent visions taunted I 

A smile broke through and then I knew
The kid was onto something new 
And so I waited for the cue 
from ere my falling from the rye 

Drew in long breath, from cares sashayed  
Climbed on its shoulders sans delay 
O’er pampas fields and far away 
Nostalgic trip, kept flying high

The wind that came to me today 
Brought back that lass from yesterday
Freedom ‘n racing with the day 
Of running wild and moving spry 

***

By MasticadoresHotel

Daily Update from Chewers & MasticadoresUSA
Gobblers / Interviews
MasticadoresCanada Editor: Ray Whitaker (Daily Update)
  • FROM THE EDITOR
    This weeks placement of submissions is regarding the current war in Iran. Most poetry that has something to do with […]
  • WAR ZONES, by John Grey
    A paper cut grins at me. A lack of concentration on my part. But not fatal. Meanwhile, Mel buffs up […]

LatinosUSA

Overview

Masticadores.com and masticadoresdeLetras belong to the NGO Masticadores. We promote culture and communication. We publish in eight languages ​​(Spanish, English, Portuguese, Tagalog, Romanian, Italian, French and Catalan). And we publish in twelve countries (France, Italy, Brazil, USA, Mexico, Argentina, India, Taiwan, France, Turkey, Uruguay, Philippines. On 22 blogs. With 24 editors, and 450 writers.

The idea and founder of Masticadores and MasticadoresdeLetras is: Juan Re Crivello.

Raison d’être

We work to promote culture and communication in an environment of freedom and respect for the ideas of all citizens.

Income

The operating costs of the site are funded by members. The editors involved in selecting works for the cover donate their time for the enjoyment that is generated by promoting the work of other artists, photographers and writers.

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The site editors review submissions, primarily from email submissions. See the conditions for submissions on each particular blog.

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Cover Illustrations

The images, art or illustrations we use to accompany some of the features on the site are either original works provided by the author to Masticadores for the purpose of illustrating a feature or are pulled from Unsplash or Flickr, or Pinterest, using the «commercial use allowed» filter. Unless the cover author created the illustration, we also provide attribution. Please contact us if you have any concerns about any of the illustrations.

LatinosUsa (EnglishEdition)

Founder and editor: J. Re Crivello

Contacto:

Email: fleminglabwork@gmail.com

The Hotel by Masticadores

Editor: Michelle Ayón Navajas

LatinosUSA (en español)

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