d"comunidad del valle." and welcome to i'm damian trujillo, and today, teatro nahual is in our studio. ♪ they have a new production on your "comunidad del valle." damian: and we do begin today with teatro nahual. with me is the director of the theater company, veronica meza, and abraham mijangos is an actor in this new production called "the malinche show." welcome, welcome to the show. veronica meza: thank you, damian. damian: veronica, first of all, tell us about teatro nahual and what makes it different from the other teatro. veronica: thank you so much, damian, for this opportunity. it's been important for us to give the information to the community about the new play. and teatro nahual is a nonprofit organization, it's 501(c)(3). here, we are founded in santa clara county. we're performing all plays totally in spanish since 2003 in the area. including an ultra-modern architectural gem and the fabulous jonathan adler and simon and also we offer the spanish acting classes since 2004

doonan show us around their equally totally in spanish. fabulous shelter island refuge. so, we promote education and entertainment through the plus, alex guarnaschelli whips up a feast spanish language plays, and we honor, in her bridge hampton kitchen. honor our language that we are very proud to speak spanish and but first, author and ad man richard kirshenbaum takes us on a tour of his unique sagaponack sanctuary, english in this spanish language country, ourespeally. but i think i saw the importance really, just steps from the beach. the favorite thing for me in the world is really to rescue more the spanish in our community because to be well-read and well-fed. [theme music] that's the way to rescue our sort also in california.regionf damian: are you the one--now, let's say you get a script of an obra, of a play, here's the one, the "malinche show." we are kicking off our celebration of summer on long let's say you get a script and it's in english. island in sagaponack with advertising do you translate it, or do you get all the scripts in español? veronica: well, sometimes i translate information into english, from spanish to english. and when we have a tv project in the past, we like create like a signups for the alzheimer, alzheimer disease. i needed to write completely in spanish. and when they passed it into the screen, they made the translation in--sorry,

i need to write in english, and they made a translation in spanish, or vice versa. damian: subtitles. veronica: yeah, we the have subtitles. damian: all right, and so, abraham, you're an actor. what do you like about the fact that you're on the big stage with teatro nahual? abraham mijangos: hi, my name is abraham, and i think we are in teatro nahual for almost 14 years. it's a good experience. and she's my director, and it's a really good, good learning. a, or did you learn how to act? abraham: i'm still learning, yeah. damian: what is it about it that says, "i want to be--i want to be on the stage. i want to be part of it"? abraham: i think it's--first it's, you know, to want to do it. and i think my friends or people i know, they want to do it, but they don't know how or where. that's why teatro nahual is here, to invite our community to learn some acting classes. damian: so, i mean, it's a--seems like a professional

theater company, but you're also teaching the acting? veronica: yeah, i offer the spanish acting classes since 2004. and i met abraham, abraham arrived probably in 2005, 2006, and he's been taking several spanish acting workshops. he's one of the lead actors, one of the best, not because he's present, but he is wonderful. and we are with people from the community, really all ages. there's kids, teenagers, adult people that want to be introduced into the theater arts, and want to learn about the breathing exercises, how to project the voice in a stage, technique or acting exercises or acting techniques, but are following the stanislavski technique or different improvisations that we work. 'cause we train actors, and later we offer the opportunity that they can be--they can be part of some productions. damian: what about the audience that comes watch-- to watch your shows? how easy or difficult is it to get a spanish speaking audience to fill a theater and watch an obra like this one?

veronica: i think since 2003, it has been like a really hard work. you have to pass information to really get the solidarity, like programs like yours that tend to your program, more people can know that we exist, that we offer acting classes, that we have productions totally in spanish. it has been a hard work. however, we have been having a very good response for latin american people that really feel identify with the rules because they are listening totally a spanish language theater group. it's no chicano, it's not in english. and they identifying when they arrive to the productions and said, "oh my god, that's a long time that i never heard that word or that-- i keep forgetting my spanish." and that's great that we are refreshing with this place that you are presenting, and that's kind of been a hard work, but at the same time very gratifying to help the population. damian: well, it's called "malinche show" by teatro nahual. it's going on at the macla theatre here in downtown san jose. there is their web address for more information. we'll be back and talk about the "malinche show," stay with us.

