Oral history interview with Erica Mosca conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on February 3, 2023 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Mosca reflects on her life journey from a low-income Asian American to a current serving Nevada State Assemblywoman. She recalls that most of her childhood was in Palm Springs, California where she enjoyed a diverse community of students within her education system. It was not until she moved to Navato, California where she first experienced the economic and resource gap between economically diverse areas. Mosca went on to be involved in a college readiness program and received a scholarship to Boston University. After college, Mosca went on to work for Teach for America where she was stationed on the east side of Las Vegas at Goldfarb Elementary School where she grew a passion for leadership. She eventually returned to school and graduated from Harvard University, returning to Las Vegas to start her nonprofit "Leaders in Training." Mosca hopes to inspire change in her communities by enacting legislation and initiatives targeted towards the communities she was and continutes to be a part of.
Oral history interview with Hernando Amaya conducted by Laurents Banuelos-Benitez, Marcela Rodriguez-Campo, and Barbara Tabach on October 18, 2018 and December 3, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Hernando Amaya talks about his childhood and education in Bogota, Colombia. He discusses his start in journalism as a young man and working for El Espectador, the Colombian national newspaper. He discusses his experiences reporting on the narco-terrorism occurring in Medellin, Colombia and how this eventually led to his immigration to the United States. Amaya moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001 and continued his career in journalism by working for local Spanish speaking papers and websites. He relates his civic involvement in the Las Vegas area, his work as the president of the Colombian Association of Las Vegas, and various other civic engagements. As a journalist, he asserts the importance of knowing one's culture, storytelling, learning history, and being active in the community.