Photos and gallery by Pamela Affolter.
By PAMELA AFFOLTER – Staff Writer
Peabody Award winner, “Latino USA” radio show host, executive producer and anchor of “America by the Numbers” and journalist Maria Hinojosa visited the University of Georgia on Sept. 17 to talk about diversity in the south.
Maria Hinojosa, an award-winning journalist, came to the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Library at the University of Georgia on Sept. 17. Hispanic Heritage Month is from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and Hinojosa’s lecture was one of the first events. Hinojosa came to talk about diversity changes in the south and to present one of the episodes of her television show “America by the Numbers”. In addition to documenting the demographic changes in the south Hinojosa highlighted different mindsets towards Latino immigration.
Hinojosa was born in Mexico City and then grew up on the southside of Chicago. She listened to American radio and watched the television constantly. She didn’t see anyone that looked like her or looked like her family in American journalism, so she set out to change that.
The audience of Hinojosa’s lecture was mostly made up of Latino students, many from Spanish classes from Cedar Shoals High School. There were about 100 people in the auditorium by the time the event commenced, full of excitement as Maria Hinojosa entered the room.
Hinojosa introduced the pilot episode of her television show “America by the Numbers”. It was set in Clarkston, Ga., a community that was designated to receive immigrants from more than 40 foreign countries. The show illustrated how ethnic diversity in the south and in the United States has changed drastically. Many immigrants were attracted to Clarkston, Ga. because of the low real estate prices. The show explored political tensions in the community as well as friendships developed between the white and immigrant population.
Following the end of the pilot episode, Hinojosa explained how she was motivated to enter journalism. She was the first Latina journalist at Cable News Network and National Public Radio. She remembered that she felt so honored and thankful when she received her Peabody Award for “Latino USA”. “I had been praying to the news gods ‘Please, please Peabody, Peabody, por favor.’” Hinojosa said.
The question and answer segment was the most moving part of the presentation because majority of the questions came from the CSHS students. One Latina student asked why immigrants are feared even though they have children at home that get frightened whenever their parents leave for work because they fear deportation. Hinojosa always looked attentive when people asked questions and answered them with sincerity. At the end of the question and answer segment, she was surrounded by students and other audience members that wanted to get their pictures taken with her.
Although the question and answer segment seemed short, the event overall was inspiring. Hinojosa talked about issues concerning the Latino population, but also about America as a whole. Her vision for the country is optimistic and she made every effort to empower the students. “Something amazing can happen today,” Hinojosa said, and for many of those present, something did.
