CALÓ News best stories of 2024

Here is a look at some of our best stories of the year.

Gisselle Palomera interviewed Lazaro Aguero, the father of a USC student who protested during the USC encampment and protests against the war in Gaza. 

Latino USC father encourages parents to teach their children about social justice

For the Aguero family, activism runs deep.

Lazaro Aguero recently went viral on social media for showing up to one of the  University of Southern California pro-Palestine protests where one of his children is a student, and also for bringing along his 89-year-old father, Manuel Aguero.  

Aguero recalls that his passion for activism was instilled in him from a young age and through several generations in his family. If the protests they attended as a family weren't about teachers rights, they were about access to clean water or any of the other number of issues the Indigenous communities have struggled with historically.

“My grandmother died only recently, but she attended protests with us until the age of 113,” said Aguero. 

He began his activism journey alongside his parents. They taught him to fight for indigenous sovereignty and advocacy for human rights issues. 

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This story by Amairani Hernandez resonated with our readers because we love to see our gente succeed! 

Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent for ‘60 Minutes’ Cecilia Vega is National Latina Journalist of the Year

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and CCNMA Latino Journalists of California named Cecilia Vega the National Latina Journalist of the Year.

NAHJ inaugurated its annual Excelencia Awards earlier this month, recognizing achievements by Hispanic journalists, educators, professionals and students. The Excelencia Award winners are Columbia Spectator editor Isabella Ramirez, National Student of the Year; NBCUniversal News Group, Corporate Diversity Award; Blanca Rios, Volunteer Community Award; and groundbreaking broadcaster Sylvia Rosabal, Ñ Legacy Award.

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Brenda Fernanda Verano spoke about her experience going to therapy in this column.

Column: Seeking therapy as the first in my family to do so

For the first time in my 26 years of life, I will be starting therapy. Excited, nervous and scared are just some of the many emotions that this new journey ignites within me, as an immigrant, queer Latina living in Los Angeles. 

I began learning about the brain in my high school’s AP psychology course. I learned the way the frontal lobe is responsible for a variety of tasks, including emotional regulation, language and personality characteristics. I also learned about one’s unconscious mind and its influence on behavior, specifically how past experiences have great control over how you behave today. 

In past years, I have also consumed numerous self-help books and podcasts about self-love, mental health, being present and caring for oneself. As the years have gone by, I’ve acted as my own therapist and at times, my friend's therapist too, holding space for each other and offering the best advice we can.

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This column by Michelle Zacarias describes the hardship within the current health care system from her point of view as a cancer patient. 

Sin Pena: Dead CEOs and 'concepts' of a crumbling healthcare system

I wrote the breaking news story on Donald Trump’s second victory from a hospital bed. 

I had contracted a bacterial gut infection during my ongoing chemotherapy and my body, already weakened by the cancer treatment, nearly shut down. When I admitted myself to the emergency room in late October, my vital signs were not good. I had a 103-degree fever, my potassium level was very low and so was my white blood count.  

I thought my hospital stay would be just a few days. It stretched to nearly two weeks, overlapping with Election Day. So I found myself watching the results unfold while I lay plugged into my I.V. drip. Yet the stark emotions I experienced in 2016 when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, were absent. The shock, the sense of betrayal–gone. Instead, it felt more like witnessing an inevitable but unwanted outcome: not surprised, but perpetually disappointed by the country I live in. 

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Jacqueline Garcia wrote about Dr. Gerardo Hernandez who grew up in Maywood and now works in South Gate, where he tells the story of how he became a doctor. 

He took a long, challenging road to become a doctor and return to Southeast L.A.

Some patients from Southeast Los Angeles get impressed when they see their primary doctor walking into the exam room for the first time. More often, there is a level of distrust, especially from those who are not familiar with the healthcare system. 

Gerardo Hernandez is a young man of Mexican roots with long hair and a peculiar smile. The distrust disappears when he gets into business and helps patients with their medical needs. To their benefit, the family doctor speaks fluent Spanish, knows the Latino culture very well, and is very understanding and respect of traditions when his patients share their homemade remedies and other alternatives to heal themselves. 

Hernandez, 36, has been a doctor for the past six years, and he is proud to be working in South Gate, just a few miles from where he grew up in the neighboring city of Maywood.

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