Cristina martinez grew up in the small central mexican town of capulhuac, where barbacoa is not just a meal, its a way of life. Her mother and father cooked barbacoa for a living. cristina chopping meat and in her town, 99 of the people there cook barbacoa. While cristina carries on the family tradition, she wants a better life for her 3 children in mexico. Cristina, voice cracking w emotion, explaining in spanish how difficult it is shes saying its very difficult. Shes here for the economic stability of the family, and to provide for them. She came to the United States illegally, crossing the border first in 2006 and then again in 2009. The reason she came here was so her daughter would have access to nursing school. And even though were married she has no access to a green card or a visa. Thats because of a Us Immigration law known as the 10 year hard bar. If she wants to get legal not only would she have to go to mexico, shed have to wait a full 10 years outside before she could even ask for the waiver. Ironically, cristina is breaking no laws by owning her own restaurant and neither is her son, isaias, who snuck into the country to join his mother and just opened his own spot a few blocks away. Its illegal to employ an undocumented worker and you can be fined 3k for each one. But its not illegal to own something. Ben and christina chatting in spanish. Cristina and ben met while working together in the kitchen at amis. They fell in love, got married and opened south philly barbacoa, last year. The food that you get here is the same food that you get in mexico. Even down to the supersized maguey leaf they wrap it in. Which gives the barbacoa a certain flavor. When food writers come to rave about the tacos, ben and cristina steer the conversation to immigration. If you want to write about the restaurant, youre going to need to write about this. cristina addressing crowd in spanish they organize regular dinners working to build grass roots support for legislation that would give Illegal Immigrants the legal right to work. Its a basic human right. And theyre calling on other chefs to join them in the fight. There are so many restaurants in philadelphia but there wouldnt be without the undocumented workers. We can fix this if we all get together and talk about it as a chef community. Ben just got back from copenhagen where he gave a talk on workers rights. Taking the Movement International if you want to join the conversation on social media, search the hashtag right2work. And on the subject of work, the Philadelphia Police department is hiring. And theres an effort underway to recruit more latinos to try out for the force. Ilia garcia from our sister station univision has more on the push for more hispanic police. Since 1969 salea the Spanish American Law Enforcement Association has been trying to build a more diverse police force. The mission of salea at that time was to uplift the members, to get more hispanics on the job and after that it was to get more females on the job latinas. Officer eddie lopez, sr. Is the current president. Hes helped grow the membership to 450 active duty and retired officers part or their mission to encourage interaction between police and the community. When it starts, you can feel the tension in the air but when its over the kids that came in with the attitude are shaking out hands. Wow officer lopez, i didnt know cops were that cool. With recent events dividing the public and the police force, growing a more Diverse Department is part of bridging the gap. We definitely need to increase the numbers. Latinos are the Fastest Growing population in the city but only 8 percent of the 6,000 Philadelphia Police officers are hispanic. Were everywhere were in north philly. We have south philly which has your mexicans guatemalans then you have your dominicans coming in. So, hispanic officers are well needed in this whole city. I joined the pd when i was 19 years old. Its the greatest job in the world it really is. Now 21 years into her career lieutenant Maria Ortiz Rodriguez is one of only two hispanic female lieutenants on the philly pd and credits salea with helping her prepare for promotional testing. Well do study groups with each other for the different ranks and that was a tremendous help. The requirements to join the Philadelphia Police department have recently changed and salea considers itself a resource to help those interested in serving navigate the application process. You have to be 22 years or older. We do not have an age cap. The requirements now for becoming a Police Officer is a High School Diploma or equivalent. Because we have so many that wanted to become Police Officers but cannot afford college its easier for them to join. What salea gave me im just giving it back to the younger kids. Despite a rapidly growing population, theres a lack of hispanic representation in politics as well. While there is now a record 38 hispanics in the us congress, just 2 serve in pennsylvanias state house. And there is only 1 latino on philadelphias 17 member city council. But there is some hope on the horizon. Dann cuellar meets 2 young upandcomers working to raise the voice of the Latino Community. Its about how can we empower latinos in the mainstream politics. Born and raised in mexico, Fernando Trevino has always been passionate about politics. I went to law school in mexico and i was a student organizer i was very active in politics there. Upon graduation he came to the us to work as an attorney, but soon decided political activism was his true calling