Maritza
Portrait with Sara Stathas
Description: A young woman is standing against a graphic yellow background resembling the Virgen de Guadalupe imagery. The Milwaukee skyline is visible in the foreground. She wears an outfit with Mexican attributes, holding a rosary in her hand.
Portrait with Nick Collura
“My portrait is just me being myself - being outgoing and being Mexican. My Hispanic culture is a big part of my life. My parents inspired me to be that way. My dad shows he is Mexican and is proud. I am a part of the Latino leadership group at my school. It’s important because most of the community at my school is white and we want people to know that we are there too, we are active, and we do like to get involved in things. We plan events for our whole school and do all of the work ourselves. We do an event for Mexican Independence Day. For the Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe, we even plan a whole mass for the entire school.
When I think about my childhood, I think about growing up with my sisters. There are three of us. I am the youngest. We moved to the South Side from a more rural area where it was really quiet, not a lot of people and not really any Latinos. Coming here to the South Side, it was a big change. Here, our community is good and bad. It’s bad because right now, with everything going on, things feel messed up. And it’s good because our community supports each other. We are powerful together, especially when the protests for racial justice were happening.
People who know me would describe me as loud. I speak what's on my mind. I’m a leader. Some people might say I am mean, because sometimes I be like con mi cara and everything. But really, I’m a person who loves to meet new people. I’m just honest.”
Milwaukee, 2020