Kristina Guerrero Shows Poor Latinas Are So Hot Right Now

Everyone loves stories that show the American dream playing out big-time, just like for Feivel in An American Tail. People want to know that their idols and celebrities, politicians and cartoon mice were all run through the ringer before enjoying the cushiness that surrounds them currently. In short: Everyone loves a Poor Latina.

As long as she’s poor no longer, obviously. 

The most recent is E! News host Kristina Guerrero. The Sunnyside, Washington native - descended from Mexican migrant workers who’d ventured to the Northeast in search of work - grew up trying to outrun poverty on a farm. I wasn’t until she left for college that she was able to have a bed of her own. Guerrero’s mother raised her five children on a secretary’s salary of $20,000 a year.

Kristina offers us the money shot, so to speak, in an interview with Latina:

I didn’t let where I came from get in my way. I used my culture of being Latina as my advantage as opposed to a disadvantage. So many people discouraged me—they were like, “That’s not really for us, that’s for someone else.” But I worked my butt off to get here. I took chances and big risks. I worked for free in television to learn the business. Believing you can do it and working hard—anything is possible. It’s so cliché to say, “Look at me, I’m the perfect example,” but really, I grew up with no silver spoon in my mouth. I believed I could do it, and I did!

Mmmm, those bootstraps. Pull them. Aw yeah, just like that.

It’s not terribly often that one reads an interview where it’s mentioned that someone came from a suburban, two-parent household and worked through school in a way that is both admirable and relatively unremarkable - especially when it comes to famous Latinos. Of course, much of that has to do with the fact that it’s inspiring and a little thrilling to know that it’s possible to go from “here” to “there” as long as one is willing to put in the work. It shows that the American values we learned about in grade school might actually be useful. But there’s also our sneaking suspicion that the general public wants to see that Latinos in power have had to work for it, have had to struggle and are not the recipients of “hand-outs” or extra help. 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some other Latina who have turned their backgrounds into a selling point:

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer has often sung about being “from the block,” born swaddled in velour instead of cashmere in some scary land known as The Bronx. She also once, in an interview, made mention of the fact that she wore through her sneakers as a child and could not afford a new pair. What she often fails to mention is that she grew up in Riverdale, an upper-middle class, predominantly white neighborhood which houses the prestigious Horace Mann school. How embarrassing! 

Sonia Sotomayor

She’s from The Bronx! Her father has a third grade education! She lived in a tenement! She probably had to eat those off-brand fake cereals like “Toasti Puffs” or “Yummi O’s!” And now she’s making old white men cry and is set to become a Supreme Court Justice. 

Selena Quintanilla

When she was first starting out as a singer, Selena’s family found themselves bankrupt and facing eviction, prompting them to pack up their belonging on a bus and hightail it to Corpus Christi. And she probably had to buy Suave instead of Herbal Essences because it is seriously like two dollars less per bottle. But then she became pretty rich by following her dream and working hard. But then she died.

E! News Host Kristina Guerrero Shares Her Childhood Struggle with Poverty [Latina]