theres still a lot of work to do in pennsylvania. And after working in Civic Engagement for almost a decade, in 2012 he was recruited by president obamas Reelection Campaign. Youre talking about a mexican immigrant dealing and leading the president s Reelection Campaign in pennsylvania for every minority group. With his guidance the campaign was able to increase the latino vote in pennsylvania by 50 . That was a huge victory not only for me personally but for our community as well. Now a strategic consultant, fernando works with organizations like for our future, to help educate and empower voters. Its the key for those groups to feel engaged but also the key for to advance progressive and you know good policies for the city and for the state and for the country. While fernando continues to encourage latino voters, many immigrants are not yet able to express that right, we found another activist who makes sure their voices are heard as well. You dont necessarily need to vote to be able have a voice and i think the immigrant Rights Movement has really shown that. Jasmine rivera has always been drawn to social justice. To make an impact she decided to become a community organizer. Helping Community Members build a political analysis, come together and actually work on the issues and win on the issues. She works to empower individuals like juan carlos romero, a mexican immigrant and local business owner. She teach us sometimes we need to protest, we need to go to the protest to ask for our rights. Regardless of immigration status every Single Person who lives in this country should have a say and should have a voice in how this country is going to operate. She says its about the Community Coming together to create the real change that we need. Anything thats going to happen, happens because the community makes it happen. Definitely some promising young people worth keeping an eye on. Absolutely. Well, when it comes to language, there are an estimated 45 Million People in the United States who speak spanish. Either as a first or a second language. And theres a school in Queen Village where kids from all over the city go to learn. Its called bilingual butterflies. De queso queso its an Immersion Program that teaches kids from birth the spanish language. It is as if theyre going to another country and theyre just being immersed in a language without really knowing that theyre learning it. Yesenia faison or as her students know her, senora yenni, was inspired to start the program when she was 21 years old working as a nanny. They wanted me to teach their children spanish. I just started speaking to them in spanish. But as a child that young you pick up a language. So she started teaching small classes. Other parents started asking about how their kids could also learn spanish. It just grew from there. She draws from her experience with the language barrier when she came to the us from mexico not knowing any english and just 6 years old. I remember the feeling of sitting in a class where i didnt know, i really didnt know what was going on. But she found thats the best time to learn. Mas, mas i dont know any parents that have to teach their child whatever their first language is, children just pick it up. Raspa, raspa for yensenias students, it doesnt feel like learning. They dont feel pressured uh theyre not sitting at a table you know writing papers or learning how to pronounce words, its more just fun based. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the us and parents are quickly realizing the benefits. Studies have shown that learning a second language improves so many aspects uh of a childrens brain. Children that are bilingual uh perform better than monolingual peers throughout math, reading, sats, acts. They also offer classes for adults. And if its latin music youre looking for, weve got just the spot. A shop in north philadelphia thats been around for more than half a century. latin music located in the heart of phillys el centro de oro neighborhood, Centro Musical is the biggest and longest standing latin music store in the city. Everybody knows Centro Musical. The landmark got its start in the early 60s with original owner nestor gonzalez, whos family continued the tradition over three generations until 2014 when Reinaldo Melendez took the reins. To me it was very important to carry the name of Centro Musical. The idea to keep the tradition in the neighborhood. And that tradition is something he takes very seriously. As a puerto rican, its important to carry on the, the tradition of our country and musics one type to do that latin music, salsa is something that we, we have in our genes laughs they carry a wide variety of genres but they are known for their impressive collection of latin inspired music. A lot of caribbean music, salsa, meringue, bachata and then very important to this neighborhood reggae tone. The store also sells a variety of specialty instruments. I sell congas, bongos, trumpets, claves, maracas, anything you name it. And just recently, reinaldo even added latin memorabilia to the stores vast inventory we like to show our roots so i carry a lot of stuff that has the puerto rican flag. Now in its 58th year, Centro Musical is a space for the whole community to celebrate their culture. music playing little kids, young kids, old guys, everybody comes. Its going to be Centro Musical for many years to come. The new owner is in the process of expanding the store. When visions 2016 comes right back. Lets go. Meet the local football coach building a