Esmeralda Moran

What does it mean to be Latino?

That question has generated mixed responses from the bodegas near Villa Victoria housing development in the South End to the halls of academia throughout this multicultural Latin American community.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration sparked a national and reflective conversation after it proposed redefining #Hispanic (and other ethnicities) as a race on the U.S. Census. #Latinos were split over their support for the proposal. Boston University student reporters Annika Chaves and Esmeralda Moran set out to create a multimedia project by asking #Latinos in Boston a simple question: “What does it mean to be Latin(e)?” It’s a question that is personal for the two reporters. For Moran, who is from the #DominicanRepublic, it’s the comfort she gets from her maternal grandmother’s cooking and their special moments watching telenovelas. For Chaves, who hails from #Colombia, it’s being part of a larger #immigrant community who left their home for the U.S. so she could get a better life. From #PuertoRico to #Bolivia, being #Latino means something unique for everyone.