The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Project spotlights essential workers
‘Our Essential Heroes’ looks at professions, including ‘invisible’ ones.
Essential workers never got a break during the pandemic. Even during the lockdown period, they continued their daily commutes, showing up to work at farms, restaurants, hospitals and schools across the state.
Although they sometimes felt invisible, their work didn’t go unnoticed by photographers Hector Amador and Miguel Martinez.
“We realized a lot of people were sort of invisible when it comes to essential work,” Amador said. “Miguel and I are both immigrants. We know what it’s like being trapped between two cultures. We know what it’s like being treated like a second-class citizen sometimes.”
They wanted to shine a light on Hispanic essential workers and partnered up with the Latino Community Fund Georgia to create the framework for the “Our Essential Heroes” project. The digital series is a part of the organization’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.
“Hispanic Heritage Month is always a time to celebrate,” said Gigi Pedraza, executive director of Latino Community Fund Georgia. “I believe the contributions of the Latinx and Hispanic community have been happening for years, but it was never as clear as during COVID-19, when we were able to really see that interconnectedness.”
“Our Essential Heroes” includes videos and portraits of essential workers who reflect the diversity of Georgia’s Hispanic community. Their professions range from farmworkers and janitors to restaurateurs and teachers, and the project shares the stories of how the pandemic has directly impacted their lives.
Pedraza said it was important that the project reflect the lives of everyday immigrants.
Feeling invisible
Maria Fajardo is a farmworker in Glennville who has spent decades harvesting fruits and vegetables.
During an interview featured in “Our Essential Heroes,” she mentioned the pride she takes in her work, and the toll that the pandemic has taken on herself and her colleagues.
“I feel proud to be an essential worker, but at the same time, I feel sad because the work in the crops is not appreciated and people who work in the fields are not valued,” said Fajardo. “We have to be here. We could be sick, but we are still expected to keep working, harvesting the food so that people can eat.”
Fajardo is a COVID-19 survivor, and said the Hispanic community has been “significantly affected during the pandemic.”
Nationwide, the Hispanic population has been deeply impacted by the pandemic, accounting for about 27% of the country’s COVID-19 cases and roughly 18% of deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The health agency says racial and ethnic minority populations have been disproportionately represented among essential workers, which may contribute to higher rates of infections.
When the pandemic began, basic protective gear, such as masks, was hard to find. Fajardo and her colleagues would sometimes use handkerchiefs or cloth from their sleeves to cover their mouths and noses.
Fajardo and others who were interviewed for the “Our Essential Heroes” project are now urging their peers to get vaccinated, and to protect their community
from COVID-19. They also are calling on public health officials to put more of an emphasis on providing resources and information to the Hispanic community.
Marcelo Silva operates a professional cleaning service. His business primarily focuses on health care centers that treat children and buildings that house afterschool programs.
“When the pandemic started, doctors, nurses and other first responders were given the resources they needed to be protected, but we (essential workers) had to be more careful because they didn’t take us into consideration at the time,” Silva said in one of the videos used in the project.
Out of the shadows
Spending months listening to the stories of essential workers was a cathartic experience for both Amador and Martinez, as it gave them time to reflect on moments in their lives they’ve felt forgotten and invisible.
For Amador, it brought him back to being an 18-year-old newly
arrived immigrant from Mexico City. He remembers arriving in Los Angeles with $20, and how determined he was to live out the American dream.
In those early years, Amador worked as a dishwasher, cleaning floors and as a fast-food restaurant employee — and he also felt invisible. He now wants to help bring others out of the shadows.
“I like giving those people a voice because I’ve been there, we’ve been there, we know what their struggles are, we understand their world,” said Amador, 49. “We understand their fears, insecurities, and we just want to let them know that we see you, and we want everybody else to see you.”
Martinez, who is an Emmy award-winning photojournalist, has spent a lifetime telling stories and giving a platform to others. He immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, and even with his success in his professional life, Martinez has had moments when he has felt unseen and been discriminated against, even while on the job.
“I personally was affected directly with racism, but that didn’t stop me from doing what I love,” said Martinez, 50. “Many times, I heard, ‘Go back to where you came from,’ and ‘What are you doing with that much equipment if you don’t speak English?’ ”
Martinez said working on “Our Essential Heroes” allowed him to gain a deeper appreciation of the “resilience of my community,” and even drove him to put his feelings into a poem titled “An Immigrant Life.”
The poem is an ode to the workers they interviewed for the project, the ups and downs of being a first-generation immigrant and the richness of the cultures many left behind when they came to the United States.
“We have more in common as humans than we don’t. We just have to find those commonalities and create bridges and understand each other,” Amador said, as he allowed the words of the poem to sink in. “Once we do that, we’ll see that we’re not as different as we think.”
A way forward
Pedraza said “Our Essential Heroes” makes her feel inspired and she hopes it will not only shed light on how the pandemic has impacted the Hispanic community, but they also want those featured to feel valued and appreciated for their efforts.
“I see magic. I see a brighter future and a more welcoming stage,” Pedraza said. “If you look at the photos and read the quotes, people are committed, dedicated and are proud of their work and we are proud of the contributions they’ve made.”
For Pedraza, Hispanic Heritage Month, which ends on Oct. 15, is all about celebrating the contributions and achievements of Hispanic Americans.
“It’s an opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to our community,” Pedraza said.