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well, tell us about the "malinche show." what is the obra all about? veronica: well, it is a historical play, but bring it to the audience in a fun way. with entertainment, you can see music, will be totally like a revolution on the stage. and that's like--it's like historical play like the way that we are talking this malinche. we are talking about what happened 500 years ago in the history of mexico. but we are bringing aspects of the history of mexico in a fun way, in an entertaining way. and we are showing la malinche, not the--malinche that we see in the textbook, for example, that is the traitor, the person that learned to speak spanish and forget about the--forgot about the nahuatl, and about the maya, and about all the culture. no, we present really the human part of la malinche, what really in a different context happened on that moment

of the history, when he or she tried to help hernan cortes, the spanish conqueror, when he arrived to mexico and they wanted to like to conquer the population and of course change the religion to catholicism. so, you can see in the play a totally fight and argument between hernan cortes and la malinche, saying, "why you did this aspect? why you didn't do it? i was not guilty, you weren't guilty." and it seems that they, in the play, the context or tichat we are trying to handle is that they didn't want to kill people--people i can tell with the conquer. the effort or the power to conquer tenochtitlan on that time i think was out of their hands. yeah, and they really handle, like cortes handled tons of people and conquers. he was notale blood running with the country, when mexico tenochtitlan on you can see in a fun way the characters like la malinche,

hernan cortes, appears in a fun trilogy. that is like the power, power of the united states trying to dominate and control all the characters to do whatever they want to do. in la malinche, it's like puppet that they have on the stage managed by the trilogy, like the power people. and they want to continue manipulating the population and saying, "be embarrassed to speak your language. be embarrassed on how your origin is. we want you in the other side," yeah? imploring for the different values and the different culture because we want to control your mind. abraham: my role is--i'm hernan cortes. damian: of course you are. [all laughing] abraham: i'm with the "malinche show." you have to go to see what is going on. it's 500 years ago, so you know, we bring all the story in here. yeah, i'm hernan cortes. damian: do you have to know a little bit about the story of la malinche?

or just once you're there, it's kind of all-- abraham: no, yeah. you know, some, you know, it's a really huge history about mexico. damian: it's deep history. abraham: yeah, it is, a lot. i'm from mexico. but yeah, i know some things about it, about her. she was not traitor, she was a translator, but she lost the control. and that's what it's going to represent. damian: is it easier to have fun with this play, maybe joke around and make people laugh? damianan: md if they don't laugh? abraham: i think it's a challenge. [all laughing] abraham: they have to. veronica: hopefully, they will have, they will have a great time. yeah, yeah, i think that's--we are expecting that, yeah. damian: so, is it a challenge to make sure that you're serious about the topic, but then you want to make people laugh at the same time? veronica: yes, because it's a farcical play. the actors, i am very like proud to have a great actors like abraham, blanca nieto, louis nicolas, alicia salcedo, heraldo fernandez. and it's a--we have like nine actors on a scene,

and a singer, and a play--some person play and teatro nahual, for years we have the characteristics to present comedies and farcical plays, but really going deepest laughing a lot about the topic,e for example how hernan cortes went like and, i don't know, kill somebody or like talk in front of la malinche--but people can be laughing at the same time that they are reflecting. damian: interesting. well, it's called the "malinche show," it's by teatro nahual at macla theatre. now, their premiere is again on february 29, but they'll have more shows after that. make sure you log on and find out more about the "malinche show." well, thank you so much and good luck. abraham: thank you. veronica: thank you for this opportunity, gracias. damian: and we'll have more here on "comunidad del valle," stay with us.

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damian: she carries her daughter's image everywhere. carla sanchez, an airman half a world away in an area that could come under attack at any moment. her mom, carmen sanchez, speaks broken english, but sometimes language becomes irrelevant when demonstrating anguish. here carmen calls her daughter her idol. carmen sanchez: she's one of my idol. damian: carla joined the air force soon after high school in hollister. the airman has been in the middle east for six months. and in the last week, these images are haunting her mother, threats of war and more troops moving in in case the unthinkable happens. [speaking in foreign language] damian: the constant fear, she says, of that knock on the door. male: i'm extremely proud of our soldiers. damian: the family has received an outpouring of support from their hollister neighbors, including the local veterans of foreign wars. carmen: i want to pray for you. damian: carmen, an immigrant from mexico,

