Celebrating The Culture And Contributions of U.S. Latinos
By Cesar Arredondo
The new CBS television special, Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event, created by Henry Munoz III and executive produced and hosted by Eva Longoria, brings together a coalition of mega superstars who will pay tribute to Latinos in the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic while celebrating the U.S. Latino contribution and culture.
The TV special will highlight the grassroots work done by some individuals and organizations during the Covid-19 crisis with the participation of actors John Leguizamo, Rita Moreno, Lin Manuel Miranda, Freddy Rodriguez, Isabela Merced, and Wilmer Valderrama, comedians George Lopez and Arturo Castro, and musical performances by Juanes, Gloria Estefan, Pitbull, Luis Fonsi, Kelsea Ballerini and Ricky Martin–with the latter two also also co-hosting the one-hour special. The special will also be available to stream live and on demand on CBS All Access.
“We have comedy, we have music, we have these wonderful… documentary packages” about people and organizations helping the Latino community in the pandemic, said Longoria during a recent virtual press conference promoting the event. “It’s such a beautiful 360 (degree perspective) of our culture.” There will be documentaries about entrepreneur immigrants, a woman who provides children of farmworkers with school supplies, feeding programs for people in need, and nonprofits.
The show is produced by Momento Latino, a coalition that came together in the beginning of the pandemic to tackle the challenges facing Latinos in the tragic time of Covid-19. “As we move from crisis to recovery, we know that this is our moment to speak up and fight for US Latinos,” declares the group’s website.
Companies co-producing the CBS special are Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die and Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment along with the consulting firm Global Philanthropy Group. Executive producers are: Henry Muñoz for Momento Latino; Longoria and Ben Spector for UnbeliEVAble Entertainment; Maggie Neilson for Global Philanthropy; and Mike Farah, Joe Farrell, Jim Ziegler, Moira Noriega, Gloria Medel Solomons and R.A. Clark for Funny Or Die. The special is directed by Ron de Moraes, who won a Primetime Emmy for the XIX Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony and a Daytime Emmy for Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade.
A COALITION IS BORN
Launched earlier this summer in response to the impact of the pandemic on Latinos, Momento Latino is a coalition of activists, artists and allies “lifting our voices to push for change and elevate issues important to #Latino communities,” according to its Facebook page.
Munoz, who co-founded the group along with Longoria and created the television special said the Momento Latino’s idea started in New York back in march as the Big Apple became the epicenter of the pandemic. As Muñoz was driven to a coronavirus testing site through a desolated metropolis in lockdown, going through the National Guard and state and local police, he recalled imagining the intimidation some Latinos might feel facing all those challenges juts to get a Covid test, especially those with language barriers or with immigration status issues. Muñoz, a prominent businessman, designer and social justice activist who until recently was also the longest-serving Democratic National Committee finance chair, called Longoria and Estefan and told them, “We’ve got to do something.”
Momento Latino now boasts members such as U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, United League of Latin American Citizens, Acevedo Foundation, Hispanic National Bar Association, Hispanic Federation, Latino Policy Forum, Latino Community Foundation, and California Association for Bilingual Education, among others.
POSITIVE GOALS
The coalition aims at uplifting Latino stories and voices, talking action on issues relevant to the community, and celebrating Latinos’ diversity while highlighting commonalities in events that bring them together. Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event seems to check off all those boxes.
The Oct. 26 show will present stories that exemplify American Latinos’ resilience, ingenuity and caring during the pandemic which, according to organizers, has hit their community especially hard. “We are 18 percent of the population of the United States but we’re 34 percent of frontline essential workers,” said Longoria during a virtual press conference promoting the event. Those people include nurses and other medical professionals, farmworkers and delivery, restaurant and hotel workers, among others, added Longoria.
A recent study published in the Annals of Epidemiology shows that Latinos contract the virus and die from Covid-19 at disproportionately higher rates for their population. They account for 33 percent of all confirmed Covid-19 cases nationwide when they only represent about 18 percent of the country’s total population. Also, about one in five deaths from the disease is a Latino.
KEEPING U.S. GOING
“The majority of frontline essential workers that are keeping this country running and going are from our community, the Latino community,” stated Longoria, noting that many of them lack personal protection equipment. There have been numerous news reports, especially at the start of the pandemic, of medical staff, food processing plant employees and other workers toiling without proper protection or protocols against the coronavirus, risking their lives to make a living and support their families.
Workers from restaurants, farms, food industry and medical facilities are among those considered essential by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
While inevitably addressing the pandemic’s disproportional negative impact on Latinos, the CBS special appears to be an attempt to lift spirits and offer hope with community stories and entertainment.
A short clip from Essential Heroes played at the conference highlights a family-owned Mexican restaurant La Guelaguetza, which was started by a food street vendor who immigrated from the Mexican state of Oaxaca. In the video, Estefan introduces the Los Angeles-based iconic eatery as an example of entrepreneurial creativity in the face of adversity. Estefan also attended the press conference via Zoom.
Two singers featured in the one-hour special offer uplifting songs. Grammy Award winner rapper Pitbull will perform his single I Believe That We Will Win, a song penned and released in the pandemic.
For her part, Estefan will sing a version of her pop dance hit Get On Your Feet especially adapted to serve as send-off at the end of the show.