Episode 29 - The "Latin" Trap with Isabelia Herrera

Hello and welcome to the 29th episode of Diversity Hire.

Today's guest was Isabelia Herrera (Pitchfork, Remezcla, MoMA PS1 Warm Up). We talked about explaining facets of one’s culture to a dumb Anglo-American audience, toxic media workplaces, why Latinx and POC are similarly toothless terms, and Kevin’s attempt to DJ at the next edition of Warm Up. Arjun and Kevin also talk about the pay transparency discourse and living in New York when you make NO MONEY. Thanks for listening!

* Arjun & Kevin talk about starting salaries (0:00)

* Isabelia calls in from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (9:04)

* Isabelia leads us through her career timeline (10:29)

* We talk about Isabelia’s experience at Remezcla, an outlet that came under fire last year for having a toxic work environment (re: “'He Broke Me': Inside the Toxic Workplace at Groundbreaking Latinx Culture Site Remezcla”, Emily Alford, Jezebel, 2020) (13:48)

* What does Isabelia make of terms like Latinx and Latinidad (19:44)

* Why do white people hire people of color to explain to them why they’re racist? (“How Much of the New American Songbook Will Be Sung in Spanish?,” Slate, 2018) (29:56)

* How are perspectives changing with regard to colorism in criticism? (re: “An Introduction to Urbano in 50 Songs,” Pitchfork, 2020) (37:47)

* What’s it like to be one of Forbes’ 30 under 30? (41:57)

* What’s it like to help curate MoMA PS1 Warm Up? (45:24)

* Arjun’s Feelings Don’t Care About Facts Corner (50:00)

* The Diversity Tribunal (53:43)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit diversityhire.substack.com