The people around Marivette Navarrete couldn’t understand why she was so frustrated at the lack of Latina representation in the media.
After all, she grew up in South Florida. Latino voices and Latino culture were all around her. Going to college in Tallahassee taught her there was a world outside the Miami bubble.
She came home and eventually started The Mujerista. It’s an online publication that created a new space for Latina writers — and Latina readers. Navarrete curates stories, interviews and opinion pieces on subjects that matter to women of a Latin background.
The issue is close to Navarrete's heart. She’s the daughter of Nicaraguan immigrants. Her mother was pregnant with her when she crossed the Rio Grande.
Most of The Mujerista’s readers come from outside South Florida. Some locals still in the Miami bubble don’t understand the need for a Latina-focused platform. Even some in her family questioned it.
But the Knight Foundation, which supports journalism and the arts, gave her a grant to help The Mujerista grow. And the publication continues to find a wider audience.
Growing up in Miami gave Navarrete the confidence to tell her story.
On the July 26 episode of Sundial, Navarette joined us to talk about her mission to help other Latinas do the same.
On Sundial's previous episode, we plucked Cuban-American artist Tony Mendoza out of his studio and brought him into ours.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify.
