MANASSAS — Stephanie Williams has been an active force in Latino communities for most of her life.
Before moving to Virginia in 1989 she had been an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) member helping farmworkers in California as well as a teacher in South America.
Once moving to Prince William County however, Williams dove into several roles dedicated to bridging the gaps within the local Latino community. One such role was in creating the only local Spanish language television program in the county Panorama Latino.
The show began as a response to a tragedy, just a few days before Christmas in the early 1990s, a Hispanic family found themselves caught in a house fire that started in the basement. Only one member of the family, a young boy, lived while the rest of the family died in the flames.
“I believe that bringing information to the Hispanic community in their native or primary language is more impactful and beneficial in letting the people know what is going on in their community,” said Williams.
Panorama Latino began its original run in 1991 when Williams was approached by then Comcast Cable Vice-President Troy Fitzhugh about starting up a local Spanish language show that would bring news and information to the local Latino community. The program’s original run lasted from 1991 to 1992 but returned in 2001 and has continued to run for the last 19 years.
The show’s goals and topics range from health, fire prevention, law enforcement, education, immigration, among other subjects. The show has had various organizations such as the Social Security Administration, the American Red Cross, The Life With Cancer Family Center and several others come on and give information that is vital to the Latino community.
According to Williams, this helps with the assimilation process of newly arrived immigrants by giving them a way to learn about not just the local, state and federal laws but learning about community resources and activities.
The existence of such a show has proven vital to the growing Latino community and the community is indeed growing. According to the U.S Census, the total population of the Latino Community rose from 4.5% in 1990 to 20.3% in 2010 which would come to over 400,000 Latinos amongst the population of Prince William County. According to Data.com, that percentage has grown to 28% which has added another 100,000 Latinos to the county population.
Panorama Latino airs on Comcast Channel 2 Friday nights at 8:30 pm and can also be viewed on YouTube. Its latest episode will guest Prince William County Police Chief Barry Barnard and will air in September.
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