Being a woman in the world has never been an easy feat, as they often say that it is “A man’s world,” but being a woman of color is another hurdle that very few can understand. It is a constant barrier that can stop you from achieving your dreams because of your “Latina-ness” or your “Black-ness” that the media wants to capture and exoticize. Our bodies of color will always have too many curves, our accents may be too strong, and sometimes we are simply too dark for their liking. For the longest time, many women of color chose to dismiss their heritage so they would be accepted for roles on television or movies, but were type-casted into being the sexy Latina maid or the scorned African American woman.
April Lee Hernandez opened the eyes of many MMC students in the Regina Peruggi room on October 9. Though she was a speaker to celebrate Latino Heritage Month, April gave a deeper insight to the struggles that she has faced as a woman and a Latina growing up in the Bronx, NY. She spoke of the situations to where her dreams could have died, such as an abusive relationship and her family struggling financially.
Though she did not move to the city as many hopeful writers, actors, and dancers do, she faced the same struggle that most of us are currently facing. “Some of you are the first to be as daring as you are. Some of you are the first to graduate from college, of not dreaming big. And I was that person,” she said. Actress April Hernandez understands exactly what we are going through. Growing up in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, she admits that her parents “never completed high school or college because no one told them to grab the bull by the balls.” Her mother, who was described as fierce Puerto Rican woman, worked as a financial aid counselor and her father worked for the MTA, pushed her to go further than they did.
Initially, Hernandez wanted to be an actor but she enrolled at Hunter College studying nutrition, quickly realizing that she had no true passion for science. She then found an elective class for Acting 101 and immediately fell in love, declaring to her mother that she was going to be an actor. Though her success was not immediate, her family kept her motivated to continue to take a chance and do something with her life. She continued to act and perform in comedy clubs until she had received the news that she had been cast for Maria Reyes in the film Freedom Writers and later Dexter, where the cast had been nominated for SAG Awards.
We often see celebrities at the peak of their time, after the period of being a starving artist and being in an abusive relationship, it becomes harder to comprehend why we are straining to survive. It’s easy to get caught up in the fast paced life of New York City, wishing that your success would come faster. But sometimes it’s not enough to be immediately successful and never understand the struggle of paying rent, student loans, and trying to put food on the table. However, she warns about the “Fame Monster” and how it can be effortless for them to mold you into you become someone you cannot even recognize. She says, “My soul, the anatomy of April is something that I was not willing to give up. Know what you’re willing and what you’re not willing to do. Set your standard now.” The struggle can serve as a reminder later in life that your dreams were big enough and that you made it to where you need to be. She states, “If your dreams don’t scare you, then you’re not dreaming big enough.” It may not be in the next year or even the next five years, but when you understand that your gift and your soul has a purpose, you can be successful just like April Hernandez.