18 Years… is Marisol’s turn…

. . . from the Latino community for everyone in Central New York

by Marisol Hernández

I normally do not write an editorial for our monthly bilingual publication. I do love when Hugo writes his editorials. That was one of the first things I would read when I found out about this newspaper 18 years ago. Yes, we are celebrating the 18th Anniversary of the CNY Latino Newspaper. To be celebrating another anniversary edition in our industry, in our culture, as a small ethnic publication and a small business, this is a “HUGE” accomplishment in my mind. Hugo and I decided not only for me to write this editorial, but also – as a curiosity touch – to research and look into the meaning of 18 before writing it. Here is what we found:

• Eighteen is the numerical value of the Hebrew word “chai” which means “Life.”
• Angel number 18 by its recurrence implies that a set of old things are coming to closure and that new prospects are opening up shortly with the help of divine intervention.
• In the Bible, 18 is symbolic of bondage.
• In China, the number 18 is auspicious. It is associated with great success and prosperity.
• In tarot, 18 is the card of The Moon dripping tears. The moon dripping tears represent the material trying to destroy that which is spiritual.
• In numerology, the number 18 urges us to seek a higher purpose in life that will enable us to achieve great success. We need to focus on positive things to make the best out of our lives.
• 18 is the age of majority in many countries.

…and there was more found about this number… but, nothing that we could relate to our monthly “bilingual” newspaper… a venture that I definitely never thought – 18 years ago – I will get involve.

How did I get involved in this adventure.? Well, you will have to wait for “La Novela” or “The Book” (Hugo and I don’t which one will make us more money – lol); but I can say that I have no regrets and Love what I do. I can not think of anything more powerful than a community newspaper in both English and Spanish to impact my community, to represent my culture, and my people.

Looking at these finding makes me reflect on the fact that 18 years ago my “Life” took a turn I never thought it would. I met an amazing human being. Hugo, the founder and publisher of this business and publication. So, if the number 18 signifies things are coming to closure and new prospects are opening up, I can’t wait to see where we go from here. I certainly believe it was divine intervention that has taken us this far. I am not sure what’s next in our journey… maybe a Podcast?, maybe a Digital radio show?; but I know for sure that Hugo and I will certainly make it fun, exciting and definitely about our culture (and hopefully profitable).

I have been a part of this journey since 2005. My involvement began as a way to contribute and share my editing skills. I have a keen eye for finding mistakes and misspelling everywhere and in anything I read.  The more I did, the more I got hook and the better I got at it. During these past 18 years, we have supported, promoted and attended events and community gatherings in all of the cities our print publication is distributed at. Wow, what an amazing time we have had!.

One of the things I love and enjoy about being the editor in chief of this publication is getting to know the people that contribute with articles and content. As of today, I have a list of over 100 individual people and organizations that have submitted articles at least once in the past 18 years. I appreciate each and every one of them. They are very consistent and this monthly commitment is not easy. Some of them have been with us from the beginning of this journey like Jose Perez, The Latino Medical Student Association, People for Animal Rights (Linda DeStefano and now Rob English) to name a few. There are some that have been with us less than 3 years such as Raquel Torres and Talia Rodriguez. These are my heroes and heroines because they always teach me something new or help me see the world on a different light.

We have published content from Health/Nutrition, Politics, Religion, Legal/Immigration, Community/Events, Business, Culture, Education, Sports, Animal Rights, Environment, Social Justice, Entertainment/Fashion and Arts. The array of articles and ads submitted to us for publication are vast and rich in the sense that it gives our readership a very diverse list of choices to read and events to support, and you can see most of them – a project still in progress – on the online version of our publication at www.cnylatinonewspaper.com. Which reminds me both the enjoyment and the frustration making our publication digital. What an adventure.!!! I am not the kind of person that would consider herself “techie” but I took many tutorials to learn how to use Joomla 12 years ago and WordPress during the past 3 years. The fact that I am still here, shows me that learning is an everchanging task and if turning 18 means age of majority, yes, we have grown and improved. And we will continue to move forward with the technology and the digital world.

With that said, I certainly hope that our life is changing for the better, that we have abundance in 2022 and that we will be able to seek a higher purpose in our business and in our life.

When I look back at all of the content we have provided, all of the events we have promoted and attended, it makes me feel very proud of my Hispanic roots, my community and the work we at CNY Latino have done to elevate our name, to share our culture and to feature our people… If you are reading this editorial, thank you for supporting us. Thank you for being with us these 18 years, and thank you for believing in our power to change the world, to change people’s minds or perspective about our Hispanic community, one article, one ad, one classified, one event and one edition at a time.