Legendary Program. And phillys first latino world boxing champ. Welcome back to visions 2016 and our celebration of hispanic heritage month. We are at south philly barbacoa, known for its tacos and community activism. Philly is also home to some terrific boxing history. And now danny garcia is adding to the story as phillys first latino World Champion. From philadelphia pennsylvania. Danny garcia is the undefeated wbc welterweight champion. His style, a blend of his home town and his heritage. I got the puerto rican power and the philly skill and will so you mix those two together and you cant be beat. Its a combination thats led to 32 victories, 18 by knockout. Garcia now beginning to unload. Im the type of person i just never give up no matter what i do. That attitude came from dannys father and lifelong trainer, angel. I love you go i been in boxing all my life im a latino thats what we do. Angel moved to philadelphia from puerto rico with his parents when he was 6. Back then they used to go to puerto rico and pick up the Puerto Ricans and bring them over here to farm. That blue collar attitude has always been part of angels lifestyle. I wasnt the most perfect man in the world i was a hard worker i worked all my life. A short stint in jail separated him from his family but also served as a crossroads in his life. He was 8 so i did 2 years i used to talk to him on the phone told him i was going to focus on him when i came home. Now that im older i see how it all played out it saved his life and it saved my future. Angels focus on danny has motivated both, helping his son become a 2division champion. They spend most days training in their juniata gym. The juniata section of philadelphia this will always be my home. Danny has built a dsg campus in the neighborhood he grew up, complete with a boxing gym, an auto shop and a barber shop. Whats up champ. We giving back to the community, trying to create jobs. Each year he gives out backpacks for local students and free haircuts for kids in his neighborhood. When you do good things good things come back to you. The father and son have come a long way, their puertotia lane there. Danny and angel have spent their life taking punches with a singular goal in mind. Its always been a dream of mine to to be a World Champion as a kid. The happiest moment of my life when he won the world title. And even though theyve reached the pinnacle, its still not easy for the father to see his son get hit. That night im a trainer he cant come to the corner and i say oh im sorry youre bleeding. You hear me stay focused. After he comes out i say bandito you got cut papi laughs . Danny will also be the grand marshal of the puerto rican day parade on september 25th. Well have more on the parade later in the show. But first from the boxing ring to the football field. Saint joes Prep High School football coach gabe infante is building a Legendary Program from the roots up. And the success starts with his own cuban roots. Havana right . Thats the light tower. Inside his st. Joes prep office, head coach gabe infante keeps photos of cuba close. Thats the jose marte monument. Little reminders . Yeah. Im very proud of my heritage and where i come from. The desire to succeed was born from the struggle his parents endured as cuban exiles. When i think of the struggles they went through the sacrifices they made what i do is nothing compared to what they did. Hey lets go lets go. Gabe took over the st joes prep program in 2010 but his path to coaching was different than most. By trade youre an attorney in law school i started coaching and figured out that thats what i really want to do it took about 7 years before i had the courage to leave the practice of law to coach. His law degree hangs in his Office Another prominent image from his past. Its a sacrifice for my family its a sacrifice for me you know going from a lawyers salary to a High School Coaches salary is big jump. Its all part of the motivation when hes on the field. Gotta have a great day lets go. You have so much drive where does that come from . I think a lot of it comes from the kids i dont want to disappoint them. He has built the program into one of the best in the country, backtoback state champions, and right now he has one of the nations top recruits. Dandre swift will be a georgia bulldognext year but first he will have another chance to learn from coach infante. Its tough love, getting me ready for the next level so i embrace it. Im not happy about that. Football is is a means to an end and for us its developing great young. Are you cognizant of the role that you play for the Latino Community because there are kids especially in the city man that look and say hes one of us . I put a lot of i put a lot of pressure on myself uh to do the right things i think that you lead by example and thats what i try and do. team chants whether its speeches after practice. Dont let fear dictate to you the things you will and will not do in your life. Meetings in his office. You make the play because you follow a process. Or the team unity he implores on gameday. This is our game ball. Our legacy is our young men well know in 20 years when theyre fathers and husbandsrant by max preps. Coach infante has a lot to be proud of on the field and off. Still ahead on visions 2016. We visit some Top Destinations for south American Food in philadelphia. Just try it and ice cream flavors that will transport you to the islands. Welcome back to visions 2016 and our celebration of hispanic heritage month. We are at south philly