Part 5: Afro-Latino Voices
Part 5: Afro-Latino Voices
Jaylen
When Jalen Naylor and I spoke, he had just finished taking an Anatomy test two hours beforehand. And he was happy. School is going well, he expressed, though he hadn’ t received his test results as of yet. My cursory scan of his
Jaylen Naylor
LinkedIn bio attested to his fast-paced life.
Jaylen’ s bio describes him as a 22-year-old CDU undergraduate senior pursing a biomedical science degree. His goal is to become a family physician. He’ s an advocate for social justice and interested in working alongside other healthcare professionals on behalf of low-income and oppressed communities facing healthcare disparities.
That’ s just the tip of the iceberg. Besides being bilingual, Jaylen is an atypical Afro Latino. Mom is a Spanishspeaking Latina from Guatemala. Dad is a Black man from Mississippi who doesn’ t speak Spanish. Oh, and Jaylen commutes to CDU a total of 70 miles- one way- from Lancaster where his family lives.
Jaylen is an exemplary young man. He was a recent scholarship winner in an essay contest sponsored by the International Society of Black Latinos, founded by Juanita Palacios Sims, profiled elsewhere in this section. His essay topic was“ Black Latinos: No Longer Invisible. How Can I be a Catalyst for Change?” One of three students winning the award, he was the recipient chosen to read his essay at Noche de Estrellas, the event where all three recipients received their awards.
On top of everything else,
he’ s the responsible son of a family operating a small business. He’ s obligated to filling in when an employee is sick or AWOL. This is a son who plays multiple musical instruments in his church. This is a son with high ideals and an interest in making his mark in a field that counts.
“ My family is basically my mom, my dad, my three sisters, my brother, my grandma, and my dog Brownie. My grandma took care of me a lot along with my grandpa before he passed away. When my parents went to work, I was always with them, and they took us out to a lot of places in the Valley: San Fernando, Van Nuys, areas where it’ s populated with a bunch of Latino people,” he said.
“ It was a very nice experience growing up traveling to places like that. I got to see a lot. I went to a lot of parties. You know, on my grandma’ s side of the family, I got to see a lot of cousins. A lot of dancing. A lot of late nights coming back home every weekend.
“ I also participate in church.” Jaylen’ s family members attend the Church of God denomination.“ I’ ve been going to the same church for about 14 years. I started going to this church when I was eight. Church is very important in my life. God is very important in my life. In this family, God is first of all, and you know he’ ll provide everything for you that you need. And there was a point with church where I was going five times a week, so it would be Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night and then two times on Sunday, because the pastor had opened up another church.
“ I was going to my home church, and then I was going to the other church. I participated a lot in the worship ministry. I played the bass guitar. I go to Bible studies, the youth Bible studies, or I tag along with my mom to her Bible studies. I also translate a little bit just because my dad doesn’ t speak Spanish. I tried to translate the preaching for him. If there’ s somebody new in church that doesn’ t speak any Spanish at all, I translate for them. People actually still get shocked when I speak Spanish because I don’ t look Hispanic, but I mean, it is what it is,” he observed.
What experience does Jalen think
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 15