“We are Part of the Fabric that Makes this Country”: CFR Staff Members On Hispanic Heritage Month

From September 15 through October 15, the Center for Family Representation (CFR) is proud to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month, which recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic and Latine Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Below, read our interviews with three CFR staff members: Sara Lewis, Senior Staff Attorney; Ysmerlyn Murshed, Social Work Supervisor; and Rosalynn Diaz, Senior Family Advocate. Each share insights into their roles at CFR, their visions for the future of this work, the interactions between race and family policing, and what Hispanic Heritage Month means to them. 

Can you tell us a bit about your role at CFR?

Sara Lewis: I am a senior staff attorney in the family defense practice in Queens. I have been at CFR for over five-and-a-half years. I really enjoy my role as a supervisor as I still have a docket of cases and get to keep up my practice of direct client representation, but I also get the chance to step back and help newer attorneys as they’re starting their practice in this challenging field.

Ysmerlyn Murshed: I am a social work supervisor in our early defense practice. The practice aims to empower parents under ACS investigation by informing them of their rights and serves as a shield to the community and families against the harms of the family regulation system. 

Rosalynn Diaz: In my role as a family senior advocate, I get the opportunity to assist clients with different goals throughout the life of their family court case. While my legal counterpart is able to advocate for clients in court, I do the same outside of court at agency conferences. Another part of my role is to connect my clients with the services that would benefit them and also move their family court cases along. Overall, I consider myself part of a team rooting for parents and families who are otherwise targeted, silenced, and disappointed by the system. In my role, I not only hope to change the lives of the clients I encounter, but also lead and encourage other advocates to do the same.

From your work at CFR, what intersections between race and family policing have you witnessed? 

Sara: For me, it was apparent from the moment you walked into the courtroom, realizing how disproportionately Black and Brown families are targeted by, not just ACS, but all the government systems around them that are purporting to help. There remains everything from disrespectful and harmful attitudes towards our clients from court staff to persistent language access issues. Especially with our influx of clients who are new to the United States, we also see a dearth of knowledge about existing immigration policies, which can often lead to adverse and unnecessary consequences for some of our most vulnerable clients.

Ysmerlyn: There is a specific value that a lot of Latine families hold: “familidad.” We hold our family systems as our literal places of home, our identities and values are intertwined with family, our day to day living and choices are even informed by our connection to family. I see my work to advocate for families to stay together and reduce the harm caused by the family regulation system as a way of protecting that value. 

Rosalynn: From my work at CFR, I have realized that there is a direct correlation between family policing and race. Unfortunately, the great majority of our clients are Black and Brown low-income families with limited resources. Instead of addressing the aforementioned underlying issues, the system is punitive in nature. 

What would you like to see change in this sphere of work? 

Sara: I believe in abolishment. I think that as the current family policing system is based on an implicitly racist concept of how to address interfamilial trauma and issues, we cannot “fix” the system, we need to reimagine it. Where the state’s first inclination is to remove children from their parents and begin contested legal proceedings, I don’t think we can get to a place where protecting the sanctity and documented benefits of family bonds are the ultimate goals. This system necessarily pits children against their parents by design, and, although even in some cases not purposefully, reinforces biased paternalistic and moralistic outcomes for our clients. 

Ysmerlyn: While Latine and Hispanic families share some core values and practices, we are an incredibly diverse group of people. Every country, every village, and every family has its own customs and beliefs. I would like to see the family regulation system exercise a bit more of cultural humility, shame less, protect families more. While ACS has policies that aim to address language access and other concrete needs, they are rarely practiced. Things like conferencing materials, service provider letters, and neglect petitions that ACS themselves file are not routinely translated. ACS can also ensure children remain connected to their families and their identity by respecting their own visiting guidelines and making visits as liberal as possible in the communities, the places of worship, and with family members supervising on a regular basis. Before a box of diapers is provided to a family, a family is often tested as if to say they do not exercise responsibility over the little they do have. It would be great to also see the agency not make assumptions about families. For example, ACS should not shame a parent for feeding a child a culturally acceptable meal instead of what the agency perceives to be healthy without consulting a medical professional first. ACS should not assume that a rash or scab on brown skin is a sign of abuse. 

Rosalynn: We have to face the issue of racism, classism and oppression faced by marginalized communities. We have a duty to rebuild a system that acknowledges the flaws within it and address the foundations that invite the existing disparities. I have witnessed parents being treated with an inexcusable lack of empathy and disregard for their families. 

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, can you share what this month means to you?

Sara: Paaaaaarty! My Puerto Rican heritage and celebrating it has always meant joy to me. It reminds me of my family, the foods we eat, dancing, and just generally engaging in community together. Hispanic Heritage Month for me is always a time of sharing in culture, food, and pride. I love using this month to learn more about those achievements and contributions of other folks who don’t always get their fair share of space in the history books, and am always pleasantly surprised how much I still don’t know I didn’t know. I’m also on the Queens Family Court HHM Committee, and always have a good time connecting with other people in the courthouse and learning about prominent Latine people in our own community when we are exploring what speakers to bring to the courthouse.

Ysmerlyn: It means we have a space carved out to celebrate our identity and our contributions even as the political rhetoric is increasingly violent. Studies show a link between preterm births and anti-immigrant rhetoric during election years. Hispanic and Latine communities fight adversity at every sphere of life yet we have contributed and influenced American culture in incredibly significant ways. We are part of the fabric that makes this country and I look forward to the day that this is an undebatable fact. 

Rosalynn: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is a chance to connect with my roots and acknowledge how much Hispanic people have contributed to our community and the world in general. It is a chance to uplift our people and their accomplishments and encourage continued representation in all spaces. 

This year’s theme is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” Are there any leaders and/or folks you would like to uplift?  

Sara: Piri Thomas, an Afro-Latino poet from Harlem. I remember really connecting with his writing in how it deals with intersectionality and navigating being a Latino in the U.S. He was also writing at a time when there was a large influx of Puerto Ricans to New York, when Puerto Ricans were the new immigrants to be feared and persecuted. He was one of the first authors to begin working in these topics and using Spanglish as a writing tool to explain an experience and really connect with readers. I think he was a pioneer of change in literature and shaping political attitudes at the time and into the future.

Ysmerlyn: I think celebrating local leaders should be a priority. I have been encouraged by having a wonderful Latine judge in our local Queens Family Court. Judge Connie Gonzalez is not just astute and knowledgeable, but she is also someone that brings her whole self to work encouraging others to be themselves. I am always encouraged to hear Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez speak. I think Latine youth running hot kitchens for asylum seekers who are getting food poisoning from the frozen food given at migrant shelters are our future leaders. I think organizations like Voces Latina, Mixteca, Alianza Dominicana, and New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) are incredible and provide the basic services and protections families need to nourish and nurture our next generation. 

Rosalynn: I would like to uplift Antonia Pantoja (1922–2002), who was a foundational figure in the development of Puerto Rican and Latinx rights in Puerto Rico and states such as New York and California. She was a Puerto Rican, Black, queer, educator, social worker, and civil rights activist who promoted advocacy for educational access for the marginalized communities. Her goal was to empower the Hispanic community to speak up for their rights. Pantoja was founder of ASPIRA, an organization centered around cultural pride, educational opportunities, training, and resources for Latino youth. Pantoja’s efforts and contributions to the community received significant recognition. In 1996, for example, President Bill Clinton awarded Pantoja the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the first Latinx woman to ever receive that honor. I chose Ms. Antonia Pantoja because she is a representation of how far our dedication, passion, and advocacy can take us and our people. 

These interviews were conducted and published in September 2024.