By Nora Quintanilla
New York, (EFE).- Colombian actor John Leguizamo is preparing two documentary series in which he resumes his role as a disseminator of Latino history in the United States, a job that he compares to that of an “antidote against invisibility” suffered by this community in the country, according to what he told EFE.
With a 30-year career in film, television and theater, and as many as a Latino activist, Leguizamo, 62, recovers the investigative passion that inspired him in the successful Broadway satirical comedy “Latin History for Morons”, premiered in 2017, at the that questioned the absence of Latinos in US history.
“I have always loved history, but I never saw myself as a teacher or educator, decidedly (more) as a switch or dismantler,” he says with a laugh in a telephone interview, in which he recalls how that work made him see himself within the story and “empowered” him.
The actor has two new projects underway accompanied by director Ben DeJesus, with whom he co-founded the production company NGL/Mitu, which creates “uplifting” and “inspiring” content aimed especially at the “new Latino generations,” both explain, acknowledging their ” responsibility” in that job.
“It is the antidote to all our invisibility and exclusion. We are the most excluded ethnic group in America, although we are the largest and oldest (…). We feel a great responsibility to make it exciting, fun, beautiful, important, and make anyone who sees it proud to be Latino,” says Leguizamo, who speaks in English.
Time to go out and celebrate
Now without the urgency of fighting the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, of whom he was a famous detractor, the interpreter acknowledges that “all that evil and denigration of Latinos was a catalyst” because it united them and helped raise their voices, but “now it is a different time.”
“The pandemic helped us realize what is important, and Black Lives Matter made us realize that we have to fight for inclusion. It is an important moment in Latino culture in America and I am proud that Ben and I are in the front line (…) », he added.
For his part, DeJesus points to Leguizamo as a pioneer in the work of focusing on the contributions of Latinos and now assures that, without “taking attention away from other groups”, what they want is to “go out on the road and celebrate the people who “keep the engine running” of the country.
The first program is “Leguizamo does America”, a 6-episode docuseries in English that will premiere on April 16 on the MSNBC channel and in which it focuses on the contributions of Latinos on topics such as food, culture or the activism going through big US cities like New York and Miami.
The second, “American History”, is a three-part documentary also in English that will arrive in the fall on public broadcasting (PBS) and delves into the history of America from a Latino point of view to recover the “lost heroes” of the community, with interviews with historians and cultural figures.
America is what Americans call the US but it is also the name of the entire continent, including Latin America, about which Leguizamo, born in Colombia and raised in the US, says: “It’s about Latinos in the US, where I grew up, was educated and made a name for myself.”