knows her daughter signed up for this. she knows her adopted country needs brave men and women like carla to serve. and although her worry has ratcheted up in the last week, carmen is proud of her little girl who chose to wear the sacred cloth of this nation. damian: we wish all of our service members the very best. now, this week, we reported that the san jose police chief was denied his real id. now, he understands why he was denied, but it's a lesson for all of our puerto rican community. damian: he's been san jose's top cop for four years, moving up the ranks from police officer. eddie garcia is also a veteran, having served in the army reserves and national guard. then came his trip today to the dmv to apply for his real id, and the chief was turned away. eddie garcia: they wouldn't accept my birth certificate from puerto rico. damian: he was told his birth certificate wasn't valid and he needed to get a new one. eddie: you know, it's emotional for a while. damian: garcia says denying his certificate felt like the

dmv was denying his identity as an american-born citizen. eddie: being turned away because, you know, the inference that i got was that the fact that i wasn't american and not born in the united states stung. damian: after doing some research today, the chief discovered the reason for his denial. it turns out that the department of homeland security deemed all birth certificates from puerto rico invalid if they were certified before 2010. that's because of a massive fraud scandal on the island lv garcia says he had no idea about the scandal or the government action. eddie: the reason they don't accept it are for absolutely valid reasons. i understand that, it was just--it needs to be communicated better. damian: garcia says nowhere in the application process does it explain the requirement. he's hoping for more clarity by the dmv so no other puerto rican will feel the same humiliation he felt today. damian: and we've since learned that the chief has now received his new birth certificate in the mail,

so now he's going back to the dmv. speaking of the chief, every cadet in the san jose police department right now who wants to be a cop is taking a crash course in spanish. the chief says that this is to make sure that they better serve the spanish speaking community. male: did you tell him not to stay in the vehicle? did you say anything else to him? male: i told him, "un momento." damian: the recruits are roleplaying. male: how did you tell him to turn off the motor? male: apaga motor. male: apaga motor, perfect. damian: veteran san jose police officers are spending three classes teaching future cops very basic spanish. carlos acosta: common words and phrases. as an example, we talk about colors, the year, names, first and last. damian: for many of the recruits, it might be their first spanish class since high school, if not ever. and they know their limitations. brett vranich: we're not going to be perfect, we're not going to have the best grammar, and we're not going to be speaking full sentences. damian: brett vranich and his academy classmates are two weeks

away from graduation. we wanted to see what he learned in tactical spanish. [speaking in foreign language] eddie: our two main responsibilities are to take the criminal element off the street and to build strong community ties. damian: chief eddie garcia says communication is key on any call, and valuable time is lost when a victim or a person stopped by police has to wait for a translator. eddie: just because we show up with a badge and a uniform, that's not--that doesn't necessarily fix things. we need to put people at ease. sam liccardo: this is so overdue. this is a police department that i know is absolutely committed to serving everybody in this community. damian: the class is welcome news at the tropicana shopping center. [speaking in foreign language] damian: this woman says it matters, especially in the heart of the latino community. male: you went there and you asked him for his apellido,

which is a last name. da: damian trujillo, nbc bay area news. [speaking in foreign language] we'll have more hen stay with us.

comunidad on que pasa. ♪ ♪ ♪ special day, felicidades. ♪ you can follow me on twitter, my handle is @newsdamian. on instagram, my handle is @newsdamiantrujillo,

you can follow me on both there. also pick up a copy of "el observador" newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you once again for joining us here on "comunidad del valle" for the last 24 years. we're going to leave you now with another special interview. buenos dias. damian: becoming mujeres, a special endeavor by my next guest here on "comunidad del valle." dr. coco castaneda is my guest along with her daughter lupita here on "comunidad del valle." well, welcome to the show, nice to have you here. all about becoming mujeres., tf we'll get into lupita's part in it, but tell us about this endeavor. we'll get into lupita's part in it, to latinas ages 13 and older on subjects ranging from, with the teens, social exclusion, bullying, body shaming. we also for the older women, we give seminars, so i give those seminars on el aguante, you know, [speaking in foreign language] that famous el aguante, the endurance

