Latino Icons

Latino icons are all around us. Latino USA takes a look at these icons and their lasting legacies.

Lin-Manuel Takes the Stage (2016-05-10) by Aaron E. SanchezLatino USA

Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda talks to Maria Hinojosa about Hamilton, the Broadway smash which takes a new approach about the story of the Founding Fathers.

NASA Astronaut Ellen Ochoa (2014-04-15) by Candy TorresLatino USA

Ellen Ochoa
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Astronaut Ochoa captured the imaginations of many Latinos who dreamed of going to space.

Dolores Huerta Receives The Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014-07-03) by Alex WongLatino USA

Dolores Huerta
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In 2012 President Obama bestowed Dolores with The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S, and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2013.

Rita Moreno (2017-01-13) by Jamie McCarthyLatino USA

Rita Moreno
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At a White House ceremony in June 2004, Ms. Moreno was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2009-09-10) by Maria HinojosaLatino USA

Sonia Sotomayor
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Maria Hinojosa talks to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor about her memoir My Beloved World.

Julio Rivera (2016-06-24) by Jenny RiveraLatino USA

Julio Rivera
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His murder helped form a coalition of family, friends, gay rights activists and community members. The mobilization led to the arrest of the perpetrators and became the first case in the state of New York to be tried as a hate crime against a gay person.

Sandra Cisneros (2016-11-04) by Alan GoldfarbLatino USA

Sandra Cisneros
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Writer Sandra Cisneros was the first Chicana writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship in 1995. Author of The House on Mango Street.

John Fife (2017-03-24) by Tim SloanLatino USA

John Fife
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“There was a crisis in human rights at the border,” and the refugees who arrived at the border “were being captured and put in detention centers,” said Reverend John Fife.

Diane Guerrero (2016-06-03) by Frazer HarrisonLatino USA

Diane Guerrero
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Actress Diane Guerrero, best known for her roles in Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, talks about growing up after her family was deported.

Cecilia Lopez, Mexican American Soprano (2014-11-05) by Jen Joyce DavisLatino USA

Cecilia Lopez
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Latino USA talks to Lopez about the amazing story that led her to an opera career, and we hear excerpts of her performance as the tragic heroine Violetta in La Traviata.

Candido Camero (2017-01-20) by Hubert WilliamsLatino USA

Candido Camero
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With a career spanning 70 years, Candido decided to retire in 2016. At 95 years of age, the iconic conguero took the stage in one of his final shows.

AJ Mendez Brooks aka “AJ Lee,” (2017-05-19) by Cathy and David PhotographyLatino USA

AJ Mendez Brooks
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A three-time Divas champion, her successful career played her as an unpredictable, woman delighted in teasing her opponents with her signature move, “the Black Widow.”

Catherine Cortez Masto (2017-02-10) by Aaron P. BernsteinLatino USA

Catherine Cotez Masto
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The first Latina U.S. Senator gets sworn in. She went from a young Latina raised in Nevada by her Mexican family to making history in Congress as the first Latina senator.

Author Esmeralda Santiago (2016-04-08) by Robert CurtisLatino USA

Esmeralda Santiago
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The author of "When I was Puerto Rican" tells the story of how a stroke led to a fear she'd never be able to read or write again.

José Díaz-Balart (2016-06-10) by Gio AlmaLatino USA

José Díaz-Balart
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José Díaz-Balart has been a journalist for more than three decades both for English-language networks and Spanish-language television.

Laurie Hernandez (2017-02-17) by Laurence GriffithsLatino USA

Laurie Hernandez
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At U.S. team final., the camera zoomed in and you see her say to herself, “I got this.” Along with the rest of the Final Five, she took home a team gold medal and silver on beam.

Sonia Manzano At Sesame Street (2015-09-25) by Sesame WorkshopLatino USA

Sonia Manzano
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Sonia Manzano influenced the lives of many kids and parents, for decades, through her appearance in Sesame Street.

Mondo Guerra (2017-01-13) by Bridget SeigfriedLatino USA

Mondo Guerra
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What Mondo Guerra revealed became one of the rawest, most iconic moments in reality show history.

Credits: Story

Produced by Latino USA

Special thanks to Latino USA and The Futuro Media Group team.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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