‘Leguizamo Do America’ season 2 returns in the midst of Latino deposits
Nothing will ever deport the truth about Latinos; Not even Donald Trump.
In a year by political vitriol and the steady erasing of Latino stories, the return of John Leguizamo’s Vitale and entertaining series “Leguizamo Does America” will be the cultural counterparty that we desperately need.
The second season of his MSNBC docuseries, which starts to sink out on Sunday evening, sees Leguizamo, 64, explore new cities, including Philadelphia, Phoenix, New Orleans and San Antonio.
The Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor and activist have long used his platform to bring Latino Excellence to the attention and to expose the systems that suppress it. In the first season of ‘Leguizamo Does America’, he traveled through the US, from Miami to Chicago to Los Angeles, and often overlooked the veil in Latino communities or incorrectly displayed in regular media.
With President Donald Trump again dominates the political conversation and with his administration that the Xenophobe Rhetoric showed that he began in 2016 to be confronted Latino communities with renewed daily and moment threats. From mass expansions to persistent false claims about immigrant crime and culture, the Gop led by Trump again uses fear as a policy.
This year, several headlines reported without papers (and born in America) migrants who are abducted in border states, ICE (immigration and customs enforcement) that accumulate and the history of Latino are scrubbed from school curricula in states such as Florida and Texas. This erasing this is no longer figurative; It is institutionalized.
Enter “Leguizamo does America”, now more critical than ever. Season 2 continues to celebrate Latino identity and the direct challenge of the wrong information that stimulates anti-Latino-sentiment. In a media landscape that is still under -represented, Latinos – which make up almost 20% of the American population – the show offers both a reality check and a rally hoop.
More than a travel report, “Leguizamo Does America” is a thoughtful political act – tell stories such as resistance, joy as a protest and love as the ultimate weapon. Leguizamo’s warm humor and unfiltered comments create space for hard conversations – about immigration, identity and who can define what it really means to be American.
At a time when Latino voters are a decisive force, the show succeeds in what politicians often do not do: listen. For those who still see Latinos as nothing more than gardeners, chores outside Home Depot, or worse – criminal aliens who bring drugs across the border – you would do a great service to learn about our lively culture and people.
With Leguizamo, director Ben Dejesus and Showrunner Carolina Saavedra who strengthen real voices from real neighborhoods, the show remembers viewers – and voters – that Latino communities are not monolithic. They are rather rich, diverse and deeply embedded in the American substance.
In a moment when Latino lives are too often politicized or deleted, “Leguizamo does America” as proof: we are here. We are seen. And our stories will not be silenced.
The second season of “Leguizamo Does America” will premiere on Sunday 6 July at 9 p.m. et on MSNBC.
