I first met Joseph (José) Mas in the early 2000′s when he came to speak to my Latino Studies class. That quarter on a weekly basis different local Latino leaders came to speak to us. I prejudged José Mas, thinking, “here comes this white Cuban lawyer who is going to be another anti-Castro, GOP mouth piece who takes for granted the dry foot policy.” Again, I was stereotyping, and boy was I wrong. He was and is an advocate for the people. I have been impressed as he has fought for all immigrants (not just the wealthy privileged as I had incorrectly expected). It was also from Mr. Mas that I first learned the phrase “¿Y tu Abuela donde esta?“ A phrase that literally means “And your Grandmother, where is she?”. The question is regarding race, when someone denies their African or indigenous roots, you might ask them to not forget that their “grandmother” may be part of whatever they are denying or mocking etc. He brought this up in the context that we different Latinos must not forget that our abuelas may have more in common than we want to admit.
On Thursday Joseph L. Mas was selected to sit on the Franklin County Board of Elections. The capital of Ohio, Columbus, is located in Franklin county. Congratulations to Mr. Mas!
(From the Columbus Dispatch: Native of Cuba joins elections board & Secretary of state appoints Joe Mas to Franklin County Board of Elections)