National Geographic

LEFTMariachi Negreteperforms at a birth-day party in Compton,California. The group,founded by GuillermoNegrete from Micho-acán, Mexico, and nowled by his son, Rodrigo,has been playingtogether for 20 years.On some days the bandperforms at multiplehouse parties in theLos Angeles area.``````RIGHTLaura Sermeño andher baby boy cele-brate the end of hercuarentena, or quar-antine. The tradition,common throughoutLatin America, requiresnew mothers to restunder the care of theirrelatives for some 40days after childbirth.The period ends witha mother- child herbalbath and a massage.``````WHAT ‘LATINO’ MEANS,``````MORE THAN ANYTHING,``````IS THAT YOU ARE PART``````OF A STORY LINKING YOU``````TO OTHERS WITH ROOTS``````IN A SOUTHERN PLACE.people with roots in a southern place: Ecuadoror El Salvador, for example. Or maybe an oldSouthwestern town founded by Spaniards, suchas Española, New Mexico. More than likely thisstory involves the journey a migrant made insearch of work and opportunity.IN LOS ANGELES, the great sprawling metrop-olis centered on what was once an outpost ofthe Spanish Empire, Latino people still think oflabor, migration, hardship, and resilience as thequalities that define them and tie them together.I grew up with my parents’ stories of their jour-ney from Guatemala to the one-room apartmentin Los Angeles, where I was born and raised. Weslowly rose into the middle class, moving eastwardevery few years—from crowded East Hollywoodto newer, roomier suburbs such as Whittier.Countless Latino residents of Greater LosAngeles followed in my family’s footsteps.Once confined to barrios in East L.A. and BoyleHeights, Latino communities have spread toalmost every corner of the metropolis.LATINOS: SHAPING AMERICA’S FUTURE 101