MY STORIES: 

• Effort equals reward for Latinx organizations in Salt Lake City
• Why we need more Latinx journalists
• Latinas discuss the mixed messages of cultural beauty standards

ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Britt Brooks and I had the chance to take Voices of Utah this spring. I’m majoring in strategic communication and double-minoring in Spanish and creative writing. Being bilingual has always been a goal of mine, and I’ve been in Spanish classes since the age of 12. But even though a Spanish minor seemed like a good choice for my resume, I wouldn’t give up creative writing and the world of literature.

As a lover of poetry and fiction I didn’t know if journalism would be a good fit for me, but I’ve been hooked ever since my Intro to News Writing class. In the fall of 2017 I started writing articles for the Utah chapter of the online magazine Her Campus about beauty, fashion, music, and any current events or issues that I find interesting.

This semester I created a new position at Her Campus Utah called director of media relations. I currently hold this position, and my goal is to enhance HCU’s multimedia platform through videos and online interactions with social media. I build relationships with people in our community, as well as host videos and conduct interviews about local and university-related people and places.

Though I try to avoid distractions during the school year, my biggest guilty pleasure is watching reality TV, especially reruns from early 2000s shows like “The Simple Life” and “America’s Next Top Model.” I love to travel and hope to one day take my Spanish experience to Latin America and Spain.

BLOG

When I found out that our beat this semester was the Latinx community I got pretty excited, as I thought my Spanish-speaking background could come in handy. We quickly learned from press pool interviews with Alex Guzman and Rebecca Chavez-Houck that approaching the Latinx community can be challenging, especially if possible interviews contained questions about papers, illegal immigration, or citizenship.

The abrasiveness of the political climate in America in relation to Latinx people was something I wanted to take a step away from. I was frustrated by the abundance of negative coverage about Latinxs around the country that focus mainly on crime and illegal immigration. I wanted to get as far from that as possible and shed light on positive aspects, organizations, and opinions of Latinx people in Utah.

My first article of the semester was about three organizations in Utah that were started by and for Hispanic people. Members from the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Utah Coalition of La Raza, and Dream Center all shared inspiring stories with me about the resources and opportunities they offer to Utah’s Latinx community. I was more than happy to give these places some well-due coverage and share their messages with a broader audience.

For my next piece I wanted to get a little closer to home and dig into the topic of Hispanic journalists. I interviewed the editor-in-chief of Her Campus Utah about the administrative side of the magazine and why Latinx voices are especially important as that demographic continues to grow. I was also able to talk to HCU’s first Latina writer who told me the various challenges and fears she faced as the first Latina in what used to be a large group of white women.

As a council member of HCU writing this article really opened my eyes to the unspoken apprehensions people of color face when joining mostly white organizations. This insight helped me speak up in regards to reaching out to diverse clubs and introducing HCU as a place where all voices are heard and valued. Building a space where people of all backgrounds feel comfortable and welcome is definitely a top priority for myself and the council at HCU.

In my final story I wanted to explore beauty, the topic that always interests me most.  I quickly found out that the beauty industry is experienced very differently depending on if someone is Latinx or white. Hispanic and American standards of beauty can be quite different from each other, which leaves many Latinx women feeling unsatisfied with their appearance or lost in the middle. Some women face discrimination in situations when they’re the only person of color in a room, and are pressured into speaking for and representing an entire demographic of people.  

Getting fresh information from my sources is always exhilarating to me and I love being the journalist to share someone’s story in an artistic and entertaining way. Voices of Utah has solidified my already-held belief that everyone has something valuable to say no matter how they look. Something I’ve wanted to do all semester is present a diverse collection of voices without bias to showcase the underrepresented Latinx community in Utah.

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