Julissa Reynoso: “We must remember that diversity is our strength”

Interviewing a US Ambassador in Madrid in Spanish is already a unique experience as the vast majority of those interviewed speak only English. That she is also a woman, the first to represent her country after 80 men, is unique. But there is more. Julissa Reynoso brings together all the ingredients of the most progressive, inclusive and open America, capable of continuing to advance the American Dream while being shaken by the Trump Right, which today is intensely trying to backtrack: She is a woman, she is Latina of African descent, a human rights activist and lawyer with extensive experience in community integration issues. Born in Salcedo (Dominican Republic) in 1975, she moved to the Bronx at the age of seven, where her parents already lived, and received an elite education at Harvard thanks to one of those scholarships recently awarded by the Supreme Court. invalidate. Today she is US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

When did you know Spain?

I traveled to Madrid and Andalusia as a tourist in the 1990s. It was Christmas, I was studying in England and I remember that Madrid was a very dynamic city, with lots of lights and lots of activity. The same Seville, Córdoba: lots of young people, lots of partying and lots of history. I came back later for professional or family reasons. I have two cousins ​​here.

Have you found family origins in Spain?

I’m Reynoso Pantaleon! I was born in the Dominican Republic, one of the first modern nations of the Americas, of mixed Hispanic, Indigenous, and African descent, and my DNA tests show I come from all three groups. I come from West Africa, present day Gambia, Senegal and Nigeria where so many slaves came from.

Julissa Reynoso proudly shares what she knows about her ancestors: she is the daughter of a teacher of Spanish descent who came to the Dominican Republic in the 19th century and a man, also a teacher, who also mixes indigenous and Afro-Caribbean ancestry. The slavery that came from Africa in the 17th century runs in his veins.

And how do you define yourself?

I’m a New Yorker. There’s a song that says, “I am every woman, it’s all in me…” [ríe y canturrea a Whitney Houston]. It’s the New York women’s song. I have everything.

Born in a rural area, in El Cibao, Reynoso has very fond memories of “a very large family, very rural, very united and very keen to improve”. His father was the first to emigrate to New York, where he worked in clothing factories. He was followed by his mother, who retrained there to become a teacher and worked as such until her retirement. “And then it was me. At seven years old.”

How did coming to the Bronx affect you?

When I arrived in 1982, it was very different from the place I grew up: It was very urban, very intense, with a lot of insecurity, poverty and conflict, but also a lot of community. The Bronx has tremendous cultural and organizational richness and social impact. With a lot of resilience. This was also the time of the cultural boom that is dominating the United States today: from hip-hop music and rap to graffiti and break-dancing on the streets. All of that was born then. All the young people in the neighborhood made music in the street. And that was a very important milestone in my life.

And what has the Spanish language given you?

For my first seven years, I spoke, thought and did everything in Spanish. And when he got to New York, everything was in English. I was thrown into a system where I didn’t understand half of what they were telling me for a couple of years and I had to adapt. Today I speak Spanish in my family. And in my church, in New York, and in my American jobs, I speak English. I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of Spanish work as a lawyer, also in Latin America, and I’ve been able to improve my language skills because I practice them at work, with friends and through reading. It was a continuous effort and commitment. It has given me many perspectives, it has opened the door to countries and communities that I would not have if I only spoke English, and a connection to culture, music and literature which is a luxury that is part of my life.

After studying law at Harvard, he studied philosophy at Cambridge. What have you learned from philosophy?

It was philosophy of development, of economics, and I was particularly concerned with one of the great thinkers, Amartya Sen. I learned the mechanisms to ensure that the most marginalized communities could be lifted out of poverty in a systematic way. Coming from the Dominican Republic and also from the Bronx, which was then the poorest borough in the USA, I have always had a keen interest in inequality issues. I wanted to know what tools can be used to bring about institutional changes that will enable people to lift themselves out of poverty. That’s why I did this master’s.

    Julissa Reynoso. Julissa Reynoso. Ximena and Sergio

Were you able to put it into practice?

