When a press pass should shield us

When I first walked into my high school newspaper, I wasn’t expecting much, just a chance to sit in on something I loved. But the teacher looked at me and told me to “speak better English” first. It was not the first time that my accent had caused problems, and it would not be the last.

I graduated with good grades, full of promise that college was the steppingstone to becoming a journalist. But at each turn, I came up short, my immigration status shut doors where my work ethic should have opened them.

Years later, after a string of no’s and countless times being talked down to or dismissed due to my Latina accent, I am finally doing the work I dreamed of. I am a journalist. I tell stories. I am serving my community. I am elevating voices that are often ignored.

But, as I live this hard-won dream, I find myself pausing and questioning: Is it safe to keep telling these stories?

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