How These Latino TikTok Creators Are Filling A Void And Making History

(CNN) – One of the biggest sources of anxiety for Alaina Castillo has been the letter R.

The rolling R is at the heart of learning Spanish and is one of its most difficult challenges, especially for those who are not exposed to the language regularly as children.

This is a lesson that the 21-year-old singer he spent years learning in and out of school. And it’s a lesson that paid off for Castillo, especially on TikTok, which has strived to embrace and nurture its Hispanic creators.

The Houston native is part of a thriving community of Hispanic and Latino creators that has built a large following through videos that succinctly translate cultural traditions and history for a young and captive TikTok audience. One of the main drivers of this growth is Covid-19, which forced millions of Americans to lose their jobs and go into lockdown during the first months of the pandemic.

TikTok calls itself an “economic lifesaver”

TikTok called itself an “economic lifeline for many of its users”, according to a demand that the company filed against then-President Donald Trump in August 2020 to prevent him from banning the app in the United States. The company defended the app as a place for people to inform themselves on “serious issues, including political issues” such as the death of George Floyd and the plight of healthcare workers.

“TikTok is a window to the world around us and beyond, and we have seen people from across the Latino and Hispanic diaspora connect with each other on the platform through shared stories and experiences,” said Kudzi Chikumbu, director of the TikTok creator community, to CNN via email.

“In the last year, people have seen more of their friends and families reflected in the often humorous, educational and entertaining videos of Latinx creators and have been inspired to join.”

TikTok videos of the Latino community, more viewed than ever

TikTok videos from Hispanic creators are also being consumed more than ever.

The TikTok hashtags #Latino, #Latina, #Familia and #Comida, among others, increased their use by more than 185% since last year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15, every year, according to data shared by TikTok spokesperson Cynthia Dew. The #Latino and #Latina hashtags have more than 62 billion combined views to date, Dew added.

Millions of those views belong to Castillo, who joined TikTok about a year ago to share original songs in Spanish and English, as well as covers.

When he started making music, Castillo thought he would sing in English. That changed after her family encouraged her to write records in Spanish after learning the language at school, Castillo told CNN.

“There are many different opinions when it comes to Latinos or people who, like me, are learning Spanish, so I decided to write records that would serve as a bridge between Spanish speakers and those who want to learn but were never taught,” he said. .

Outstanding Latinas and Mexican Stories

Fernanda Cortes He never thought he would talk about Mexican volcanoes on TikTok.

At the start of the pandemic, Cortes found himself browsing TikTok for the first time and noted that there weren’t many videos about Latinas making history that he grew up learning from his mother, he told CNN. Two of those women were María Félix, a Mexican film actress from the 1940s, and Selena Quintanilla Pérez, the “queen of Tejano music” who was murdered in 1995 at the age of 23.

“I decided to do my own series honoring these Latinas and hopefully connecting with other young Latinas,” says Cortes, who lives in California.

Some of the women he has profiled are the LGBTQ + singer Chavela Vargas and Sylvia rivera, an advocate for transgender and LGBTQ + communities who participated in the Stonewall riots in 1969. Clashes between police and protesters outside a New York gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, emboldened a generation of activists to create a civil rights movement.

“If I can help continue the legacy of the women who have inspired me and I hope that some Latina finds my videos and sees someone with whom she identifies and can be inspired as well, that is exactly what I hope to achieve with my series”, Cortes pointed out.

Volcanoes in Mexico by TikTok

Cortes, 22, originally from Guadalajara (Mexico), has recently started a series of videos in which she talks about different Mexican legends and stories. One of them deals with the Aztec legends that surround Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl, two volcanoes near Mexico City.

Cortes opened his TikTok account in March 2020 and has since accumulated more than 500,000 followers and nearly 31 million “likes.”

Mexican culture through dance

In about the same time, Matisse Azul Rainbolt has danced to approximately 1.1 million followers and 26 million “likes.”

Of all the goals Rainbolt, 20, set for himself as a young man, playing sports was not one of them.

Those goals were to make people smile and share their Hispanic culture and dance, specifically folk dance, he explained to CNN by email.