I think so. As a citizen, I’ve always been deeply involved in New York’s communities, immigrants and minorities. Of course there is always more to do. And later, already in government, I was able to work with Obama and Hillary Clinton at the State Department. We were able to do a lot with a focus on Central America and the Caribbean. I always had this frame in the back of my mind.

Have you experienced racism firsthand?

Maybe there were times when I needed to earn more than the others, and it wasn’t because of a woman, because of a Latina, because of an Afro, or because of all three. But there are so many ways to remedy the situation that I felt very empowered. I graduated from one of the top universities in the US thanks to Affirmative Action, a federal program designed to provide opportunities for members of minorities following the country’s history of discrimination. And I am very thankful and blessed for all the doors that have been opened for me. My story is a story of many blessings and open doors.

There is a major setback at the moment.

I am here thanks to decades of struggle and work. It is not usual for the great world power to send a migrant like me, who grew up in a neighborhood, to another country like Spain, and another power at that. It’s very special for the US and I wish other countries would do it too.

But it is very special for Biden’s USA. Not from Trump.

Bush had people with that profile too, and Reagan, not to mention the Clintons. We have seen continued progress in integrating migrant minorities into government, power politics and the economy. If we look at the numbers, African American and Hispanic minorities are better off today than ever before. Of course there is discrimination, there is still a lot to do. We’ve seen attacks against vulnerable communities, LGTB, women…

The murder of George Floyd…

Yes / Yes. There is so much to do. But President Biden has the most diverse cabinet in the country’s history. We see public policies that have changed the face of the country in terms of purchasing power, from the poorest to those who are better off, and also in terms of rights. There are important challenges such as women’s reproductive rights. The Supreme Court has made a decision that the President does not share. And we are using the tools at our disposal as a democracy to minimize the negative impact of this decision.

The Supreme Court has also just invalidated the measures that have enabled you and the minorities to progress. What are you feeling?

It is a great disappointment, but we cannot allow the decision to become a lasting setback for the country. We must keep the door open to opportunity and remember that diversity is our strength. We will continue to fight for this diversity, for justice, inclusion and accessibility.

What did you feel when you lived? the attack on the Capitol?

For everyone it was very shocking, very tragic. I’ve already worked on the change of government, we all prepared the guidelines for entering the White House and preparing for the inauguration, and that scared us, surprised us, hurt us … We also saw the great courage of all these MPs, by the Congressional Police and Vice President Mike Pence himself, who did his duty to confirm the vote. The institutions showed their strength. They are serious and very committed to the nation.

Do you fear that the image of the USA will be damaged?

I think it has damaged the country’s image. But then we saw Biden arrive with an important mandate. The justice system took this incident very seriously and several people involved were prosecuted. I have great faith in the American justice system and know that it is doing everything in its power to ensure that we never see anything like this in my country.

Beyond the judiciary lies coexistence. The American writer Elizabeth Strout confessed to me yesterday that she is pessimistic about the recovery of coexistence after such polarization. And you?

We’re already much better. During the transition, we had a lot of legal cases that challenged voting, and we’re out of there. The Cortes confirmed that the vote was correct. institutions comply. I’m an immigrant and by nature I have to be optimistic. Biden changed the face of America. In more than two years he has passed the most important legislative packages since Roosevelt to transform the country, particularly its economy and industry. And that happened with a Congress elected by the American people, many of whom belonged to another party. We will see the results in 10, 15 or 20 years. I have trust. The country is a lot better than it sounds, but those who make the most noise get more media and network attention. There are many people who want to cause harm and provoke because they want attention, but I firmly believe that the public is not there.

Julissa Reynoso, US Ambassador to Spain, at her residence in Madrid.Julissa Reynoso, US Ambassador to Spain, at her residence in Madrid. Ximena and Sergio

What can be done to combat anything contaminating about networks?

Education is the most important path, although easier said than done. Governments have to regulate, create criteria, parents have to be educated. We’ve been very public about the risks associated with networking, not just in relation to fake news, but also in the mental health space. It’s an extremely urgent issue to address, but it starts there, in education. It is important to create certain rules so that the facts cannot be manipulated.

