Speaker 0 00:00:00 From Romano Leadership, I'm Oscar Romano. This is Learn, reflect Lead Leadership and d I A development for mission-driven individuals and organizations.
Speaker 0 00:00:12 This episode is titled A Letter from My Ancestors, channeling My Latino Heritage. This episode is for you if you have ever had questions about your cultural heritage. If you're a Latino, who's ever wondered where they came from, or if you're a Latino who wants to reflect on their past to get direction for their future. Today we're gonna talk about how I channeled my cultural heritage to give me greater clarity for my future. Where do I come from? Who are my ancestors? What's the entire story behind my Latino heritage? These are questions I've asked myself time and time again, and I've learned that there's no simple way to get all these answers. I can't find my past in any history book or records from Ellis Island. My family's from El Salvador, but I know there's a more profound truth there, as there is with many Latinos, and here's how I channeled my Latino heritage to gimme greater clarity.
Speaker 0 00:01:20 Three years ago, I spent three days at the Latinx Summit for courageous conversations. Amazing fulfill facilitators such as Luis Versas pushed me to engage with my identity in ways I had never experienced before. Through tact challenges, I became more enlightened about my own heritage, that there's much more to my cultural background than the term Latinos suggest. I've come to recognize that through blood and shared experiences, my ancestry is connected to indigenous, black and European roots. One of the most influential activities of the whole experience was facilitated by Dr. Saad Cruz, an activist and educator from California. Dr. Cruz provided us with an accelerated course on Latino history in the United States, where he wrote back our stories into the history books. He closed his time by asking us to write a letter to ourselves from our ancestors. He told us to channel our past and put words to our feelings. Here's what I channeled from my collective ancestry.
Speaker 0 00:02:24 You know, there's so much in processing what my ancestors would wanna share with me at this moment in my life, and for this post, I like it to keep this in its original form. What I wrote in the time Dr. Cruz gave us to write it. This is my letter from my ancestors. We didn't have much, but we had each other. We worked hard to pass along values, stories, and love across each generation you've inherited at all and are ready to accomplish anything you set your mind to. I know you're conflicted on the inside. You know you have so much value to the world, but are afraid that you're wrong. You wanna make your family proud, but are worried that you're failing. You've accomplished so much, but don't know about your place in the world. The conflict needs to end now. Don't carry the weight of our past with you on your shoulders. Let it carry you so you can soar. Let our legacy be your wealth. You have value, you have worth, you have us. We'll always be with you in your heart, mind, and soul. Channel us whenever you need to. You are my wildest dream. Now. I need it to be your reality.
Speaker 0 00:03:54 I felt the impact from this letter in in ways that I hadn't felt impacted before by, by things I'd written or read. A, as I shared my story with the partner I, I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't expect it at all. I didn't realize this was something I needed. And when I looked around the room, I could tell it was a cathartic experience for most people. I may not know all the details about where I come from, but I know my ancestors would be proud of who I am and how far I've come. What do you think your ancestors would say to you? So it's time to commit. I want you to reflect and, and ask yourself, what impact could it have on you to read a letter from your ancestors? What would they say? What do you need to hear? And what's stopping you from writing a letter today? Let me know how it goes. Thanks.
Speaker 2 00:05:02 That's it for this episode of Learn, reflect Lead. Thank you for watching on YouTube or listening via podcast. If you're interested in more, you can find
[email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn at Romano Leadership. If you like this episode, please share with your friends. Subscribe and leave a review. I'm Oscar Romano. Until next time.