we are taught since we are very young, and how that is very detrimental to our mental health. also we--what we do in these workshops and seminars is we encourage women to foster communication between mothers and daughters, to nurture that communication, that it's so important. because growing up, young latinas have so many questions, questions that a mother should answer or help them find the to the cellphone, you know, the social media, or another friend who may not have the right information. damian: because that leads me to our next question. when you and i were a lot younger, bullying was face to face. it was more confrontation and whatnot. bullying right now, lupita, right, it can be on a social media post. somebody might post something that is directly or indirectly targeted towards you, and that is a form of bullying. lupita castaneda-liles: yes, it is. damian: talk about how widespread it is among kids

of your generation. lupita: it's--unfortunately, it's not uncommon that a lot of girls like get body shamed on like social media, but also through text messaging. like, of course like i've also experienced that not only face to face, but people have, like, bullied me online ho damian: instead of bottling in it in, right? i mean, because there is a chance that a lot of us, when we're bullied, we tend to bottle it in and keep it in, and that's not healthy. maria: exactly. and what happened with becoming mujeres is that it came up out through conversations between lupita and myself on what was happening at her school. it always seems that middle school is-- damian: isn't that the case? [both laughing] maria: yeah, it's a very intense period for teenagers, boys and girls. and that's when she began experiencing some of these negative comments from girls who were her friends at some point. and in these conversations, we began discussing how she felt.

and i thought--began thinking and discerning what i could do in order to help and contribute to solng very serious, and that's how behave video of you, lupita, at the front of the class if you will. i mean, even to thay there you are, you're taking it to the front of the classroom.w. lupita: i find it as an opportunity to, like, let out what i, like, kept in myself, not only just telling my parents, but telling other girls who may not have suspected that i went through these things. and knowing that even like people like me or like one of their friends, like, goes through bullying. and like, the thing is that i'm not ashamed to keep it alone in silence. just i want to share my experiences to help them if they're going through something similar so that they can overcome it and so it can, like, help them throughout, like, their process.

damian: is she living proof that your theory or philosophy is working? maria: yes. [all laughing] and also with her--'cause what she does is that she leads the teen workshops. we offer workshops to latina teens, and she's the one who leads them. i'm there as a guide and to give more of a general background, but she's the one whle and she leads it with her own stories. and it's so powerful because it's--for the girls who are listening to us, it's more powerful for them to listen to-- damian: it's not coming from an adult who knows it all. maria: exactly. damian: it's coming from somebody, like one of their peers. maria: exactly, so it's coming from someone their age, and they can relate. and they've told us it's like, "okay, we like that lupita is sharing her stories." and they feel more empowered to also share their own stories and to leave friendships that are not--that are not life-giving for them. and that's what we've been told by some of the girls. mi wegoabtr ne segment,

but if you'd like more information, there's a web address where you can actually look up in this book, it's called "our lady of everyday life." we'll talk about that book in our next segment. tell us about--you have the book with you. tell us, this is kind of a transformation of what we've been--the topic we've been discussing. maria: exactly, so l have the book here, "our lady of everyday life." i say it's my second child. and it is. so, "our lady of everyday life" is the first sociological study, an in-depth study of the ways that mexican women or women of mexican origin, whether they were born in mexico or the us, grew up catholic, their experiences. growing up catholic has many beautiful aspects. as a few days ago, we celebrated the feast day of our lady of guadalupe, las mananitas, the traditional dressing girls and boys in indigenous outfits in order to commemorate and to remember juan diego, so we have many festivities that

bring life to us and helps solidify our identity as btiome teenagers, as they go through puberty, then something happens. and it's they enter this silence.eir ve, of their developing lives and developing bodies. and it follows them through adulthood. you know, the things that you do not know--you don't ask [speaking in foreign language] you don't talk about it because it's a sin. so, many latinas in general, this case study is on women of mexican origin, have many questions growing up, but they keep it to themselves. so, the book talks about the beautiful, life-giving aspects of being catholic, but also the consequences of that silence that accompanies them. and it in many ways also shapes our identity as adults. damian: and how do you relate that to our lady of guadalupe?y foundational part of their lives.

she is with them in the good times, in the bad times. and they say, for example, the that i would--i'll share withis our lady of guadalupe that i wouldn't share with god because he's a man, he wouldn't understand." so, and the devotion, it's definitely there. and what i did is i interview three age cohorts of women, so the ages range from 18 to 82. so, i interview young college women, mothers, and then older women. and then looked at the--how their experiences growing up catholic throughout these three generations, what were the similarities and what were the differences.