LA Vanguardia: An L.A. Times project celebrating the Latino vanguard transforming our cultural landscape

“Hollywood has failed Latinos for more than 100 years.”

So started the L.A. Times’ 2021 package on Hollywood’s Latino culture gap, in which Times journalists traced the horrendous history of Latino representation in entertainment and explored how that past manifests itself in our present — what we see, or don’t see, on the screen, on the stage and on the page today.

What’s changed since that Latino culture gap project came out? Not much! Not in one year. It’s way too soon for us to publish a progress report when, quite frankly, there isn’t much progress to report.

So as the staff here talked about a follow-up package, the conversation eventually focused on how we might build on the Latino-culture-gap articles, rather than repeat them. Last year we wrote all those stories about the lack of representation, so this year we’ve decided to do the opposite: Share stories of representation. This is LA Vanguardia. L.A.’s vanguard. The people who are part of the solution to a persistent, pernicious, many-tentacled problem.

To be clear, this is not a Latino power list. This is not a Latino hot list. This is not a comprehensive study. This is not a ranking. Instead, this is a survey of the rising writers, actors, directors, architects, thinkers, musicians and other artists who are shaping the culture you are living in now and certainly the culture you’ll be living in tomorrow. It’s our attempt to spotlight some of the talented individuals who have beaten the odds to get a seat at the table. And it’s our invitation to you: Pull up a chair and join the conversation.

Want to suggest someone for LA Vanguardia? Share your idea with us. We will consider reader nominations in planning our coverage, including future iterations of LA Vanguardia. And check back here for more LA Vanguardia stories all week long.