I was recently in Santo Domingo and noticed the respect shown there for Spanish symbols. But in many places in Latin America and the USA, monuments are being destroyed and the figure of Columbus is rejected. Do we need to check history?

As a Dominican, I am a very fortunate person even though I am the least fortunate person in my family. [ríe]. The Dominicans are very happy, period. I believe that the story must be told in full and a large part of the story, not just about Spain, is incomplete. I would like to understand my African roots better, but the experts on the history of slaves and people of African descent in my country can be counted on one hand compared to those who know the history of Spain if there are any. There are many of them because they had power. Today that we have better context on the complexity of the story, it would be good if we had a broader view of what happened, where we come from, why we have some customs and not others… and it has to be in performed all over America, from Canada to Chile. Know the role of Native Americans, Europeans and Afro descendants. I don’t agree to destroy anything but to tell as complete a story as possible with all its complexities, tragedies and achievements.

How do you feel when you see immigrants being blocked at the Mexican border? What would you tell them?

We have rules, but we also have very broad migration routes. A government’s role is to ensure that there are rules that can be applied and that there are fair legal avenues for those who want to get there. We’ve tried to improve the systems to make them fairer, and that won’t go away overnight. Biden compromised an immigration law and so far we haven’t been able to implement it because we didn’t have the votes, but we’ve tried to improve the system.

Is the American Dream Still Possible?

I think so, I am an example of this and so are millions of other people. People who arrive with little or nothing, refugees, immigrants or Americans who have an idea and that idea becomes…Apple, Microsoft, you name it. I have so many friends with this creepy profile!

He wanted to spend Independence Day doing the Camino de Santiago. Because?

I’ve always had a great interest in it, especially because of this meditative process. I’m doing this with some young people who are from New York and Florida through a program that we support. I look forward to getting to know you, meeting other people along the way and sharing this process of contemplation and feeling the collective spirit that has accompanied this path for centuries.

Are you a believer?

Yes Ma’am. I hope my feet don’t hurt too much!

Days earlier, independence was celebrated in Madrid’s bullring. do you like bulls

This square is a very nice place that is used a lot for events. Nothing to do with cops. If you ask me about bullfights, I’ll tell you that I’ve never been to a bullfight, it doesn’t attract me or inspire me.

You are very close to Hillary Clinton. Didn’t the story do him justice?

She is one of the great leaders of my country and is like a second mother to me. She’s my mentor, the reason I’m here, along with Jill Biden. Lots of people love Hillary Clinton. I volunteered for her campaign when she was running for the Senate in New York in 2000. That’s how I met her. 23 years ago! I was a child.

How is Spain finding so many years later?

I met a very, very open country, very professional, very willing to share, open doors, do things, very creative. More than 30 years have passed since I met him and today he is much more diverse, more cosmopolitan. It has always had a reputation for being a very democratic country, and it still is today. It has improved. But in the 90s it was also wonderful, the people were happy, very happy, and they welcomed me very well.

Can you tell us what’s the best you’ve found?

I have many friends in music and I’ve enjoyed making more friends with flamenco and pop musicians, there’s a lot of talent here. And I will tell him what happened to me with Raphael. Being born in the Dominican Republic, my family was a big fan of Raphael de España and I grew up listening to Raphael, Raphael, Raphael. And in New York, too, all the neighbors were Puerto Rican, Mexican… and everyone was: “Raphael, Raphael.” When I arrived, I wanted to meet him. And meeting him was the greatest thing that’s happened to me recently… I won’t say since when, because I don’t want you to think that the greatest thing wasn’t being with President Biden [bromea]. But I have a family chat that I always send photos to with this politician, with the other one arriving at the White House… “Ah, that’s great” [parafrasea sin entusiasmo la reacción de sus familiares]. Until I sent a photo with Raphael and the group exploded! [ríe]. After we become friends, I go to his house. That was the best thing that has happened to me in Madrid so far.

His team laughs out loud. “Did that sound awful?” she asks. And he ends: “It’s true!”

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