A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN INSIDERNJ AND THE LATINO SPIRIT

The careers of three Latinas in the New Jersey Legislature have crisscrossed through the years, their interests frequently overlapping as they focus on the needs of three North Jersey urban communities.

But their interconnectedness goes deeper, to a sisterhood forged in the gritty, often unforgiving world of their home state.

The public lives of state Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29), state Senator Nellie Pou (D-35), and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-20) arose respectively out of Newark, Paterson and Elizabeth, and they have made fruitful use of their time in Trenton.  Each has contributed uniquely to the substantive lawmaking of their state, occupying a key leadership role in areas of education and child advocacy, criminal justice reform and immigrant and workers rights.

Right before the pandemic disrupted our lives, InsiderNJ and The Latino Spirit combined forces to interview and film the three women interacting on their shared public passions, and telling their origin stories about how they became involved in government and politics.

Assemblywoman Quijano graciously provided the use of her district office in downtown Elizabeth for the event, which we preserved as a vital record of contemporary New Jersey history.

“We certainly lent our voices in caucus on a lot of these issues and that has been an opportunity and engine to start up those conversations,” said Pou. “We put them out there and make them become a part of the conversation. One of the things I’m so proud of whenever I travel across the country is New Jersey has nine women out of the ten Latino caucus members. Nine out of the ten are women, the highest percentage in the country.”

“We have to fulfill the promise of every God-given potential that is embedded in a human being – we don’t do it enough – and for me it always goes back to education,” said Ruiz. “Education – the greatest civil rights conversation we should be having now. New Jersey ranks number one in the country for public school systems, and you know that’s not a truth, and yet we still want to stand up and give rounds of applause. It’s not enough. It’s not a truth until every child is given that opportunity.”

“I was the only one who could speak to the community in the language they understood, and their priority was driver’s licenses and because of that discussion, and they told me they can’t get to work – it’s a driver’s license to drive a car – I started to do research,” said Quijano. “What was interesting was going to other caucuses. I flew to California and met with a legislator to learn the good the bad and the ugly.”

Take a look and take a listen.

You may disagree with what these lawmakers say, but you cannot deny their influence and the critical voice they have at this American moment in time, both individually in their communities, and statewide and beyond – as a lawmaking sisterhood of Latinas.