Our culture isn’t a test you pass or fail.
Yo Soy began with a simple question: how do we help our children stay connected to the language, stories, traditions, and people that came before them?
Sometimes Culture Grows Quieter
For many Latino families, language and traditions changed across generations. Some parents were discouraged from speaking Spanish. Some families moved far from Spanish-speaking communities. Others were simply trying to adapt, work, raise children, and build a life.
Sometimes Spanish was not deliberately abandoned. Sometimes there was simply no one to speak it with.
A Personal Story
When my son was learning to talk, I spoke to him in both Spanish and English. At one of his appointments, his pediatrician told me I was confusing him and that I should choose one language. As a first-time mom, I trusted the advice and wanted what was best for my son. So I stopped.
I know now that learning two languages does not cause speech or language problems. But I did not know that then, and neither did many other parents.
We make choices with the information we have. Reconnection can begin whenever we are ready.
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Why Language Was Lost
Language loss has many stories. Across U.S. history, some Spanish-speaking children and families experienced English-only schooling, punishment or shame for using Spanish, pressure to assimilate, discrimination, and mistaken advice about bilingualism. Other families experienced distance, mixed-language households, long work hours, or fewer opportunities to use Spanish in everyday life.
The result can look similar across generations: grandparents speak Spanish, their children understand some, and their grandchildren know even less.
Understanding how we got here is not about blame. It helps us decide what we want to carry forward.
Abuelos and Their Grandchildren
Often, it’s our grandparents who feel the distance most.
In many families, parents speak English and some Spanish, but the grandchildren speak very little. Abuelos who speak mostly Spanish may struggle to share more than simple words and smiles with their grandchildren. Parents end up translating, and conversations stay short.
That distance is quiet, but it’s real. Stories go untold. Recipes, jokes, advice, and family memories don’t get passed down. A relationship that could be deep and close stays on the surface.
It doesn’t have to stay that way. Even a few shared words can open a door. When a grandchild learns to say “Te quiero, abuela” or asks “Abuelito, ¿me cuentas una historia?”, something changes for both of them.
Every word a child learns is one more way to reach their abuelos.
The Language We Were Once Told to Leave Behind
There is an irony in where we are today.
For generations, many Latino families were told to leave Spanish behind. Our accents were mocked, and speaking Spanish in public could bring stares or comments like “speak English.”
Today, Spanish is celebrated as an advantage. In many of the same communities where our families were once made to feel ashamed, parents now seek out dual-language schools, tutors, and immersion programs for their children.
We are glad more people see the value of bilingualism. But for families who were once made to feel that their language was something to hide, that change can be bittersweet. The language some of us were taught to leave behind is now something others work hard to give their children.
That is one reason Yo Soy exists. Our children deserve the same chance to learn, reclaim, and take pride in the language that belongs to their family’s story.
It’s Time to Retire the “No Sabo” Label
Children do not choose how much Spanish they inherit. Shaming someone for what they were never taught does not help them learn; it can make them afraid to try.
Here, no one is “no sabo.” You may be a Spanish learner, a heritage speaker, or someone finding your way back. Every attempt is welcome. We laugh with each other, never at each other.
And for mixed-heritage children: you do not have to prove that you belong.
The Culture We Carry
Culture is more than language. It lives in recipes, music, family stories, celebrations, humor, ways of greeting one another, how we gather around a table, and the values families pass from one generation to the next.
Latino families come from many countries, cultures, races, histories, and traditions. Yo Soy is not here to define one way to be Latino. It is a place to share what each family carries and to learn from one another.
Why Identity Matters
Knowing who you are and where you come from is more than a good feeling. Research shows it matters for our children’s well-being.
When young people feel proud of their ethnic and racial identity, they tend to have higher self-esteem, better relationships, and stronger connections to school, and to make healthier choices as they grow. These benefits show up across ages and backgrounds, and studies of Latino youth find that a strong sense of heritage also goes hand in hand with being kind, helpful, and generous toward others.
Language is part of that identity. In families where parents and children speak different languages, children often report feeling less close to their parents and talking with them less openly. And the better young people know their family’s heritage language, the stronger their relationships with their parents and their sense of who they are. Growing up bilingual is also linked to staying in school.
La familia at the center. For many Latino families, family is the heart of everything: abuelos who help raise their grandchildren, tías and primos who feel like brothers and sisters, padrinos and compadres who become family by choice, and Sunday meals that stretch into long sobremesas (table talks after the meal). Researchers call this value familismo: a deep sense of respect, support, and loyalty within the family. Studies link it to lower rates of depression, and good communication within the family appears to play a part. Language is one of the threads that holds it all together. When grandchildren can talk with their abuelos, stories, wisdom, and love pass more freely from one generation to the next.
Every culture counts. There is no single Latino identity. A child may be Mexican and Peruvian, Puerto Rican and Irish, Guatemalan and Black. Each root carries its own words, foods, music, and history. Knowing the specific places your family comes from, not just the word “Latino,” helps build a strong sense of self. At Yo Soy, every family brings its own story to the table.
Taking Back Our Story
Belonging is not measured by fluency or accent. Our culture lives in what we remember, what we are still learning, what we choose to preserve, and what we pass forward.
You don’t have to know everything about where you come from to belong to it.
Los Antepasados del Mañana
One day, our children and grandchildren will tell stories about us too.
We hope they will say that we came together, shared our recipes, practiced our Spanish, told our family stories, danced, learned, laughed, and made room for one another.
We are the bridge between the people who came before us and the people who will come after.
Hoy somos sus antepasados. Today, we are their ancestors.