Araceli Cruz : Latino Voices

Araceli opens up about her STL journey, her experience as a Latina journalist, and the importance of Latino voices in today's media landscape.

1. Hi Araceli, can you start by introducing yourself? We'd love to learn more about how you got to St. Louis. "My husband and I moved here from Savannah, Georgia, but I'm originally from California, from LA. We were in Savannah for two years, and I did graduate school there. But I was just not happy there. I felt very excluded as a Latina. So when it was COVID it was either move back to North Carolina or St. Louis, cause he's from here. I missed living in a city, and I always liked coming here to visit. I'm like, 'Let's try St. Louis.' He got a job here and I was already working remotely at Courier Newsroom."

2. What kept you in St. Louis? "I love it. I feel so at home here. I remember one of the first events I went to was at the History Museum, and it was like a panel of educators and professionals. They were saying how the population was growing here and they said a lot of the professional Latinos that live here are people that, like, went to school here and then just stayed working here. So, it was just fascinating just to see, like, the various types of demographics"

3. How has your connection to the community improved?

   "Two years ago, I interviewed a Latina gym owner (STL Thrive) for a story for St. Louis Magazine. And through that gym, it was through that community I wanna say that I met more Latinas and there's a Facebook group called Mexicanas Saint Louis. So they have once-a-month outings and it's just been so cool to meet all these women that live here and have lives and work (...) I just got really inspired by that.”

   
   

4. What is your day-to-day as a journalist? "It's kind of like seeing what's happening in that state. Anything super important, that should be the first story that should go out today.

   
   

   When someone sends me a story, like one of our reporters, I'll figure out the best way to show that up on social media, so: does this story look good as video or through just a regular headline with a photo or carousel or something interesting? So I'm strategizing different ways to tell a story, or maybe all three ways."

   
   

5. Is there a particular moment in life that kind of sparked that initial interest to tell those stories?

   "In the beginning when I got into journalism, I wanted to say that writing stories that weren't uplifting was very hard for me. And so when I wrote that story with that reporter; it was a story about a Latina, single mom with four kids who was getting evicted, and her landlord was evicting her illegally.

   
   

   And yeah, it was just very hard and I was thinking to myself, like 'This is why I don't do these stories because it's very serious, it's very affecting.' I felt vulnerable too, and I didn't like that feeling of being so affected by a subject. But I noticed that years later, I'm like, 'Okay, I have to put my feelings aside and still see why these stories are important.' So I have to do it no matter what."

6. Is there a particular story in St. Louis that has brought your attention?

   "Yeah, I think one of the first pieces I did here was for St. Louis Magazine and it was a report on the Spanish broadcasters who do the Cardinals. So it was two guys that did all the broadcasting in Spanish for the Cardinals. And I love when our community culture is amplified and when it's celebrated. 

   
   

7. Can you give a bit more of your opinion or your thoughts about why it is so important to see yourself represented in the stories?

   
   
   
   

   

   Araceli Cruz and Latino representation in the media

   
   

   "I think it's important because a white reporter isn't going to get the story the same or understand some of the nuances to a Latino subject.

   
   

   I see an important story that needs to be told, finding that person or exploring that topic is super important for me. Like, I wanna push this because if I didn't know about it, that other person probably doesn't. Some people might be like: 'How come you only write about Latino topics?' Well, it's simple—for most of my life, I didn't even think twice about it. And now that our culture and community are threatened and persecuted, I'm going to amplify those stories."

   
   

8. Do you have any advice to another Latino who wants to pursue a career in media? How should they start?

   "People get into journalism for different reasons, but for me, it was like telling other people's stories. So my advice to writers or people interested in journalism is like, 'Do you care about telling people's stories? Do you want to expose stories to the public? If you do, why? What kind of stories are important to you?'

   
   

   It's not an easy industry. It's always changing, so people should be prepared to adapt and to also be flexible. So my advice would be like, learn as much as you can, write as much as you can, even if no one is reading your stories."

   
   

9. If you were to give advice to a Latina that might not be encouraged to go down this career path, what would you say?

   "I would say, follow people that you admire and if you are feeling discouraged reach out to them. But don't give that writer or any person too much weight either, just be strong in what you want to do and keep at it."

   
   

10. Do you have a favorite place in STL?

    "El Morelia Supermercado- they have expanded and I love going there. It feels like going to Disneyland, there is so much stuff that I love there."

    
    

    

    El Morelia Supermercado. Source: Sauce Magazine

    
    

11. What is STL Para Ti? "The first word that comes to mind is 'Welcoming.' That is very close to my heart because I've never felt like an outsider. I felt included. I would say STL para mi means community—I feel that I have a strong sense of that here." Araceli Cruz Contact Info:

    Website: www.aracelicruz.net

    Instagram: @cruzitabells