And then the whole world watched the fallout after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020<\/a>, forcing Americans and institutions to reckon with race, discrimination and policing. The Times was no exception<\/a>. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the paper reflected on its past failures to fairly cover L.A.\u2019s communities of color, apologized for it and promised to do better<\/a>. <\/p>\n It was in this environment that the Latinx Files sprouted to life. After talking endlessly about it, I was tasked with creating a news product that would examine and explore the many contours of Latinidad. <\/p>\n The newsletter debuted in November 2020.<\/p>\n A few years into this project, it became clear that more than one person was needed for the job. To better accomplish the goal, the newsletter had to be scaled up. And so, in July 2023, the L.A. Times launched De Los<\/a>, a new section that expanded the mission of the Latinx Files.<\/p>\n Nearly three years later, that initial idea has germinated once again with the launch of \u201cThe De Los Podcast,\u201d<\/a> a new interview-style video podcast from LA Times Studios <\/a>and Sonoro <\/a>that will feature candid conversations with movers and shakers who have helped shape Latino culture in the United States \u2014 and have proved that we are integral to the fabric that is America.<\/p>\n The weekly video series<\/a>, which premiered on Wednesday, is co-hosted by De Los editor Suzy Exposito and me. I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better partner in crime. She is the LeBron James of Latino culture writers \u2014 she has written multiple Bad Bunny cover stories, including for Rolling Stone<\/a>, i-D Magazine<\/a> and the L.A. Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n Guests include iconic names and Latino creatives on the ascent, such as actor Xolo Maridue\u00f1a<\/a> (\u201cBlue Beetle<\/a>,\u201d \u201cCobra Kai<\/a>\u201d); Cuban American rapper Sen Dog of L.A. hip-hop group Cypress Hill<\/a>; filmmaker Alex Rivera (\u201cSleep Dealer<\/a>\u201d); comedy legend and Chicano art benefactor Cheech Marin<\/a>; and author Vanessa D\u00edaz (\u201cP FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance<\/a>\u201d), with more to be announced.<\/p>\n Our inaugural guest is Leslie Grace! Leslie Grace on the De Los Podcast<\/p>\n (L.A. Times Studios)<\/p>\n The Latin Grammy-nominated singer and actor helped us kick off the podcast with a bang. Grace began her artistic career as a teenager, recording a Christian music album in her closet before releasing her self-titled sophomore effort in 2013. The bilingual LP established her as a prominent voice in the male-dominated world of bachata \u2014 I challenge you to listen to her cover of the Shirelles\u2019 \u201cWill You Love Me Tomorrow?\u201d<\/a> and not get it stuck in your head \u2014 and helped attract a global audience to the genre. In May, the 31-year-old released \u201cAmor, \u00bfQui\u00e9n Eres?,\u201d her first album in over a decade.<\/p>\n Grace also opened up about her acting career, from making her film debut in 2021\u2019s \u201cIn the Heights\u201d \u2014 the critically acclaimed musical was the rare blockbuster that centered a Latino narrative \u2014 to being tapped to portray Barbara Gordon in \u201cBatgirl.\u201d The project was ultimately scrapped in August 2022<\/a> while it was still in postproduction, after Discovery Inc. and Warner Bros. merged.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was disappointing because we knew the film that we were making,\u201d Grace said. \u201cI knew that it wasn\u2019t a reflection of our work, because this is something that happens. But I think because of the context of the conversation around representation, and the way that films can be discarded, after a lot of work and time and money has gone into something … the creative community really felt for me.\u201d<\/p>\n She has since starred in more independent films in recent years \u2014 including \u201cIn the Summers,\u201d which won a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 \u2014 and the 2026 features \u201cStages\u201d and \u201cCampe\u00f3n Gabacho,\u201d which premiered at this year\u2019s edition of South By Southwest. <\/p>\n \u201cI really am grateful for every person that reached out to me and was like: \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got you, whatever you need,\u2019 or \u2018This is wrong,\u2019\u201d Grace said. \u201cWhen something happens to me, I focus on my experience and what I gained from it, that no one could really take away.\u201d<\/p>\n Where to find the podcast<\/p>\n You can listen and\/or watch the full episode on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re a fan of this newsletter and of the work we do at De Los, I encourage you to subscribe to our feeds, give us a five-star rating and tell everyone you know to do the same. <\/p>\n Is this announcement this week\u2019s Latinx Files?<\/p>\n Nope! We\u2019ll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming this Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before the Latinx Files was a newsletter, it was a seed of an idea. \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":844056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[71844,4214,345322,1582,276,345321,244734,261576,345323,2961,3466,345320,345319,224,5337,2222,345324,63275,118374,1628],"class_list":["post-844055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bad-bunny","tag-brazil","tag-brazilians","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-continental-u-s","tag-debi-tirar-mas-fotos","tag-el-mencho","tag-joyous-state","tag-la","tag-language","tag-latin-american-leg","tag-latinidad","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-mexico","tag-sao-paulo-concert","tag-sold-out-show","tag-unity","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116692491949554425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Leslie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780586000_119_.png\")
<\/p>\n