This week, Mexican-American Eva Longoria has made headlines and received widespread praise for her role in Monday’s kickoff of the Democratic National Convention. Longoria is a woman of many hats: actress, producer, director, businesswoman, mother, political and social activist, spokesperson for the Latino community, philanthropist, not to mention brilliant emcee, as we got to see on Monday night.
Born and raised in Texas, Longoria attributes her philanthropic sense of duty to her early childhood. Her mother was a special education teacher and her older sister was born with an intellectual disability. Her earliest memories include volunteering at the Special Olympics at the age of four. “It’s part of my family’s DNA,” she said.
Growing up in Texas with her dark hair, skin and eyes, Longoria remembers feeling the effects of colorism, the myth that lighter is better. “I remember climbing on the school bus and seeing a sea of blond people and somebody whispering: ‘She’s Mexican.’ I was like: ‘Well, I’m American, I don’t know what that means,’ but I knew it was intended to be negative.” These experiences, ultimately, led her to lean deeper into her heritage and be proud of her Mexican roots and culture.
But being a hyphenated American comes with challenges for all of us. “I think a lot of Latinos have difficulty navigating identity in this country, because we want to be assimilated and be fully accepted, but we want to hold onto our language, our religion, our traditions, our music, our food, and sometimes people say, no, you can’t either you’re this or you’re that,” she explained.
“I’m 100% Mexican and 100% American at the same time,” she asserted. Constantly having to affirm her identity pushed her into political activism, and she has been an activist and spokesperson for her community for over a decade.
Longoria holds a masters in Chicano Studies. Her thesis, entitled “Success STEMS from diversity: the value of Latinas in STEM careers” explored the necessity of having more Latinas in careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. And while completing her masters, she was also filming “Desperate Housewives,” the biggest TV in the world at the time. “From the set of ‘Desperate Housewives’ I would drive an hour to the school, take a class from seven to ten at night, then be on set at six in the morning. I would be doing my homework behind the sets,” she explained.
She has campaigned for Democratic contenders since 2004. In 2012, she was co-chair of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, led The Futuro Fund, the largest Latino fundraising group which raised millions of dollars in contributions, and was a speaker at the DNC. Longoria has also sat on the board of director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In 2014, she co-founded the Latino Victory Project. LVF is a national initiative to boost Latino political participation and representation, raise money and resources for Latino candidates, and build Latino empowerment through educational and professional attainment.
In 2018, Longoria was a founding member of Time’s Up, in response to the accusations against Harvey Weinstein and the growing #MeToo movement. Over $22 million dollars have been raised for its defense fund, and issues like inequality in the workplace have been brought to its forefront.
During the current administration, she has also focused her efforts on the Southern U.S. border. “A lot of my philanthropic efforts are at the border, trying to make sure families are not separated, babies are reunited with their mothers and children aren’t put in cages,” she said. “As a mother, I can never imagine this. Not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, not a blue state or a red state, but as a woman. And as a mother, you can’t imagine the atrocities,” she added.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately affected Latinos, Longoria became part of the Momento Latino coalition. Momento Latino was launched to support, connect, and uplift Latino communities during and in the aftermath of the pandemic in matters like small business recovery, PPE loans, and the home schooling of children and access to necessary resources.
For years, Eva Longoria has skillfully used her platform to create change and raise awareness, funds, and visibility for issues affecting her community. “People think that in order to create change, you have to be a politician. That’s a myth. You can be anybody. You can be a concerned mother and create significant change,” she said. And, without a doubt, that is precisely what she continues to do.