barbacoa and you know they were not only named 6th best new restaurant by bon appetit magazine, their tacos just earned a best of philly from philadelphia magazine. The citys restaurant scene just keeps Getting Better and better. And if youre looking for the flavors of south america, weve got options. Picanha brazilian grill in northeast philadelphia provides an authentic brazilian steakhouse experience. It started out with my parents and my moms sister. They always been around food. Its the familys mission to stick to their roots. Everything that we cook is pretty much popular dishes from around brazil. And its all you can eat we have the rodizio which is the buffet. And we have the servers which are known as gauchos that goes to the table and serves you all the kinds of meat from the skewer. The signature picanha steak is a popular cut of beef in brazil and is the restaurants top seller. People walk in and stop at the meat counter, thats the first thing they say i want picanha. And in true brazilian custom, they make fresh juices everyday. Freshly squeezed oranges, pineapple. If youre thirsting for something more bubbly, they have a popular soda from brazil. Its called guarana and its very good. We just have a little bit of everything. If you want quick and easy brazilian food on the go, then look no further. Its time for philadelphia have a brazilian food truck. Chef adriano redante started brazbq in 2012, after he got his start working in a restaurant kitchen. Thats when my techniques you know perfected. Now he serves his own creations cooking up both traditional brazilian dishes. One of my, very popular item is rice and beans platter. Along with a twist on american favorites like the brazilian hamburgao. Instead of the traditional burger we slice the meat, grill it and then start topping off with lettuce, tomato, corn uh bacon, ham, egg, cheese and potato sticks laughs all in one shot. Chef redante promises his food is unlike anything else. My customers love my food its very unique, you cant find my food basically anywhere in the city. For a more upscale vibe, malbec argentine steak house is new to the south street district. We love philadelphia. Now the restaurant is in full swing, serving 100 argentinean dishes. Everything is homemade here in house. And its a meat lovers if you like your sweets with a Little Island inspiration, this next story is for you. Ilia garcia, from our sister station univision, takes us to a family run shop in west chester. We wanted to bring flavors that you cannot find anywhere else. Tropical Homemade Ice Cream serves over 100 varieties of ice cream and water ices, specializing in exotic fruit flavors only found in the caribbean. Tropical flavors like mamey. Guanabana is related to chili modja, its a fruit from peru. Tamarind is another tropical fruit. The flavors are inspired by their homeland. In puerto rico we had a couple trees in the back of the house so i would eat that all the time. So many people have been like wow, i never even knew that fruit existed tropical Homemade Ice Cream serves as the sister spot to la michoacana, the mexican inspired spot in kennett square. Noelia opened the new shop with her nephew, tony. Were coowners but before that we are. Were family. Family. And their flavors reflect their roots; corn, rice pudding and avocado; all accented with a touch of chili powder or cinnamon. The chili is prepared with lime and salt so on avocado, corn and any of those fruit water ices, it tastes really good. It makes the fruit sweeter, it brings out more of the flavor. They also handcraft a variety of uniqueflavored popsicles and sweet treats. We have the chamoyada that you cannot find anywhere else. And chamoyada is just water ice with sweet and hot sauce and a tamarind candy, that is out of this world. Their mission is to share the flavors of their culture with the local community. We relate back to when we were children and for me like i said with the tamarind, i remember having the tree right in the backyard and pulling the fruit right off of the tree and eating that and to be able to present that to people here who have no idea what it is. Some of them are taken aback with all the flavors and every single time they come in i just look at them and say try a sample spoon just try it well give me a spoon, ill try it when our special visions 2016 comes right back. puerto rican day parade its a celebration of puerto rican culture and an annual tradition on the pa welcome back to visions 2016 and our celebration of hispanic heritage month. For more than half a century, its been a tradition, the last sunday in september is set aside for the annual puerto rican day parade. It is the crown jewel of the puerto rican festival. And for years, 6abcs Diego Castellanos has served as the host for the festivities. This is a beautiful portrayal of puerto rican history and culture. Youll be able to see floats, dancing groups, musical groups. Join us on the parkway at the parade or watch it right here on 6abc. Ill be there along with walter perez and ilia garcia. Dont miss it. Always a great event. And a great opportunity to learn about the local puerto rican community. Our thanks to south philly barbacoa for hosting us. And our congratulations to them on being named 6th best new restaurant in the nation. Incredible honor. If youre interested in south philly barbacoa or any of the places we featured, you can find them on our website. Just go to 6abc dot com slash visions. Have a great week eve
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