By Anthony Payton, Columnist, Granite State News Collaborative

When it comes to trailblazing Latinas in New Hampshire, Daniela Allee is one who’s on the rise. Through NHPR, she helps get Spanish news to the communities of the Granite State. She has a pulse on the Latino communities in the state, keeping in touch through apps, events and in-person reporting. A resident of New Hampshire for five years, Allee brings a breath of fresh air to the regular status-quo.

Daniella Allee: I am an editor and reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio, and I lead our Spanish news initiative, which is called ¿Qué Hay de Nuevo, New Hampshire?, which means What's New, New Hampshire? I work with a team of two other people who help make that happen. We provide news in Spanish three times a week and produce bilingual stories as well. You might hear Gabby Lozada on the airwaves, or if you subscribe to our WhatsApp, you might be hearing her through an MP3 file on our WhatsApp. I've been in New Hampshire for almost five years, [and] actually moved across the river to Vermont the first weekend of July. I guess I'm a Vermonter now, but still living in the Upper Valley. 

Anthony Payton: As a Latina resident of New Hampshire, what did media diversity look like in your early years? Has there been any change? 

Daniella Allee: I moved here in 2017 and I think there wasn't as much diversity in terms of media coverage. There was coverage of festivals and other things like that, but in terms of having a sense of what day-to-day life was like for people, or issues that were front-of-mind for Latino residents across the state, there was more that could have been done in that area. When I first started at NHPR in 2018, that was something that I was attracted to in terms of reporting and who I wanted to be talking to, even just making sure that I was taking reporting trips to where there is a much larger Latino presence, like Manchester and Nashua. 

I can talk to people in Spanish. I can relate to them culturally. My parents immigrated here. They're just things that make it a little bit easier to earn people's trust in that way. That was something that I cared about: how can I use that to bring stories to the forefront that aren't really being told right now? That was something that I did a little bit of in 2018 and has definitely been like a core part of what we're trying to do with the Spanish news initiative at NHPR.

Anthony Payton: That's great. That leads into my next question too: why is diversity in media important? 

Daniella Allee: There is, of course, just being able to see someone who shares a similar background as you living their life or being an expert in something. [That] is useful to have as examples for people who are from that community. 

Media creates narratives around groups of people around certain places, like the narrative around New Hampshire that we’re an extremely white state. That erases the other people who live here. It's important to recognize people from diverse communities live rich and complicated lives. When you think about the Latino community, it's not just immigration. People are celebrating their grandmother’s one hundred and second birthday. New Hampshire Public Radio is a public media institution. How are we actually representing all of the public in our reporting, in who we talk to, in the time that we spend with different communities?

That's doing the actual service that NPR laid out as its mission several decades ago, to really serve and reflect all of the public, not just certain segments of it, because that's who's doing the reporting. That's fundamental so we can understand who's in our communities, what we're doing [and] what we care about. It's not just continuing to fall into the trap of [thinking there’s] no diversity here in New Hampshire. People are building their communities and finding ways to flourish, and I think that's important to underscore. 

Anthony Payton: How do you engage with your community?

Daniella Allee: Reporting wise, we try to be talking with people on WhatsApp. Another thing we're continuing to work on is in-person stuff, because that's really valuable in the Latinx community. I'm just trying to find more of those people here in the Upper Valley. For our reporter Gabby who lives in Manchester, that's just talking to people once she goes to different restaurants or cafes and staying plugged in that way, or when people write in with questions about looking for an apartment or signing up for English classes. Being able to be responsive and see what we do with Qué Hay as a way to not just provide news, but also connect people with other things that they might have questions about that are not always easily searchable or easy to find.

There's like a community here and there's ways for me staying connected to my culture and my roots by calling my parents, talking to them, asking them about their stories too, or reading plenty of books in Spanish, listening to music in Spanish, other things like that, because it's not super present or accessible here in the Upper Valley. I do love going down to Manchester or Nashua and being there, like eating at Don Quijote or California Burrito or other spots like that. A consistent challenge that exists internally for me is, what does that connection and investment look like on a personal level, not only professionally, or about this new service that we provide, but as Daniella the person not just Daniella the journalist. What does that really entail? 

Anthony Payton: Do you have any upcoming events or important dates to share with our audience?

Daniella Allee: We are hoping to have an event this fall, date to be determined, that will highlight a video series that our reporter Gabby Lozada has done, which are non-narrated and first person videos of different people in the community. The series is called Visibles, which means Visible in English. We're hoping to have a viewing event and invite different people to come watch. Hopefully people who have participated in those videos can come as well, maybe have a Q&A with one of the folks that we had talked with, Roy, who moved from Argentina to Concord. He used to be a tango singer there and he said he'd love to come sing tango. I think that'd be a really fun event, so that's something that's in the works that we're hoping can come together.

Anthony Payton: Great. Well, it was great to have you with us Daniella, but I have one more question that isn't on the books. I ask this to everyone. You're hungry right now. You're about to go into your kitchen. It can either be a native dish from your native land, or it can be something that you just found, because you just mentioned my latest obsession, which is California Burrito. If you're making something, please tell us what the dish is, and what the ingredients are.

Daniella Allee: First let me just say, I'm glad you are also a California Burrito fan. Let me ask you, what do you get there when you order? What's your order at California Burrito?

Anthony Payton: I went with my daughter recently and we both got burritos. I get the mango pico de gallo with chicken, Spanish rice, black beans, lettuce and all kinds of hot stuff.

Daniella Allee: I like to get two pupusas, one that has everything – pork, bean, and cheese – and then just a bean and cheese pupusa. I think the sauce that they pair with it is really great. Then an agua horchata. If I lived closer to California Burrito and I had a bad day, that is what I would go eat. 

But in my kitchen, I would want to make a chicken soup the way my mom makes it. One restaurant that I like in Manchester, which is Don Quijote, has a chicken soup that reminds me exactly of how my mom's tastes. It would be chicken, chicken broth, some carrots, potatoes and some rice as well. That's another food that makes me feel really at home, and I can't seem to quite replicate how my mom makes it. Maybe she'd have to be in the kitchen with me making it, but that's the dish that comes to mind.

Anthony Payton: That sounds really hardy and sounds really tasty. Thank you for joining us here at the Common Ground Initiative. We welcome you back.

This column is part of The Common Ground Initiative which aims to highlight the diversity of our communities with stories of people the average Granite Stater might not get to see or meet, clarify misconceptions and find the threads that bind us all together as one New Hampshire community.  These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.