When You're Invisible

UPDATE: We will be back in November! 

We’re honoring International Workers’ Day with an exciting announcement - season two of When You’re Invisible is coming this July! We’ll be talking about labor, organizing, and community.

My parents often had to take risks in pursuit of change, whether emigrating from Mexico or taking a leap of faith on a job that moved our family across the country. They open up about their childhoods in Mexico, and their journey from food stamps to the middle class. Being away from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Mexico, our nuclear family has always been close and we unpack what we’ve learned from each other, be it American expressions or more complex conversations about race, sexuality, and Latinidad. Our season finale breaks down their lived experiences as in-betweeners and the ways in which belonging to more than one country, culture, and socioeconomic background has expanded their worldview. 

“I cannot say that I ever had the American dream, to be honest. It's been an accident in my life. Let's put it that way.” –Francisco

“There is a story behind each person, and if we are able to embrace those people and just recognize them as a person, what a difference that will make.” –Claudia 

Creator: Maria Fernanda Diez 

Executive Producers: Gisselle Bances, Anna Stumpf, Nikki Ettore 

Producer: Dylan Heuer  

Associate Producer: Claudia Marticorena

Original Theme Music: Tony Bruno

The white rural working class is so often depicted in the mainstream media as just Trump supporters; but there’s a lot of layers to this community that go unseen. Jen comes from this world and she’s also a new member of my family (my sister-in-law’s sister). We talk about her experience as the first in her family to date a person of color, the isolation caused by grief, and her struggle at times to fit in with her community. You’ll witness the most in depth conversation she and I have ever had, where I discover some of our shared values despite our very different backgrounds. 

“To have a good conversation, you have to open yourself up and be prepared to just listen to what somebody else has to say.” –Jen

Today my friend Lani lives very authentically, but she has struggled with perception and invisibility throughout her life. She unpacks the complexities of living a rough childhood that took her around the world and the nuances of her identity as a half-Korean, half-white woman who never looked like the rest of her family. She gets real about the power dynamics of past relationships and talks about how she hopes to maintain a full range of humanity and sexuality as a soon-to-be mom. From a disability that grounded her, to an OnlyFans page that empowers her, you’ll hear about all the things that have made her who she is in her strength, her power, and her joy.

“If I get rejected and I've showed up as my whole self, that's such a blessing. It's not about me not being good enough. It just means that they know something about themselves and see something in me that isn't a good fit. Awesome. Cool. How great.” –Lani