One of Rainbolt’s most popular videos since he launched his TikTok in April 2020 shows it dancing with dresses from different parts of Mexico, including Jalisco, Yucatán, and Veracruz.

In other videos, Rainbolt, whose grandparents are from Chihuahua (Mexico), performs famous folk choreographies such as “El Huizache”.

“It’s an incredible feeling knowing that so many people support Mexican culture. I can remember several times in elementary, middle, and high school where I was made fun of for doing folklorico or wearing traditional dresses when I dance. The TikTok community has had an incredibly positive response to my videos, which makes me, and other Hispanics, feel loved and welcomed, “he commented.

A perfect union

At the core of why Hispanics are drawn to TikTok is the importance the online community places on individual identity and direct social interaction, said Alcides Velasquez, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas.

The Hispanic community tends to focus its interest in social media on applications that allow the creation and consumption of visual content, such as TikTok, said Velásquez, whose research includes social media and political activism and participation among Latinos in the US. USA

“These types of applications and the content that is shared through them has become an increasingly important part of the way in which members of different social groups represent their identity,” Velasquez explained by email.

One of the ways TikTok has helped Hispanics represent their identity is through specially made stickers, such as a crown, hot pepper and avocado, that creators can place on top of their videos, the company said. This year, TikTok has also launched a series of live videos with Latino creators celebrating themes like “La Comida” or “La Cultura Pop”, said the company.

Latin family

One hashtag that TikTok has endorsed for the past two years, and that captures the heart of Hispanic culture, is #FamiliaLatina. The importance of family and its influence on social media habits cannot be understated, Velasquez said.

“In terms of how Latinos are introduced to Latino culture, the family remains the most important source,” he added.

Among Hispanic TikTok users, 24-year-old Gipsy Rodríguez really understands how important family is.

Rodríguez runs the TikTok account fashion2000, named after the clothing store owned and operated Rodríguez and his family in Anaheim, California. The business is perhaps best known for selling dresses from quinceañera ornaments that are used in the coming-of-age ritual in some Hispanic cultures and that mark the entry of a girl into maturity.

The centuries-old tradition of quinceañeras began as a ceremony to introduce girls to society when they turned 15 and signaled that they were ready for marriage.

“Due to social networks, quinceañera celebrations have become more popular than now, more than ever, girls decide to have a party and go further,” said Rodríguez. “It has not been a process (nor) an easy journey, but it has been gratifying because every day that we go to work we make someone’s face light up, their dreams come true and, most importantly, make memories with his family while celebrating his culture. “

Money movements

After losing his job in early 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of Jesús Morales’s friends introduced him TikTok and a community that would end up changing his life.

On August 24, 2020, Morales took US $ 100 and donated it to a local street vendor after being inspired by TikTok user Viridiana Serrano, who had become famous for her videos giving away money to street vendors.

Morales, 24, is the creator of juixxe, a TikTok account launched in early 2020 where he shares videos of himself meeting with vendors across Southern California. He has an audience of 1.3 million followers and has since raised more than $ 130,000 that he has given away to sellers thanks to the generosity of TikTok users, he told CNN via email.

That support has also come from TikTok itself.

Morales, whose family is originally from San Luis Potosí, (Mexico), was included in the second generation of Latinx TikTok Trailblazers, a group of creators nicknamed “the next generation of Latinx digital entertainment leaders, nominated by the community for their creativity, passion and authentic spirit “, said the company in a press release last month.

TikTok also partnered with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation through #CrezandoconTikTok, a $ 150,000 grant fund aimed at supporting 30 small Latino businesses across the United States, the company said.

Show the struggle and stories of street vendors

The positive response to his videos and the generosity of the TikTok community came as a complete surprise, Morales said.

“Street vendors have often been ignored, but these videos bring out some of their stories and their struggles,” he said.

In one of Morales’s most viewed videos, he can be seen delivering to a salesperson $ 20,000 in cash.

The vendor, named Jesús, “was recorded being stalked by a group of boys late at night” and that broke Morales’ heart, he said.

“I think the community you are looking at can relate or connect with these vendors in some way,” Morales said. “Community on-line she is extremely powerful and her support really shows the strength of unity within a community. ”