Maria Lando

Thalia Patiño Molano

Instructor’s Introduction

Our section of WR120 is Sí se puede: Latino Culture in the Contemporary US. The use of Dolores Huerta’s famous slogan that empowered Latino farmworkers is intentional, as students study the problems that face Latino communities in our country and the potential ways to overcome them. In order to get an A in the course, students are asked to do a digital project that illustrates some theme of the course. I make it purposefully broad to enable students to be creative. Thalia chose a poignant song, “Maria Lando” by Susana Baca, that was featured at the end of an episode of a show called “Vida” that is part of the course curriculum. The song is about a worker that has no time for anything but work. I was amazed at the effort that Thalia put into this project by spending a whole day with an immigrant worker visually narrating her busy life. Her video is a moving reminder of the ways in which this country benefits from the hard work of immigrants, many of whom are undocumented. This is a very important message, especially in a time in which immigrants are being unfairly dehumanized and essentialized as violent criminals.

Molly Monet-Viera

From the Writer

Weeks after Trump’s re-election and hearing the same xenophobic rhetoric from 2016 in 2025, I was transported back to second grade where I learned the word “deportation”. At just 8 years old, I cleaned houses and offices with my mother and was able to understand the hard work we, as immigrant families, put in. Now, at 19 years old, I saw a need to find courage through media representation to capture such stories .

One of the many challenges was finding an individual that was not afraid of portraying her workplace, story, or most importantly, her face. Another was the duration of filming and editing; I left my dorm at dawn and was back the next day. I followed her to work where I was able to chat with her workmates and supervisors. The majority of workers were also minority women who were in the same legal process. I helped her clean and stayed all day with her. The editing was the hardest because I had to be careful of how much information I included to not harm her safety or legal status process.

Maria Lando

Thalia Patiño Molano is not only a first-generation college student, but a first generation Colombian-American. Growing up in Boston helped her to understand the meaning of civic engagement and instilled a passion for community organizing at just 13 years old! She earned a full ride to BU through the Questbridge scholarship and is now a rising-sophomore studying political science. During her freshman year she became the Chair Executive of Public Relations for Alianza Latina– the largest Latinx club at BU–, Secretary of Club Colombia, and Advocacy Director of LatinasBU. She also discovered her passion for film and hopes to pursue it as a hobby to bring more exposure to more latinx stories in Boston.