Writer
Zoe D. Ortiz
Latest Content
The Moments We Remember Most
If you seek the most complete account of our time here, you have to remember the joy we felt — a necessary antidote to the bitter poison we faced. Sometimes they came in small bursts, sometimes large ones, but either way they sustained us.
Whose Harvard? Yours.
We have pushed for this community to be a familia and that is the beauty we hope you see when you come here.
Los Vendidos, The Sellouts
At home, getting a well-paying job is what it meant to be successful. It was the purpose of my education. At school, getting a well-paying private sector job is what it meant to “forget” where I come from.
Breaking Latinx Gender Roles
In order to change it we must constantly push back against the ways our community attempts to fit everyone into molds that should have never been created.
When’d You Start Caring About Immigrants?
I worry about the day when progressives protected by their citizenship, will close their eyes and look back at Trump as one small blip in an otherwise perfect world.
Creating Community, Losing Ourselves
The Latinx community suffers when people don’t stick around to invest in it, but investing in it burns people out to the point where they don’t want to stick around.
Breaking Our Silence
For the sake of the organization, we treat these problems like secrets and speak of them only in whispers.
Is Brown Beautiful?
Though it may be unfair to have to justify our feelings, thinking of love as a site for racial and ethnic justice can be productive.
Our Cultures Are Not at Your Service
Support us first. Then ask us to introduce you to our worlds.
Not Latinx Enough
Those that seek to police or undermine this must be ignored because a Latinx identity is not something that fits into a box or a neat list of descriptors.
Check Your Allyship
Allies are cowards if they aren’t willing to risk just a sliver of what undocumented activists risk everyday to defend their humanity.
Navigating Járvar University
I am tired of being overcome with emotion when, yet again, the administration refuses to acknowledge that my experiences are different because I come from an intersectionally marginalized background, and that no, we are not all homogenous privileged Harvard students.
Living in a Machista World
There’s a way of preserving a sweet, Salvadorean, Mexican, or Latin American culture while getting rid of its painful, violent, oppressive components for the benefit of men and women yet to be born into it. There’s a way of rethinking our machista world.
English Only, Please
If I don’t speak Spanish, I’ll lose it, and my children will lose it. The loss of mi cultura y mi historia is not worth your comfort, so I’ll continue to hablar en la combination de Español y Ingles que amo tanto.
The Forgotten Ones
We come up with answers for the problems we’ve diagnosed in the Latinx community. In our heads, we’re doing God’s work but, suddenly, the realization that we are the select few—the glowing brown chosen ones—comes crashing down on us. There’s no purpose in learning or scheming or brainstorming the best ways to help your community if you run so far away from them in order to do so.
