America Ferrera
America Ferrera broke the mold for Latina film stars thanks to her acclaimed performance in 2002’s Real Women Have Curves. Ferrera’s figure perfectly embodied the title’s sentiment, and she went on to appear in a number of films and her own television series Ugly Betty. The daughter of Honduran immigrants, Ferrera is happy to serve as a role model for women of all shapes and colors, especially when she recalled her own formative years. Speaking to Elizabeth Weitzman about her younger years in Interview, the actress said, “I went through a lot of self‐doubt. I never turned on the TV and saw a Latina woman with an average body.”
America Ferrera. (2023). In Newsmakers. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1618004261/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=b7eb01fe
Profession: Actor, Director, Television Producer, Activist
American Like Me Story Traits: Finding identity
Al Madrigal
Best known as the Senior Latino Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Al Madrigal has made a name for himself in stand-up comedy, acting and as a writer. He stars in the movie Night School with Kevin Hart, The Way Back with Ben Affleck and the upcoming Morbius for SONY with Jared Leto. On the TV side, Al was a series regular and writer on Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here and most recently worked as a writer, actor and producer on the CBS sitcom Broke. His critically acclaimed hour special, “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy” premiered on Showtime in 2017. He is also the co-founder of the All Things Comedy network, alongside fellow comic Bill Burr.
Bio. (n.d.). Al Madrigal. https://www.almadrigal.com/bio/
Profession: Actor, Comedian, Writer
American Like Me Story Traits: Money/Frugal
Reshma Saujani
Reshma Saujani is a New York City-based Indian American advocate and the founder of Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting young women in their pursuit of education and careers in the traditionally male-dominated technology industry. In 2010 Saujani launched an unsuccessful bid to become the youngest woman ever to be elected to U.S. Congress. Prior to her congressional candidacy and the founding of Girls Who Code, Saujani worked in New York's Wall Street financial district and for the City of New York.
Reshma Saujani. (2013). In Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650008881/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=57020dbd
Profession: CEO of Girls Who Code, Author
American Like Me Story Traits: Name, Authenticity, Bravery
Jenny Zhang
Writer. Poet. Essayist. Worked previously as a union organizer for Chinese home healthcare workers, San Francisco;an organizer for writing non-profit 826 Valencia, San Francisco; a high school teacher in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn; a teacher at the New School for Social Research and Sackett Street Writers' Workshop; a contributor to Rookie, 2011-14.
Jenny Zhang. (2018). In Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000325367/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=394696c9
Profession: Poet, Writer
American Like Me Story Traits: Food, Money/Frugal
Bambadjan Bamba
From The LA Times: "Bambadjan Bamba has only the fondest memories of growing up in the African country of Cote D'Ivoire. But in 1993, after that nation’s first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, died and it became politically unstable, Bamba’s family fled to the United States for protection. At 10, America became his new home. Twenty-five years later, however, the actor perhaps best known for his recurring role on NBC’s “The Good Place” doesn’t quite feel like an American. Sure, he’s perfected the accent and erased every hint of foreign-born-ness from his speech. But since high school, he’s carried around a secret burden he’s ready to reveal: He’s undocumented. Bamba is one of the estimated 11 million undocumented Americans living in the United States, according to Pew research. He’s told very few people of his citizenship status — until now."
Anderson, T. (2017, November 28). Q&A: actor Bambadjan Bamba comes out as undocumented: ‘We just can’t be scared anymore.’ The Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029204143/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bambadjan-bamba-undocumented-20171128-htmlstory.html
Profession: Actor, Filmmaker, Activist
American Like Me Story Traits: Immigration, Language barriers, Conformity
Padma Lakshmi
Indian-born American television personality and author Padma Lakshmi (born 1970) became best known as the host of the long-running reality cooking competition Top Chef. After joining the program’s cast during its second season, Lakshmi garnered numerous accolades, including multiple Emmy nominations. She also created and presented the critically acclaimed Hulu series Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, for which she won a James Beard Foundation award. Along with her television work, Lakshmi has written several books and advocated for causes including endometriosis awareness and immigrant rights.
Padma Lakshmi. (2023). In Encyclopedia of World Biography Online. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/QYBNAW056167515/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=e9792473
Profession: Author, Host, Executive Producer of Top Chef
American Like Me Story Traits: Religion
Randall Park
Park was born in 1974 in Los Angeles and grew up on the city's ethnically diverse Westside. His parents were émigrés from South Korea, and he was the second of their two sons. His mother eventually worked as an accountant on the University of California--Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, and Park would later graduate with a degree in English from UCLA. Park's father ran a photo-processing business--at which Park worked during his teenage years--and later worked in one of the tourist-focused souvenir shops that dot Hollywood Boulevard. Park attended Alexander Hamilton High School's specialized magnet program, where he chose humanities as his area of concentration. After earning his undergraduate degree at UCLA, he spent another year pursuing a master of arts (M.A.) in Asian-American studies. While at UCLA, Park co-founded the LCC Theater Company in the mid-1990s. It was originally known as Lapu the Coyote That Cares, after nicknames he and his friends gave one another. It was here that some of Park's first forays into playwriting and comedy skits came to life. He had no plan to pursue acting as a career and had enrolled in the Asian-American graduate program with the idea of becoming a college professor. There was also a period in which he wanted to apply to architecture school, but he was unable to pass the requisite physics courses for the masters in architecture program. For several years, he worked as a graphic designer for newspapers and weeklies, including the New Times LA, an alternative weekly. "Acting was always something that I did at night," he told Grierson in the Back Stage interview. "I'd tell my parents, 'Don't worry, it's a hobby.'"
Randall Park. (2015). In Newsmakers (Vol. 2). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1618006278/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=10e95510
Profession: Actor, Comedian, Writer, Director
American Like Me Story Traits: Parent-child relationship
Roxane Gay
A provocative author, activist, and educator, Roxane Gay provides sharp commentary and interesting perspectives on such topics as feminism, sexuality, gender, race, body image, violence, rape culture, and how culture considers women. Known for having a clear writing style and distinctive voice, Gay has been a New York Times best-selling author. Though she has considered herself awkward, shy, and a loner, her revealing vulnerability in such books as 2014's Bad Feminist and 2017's Hunger were considered deeply moving to readers and critics alike. In 2020 Queerty recognized her as a writer who gives voice to diversity.
Roxane Gay. (2017). In Newsmakers (Vol. 3). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1618006713/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=432089c6
Profession: Author, Writer
American Like Me Story Traits: Duel existence, Family, Boundaries
Carmen Perez
Carmon Beatrice Perez is a political activist from Santa Cruz, California. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and then became involved with the activist organization the Gathering for Justice. Perez rose through the ranks of the Gathering for Justice and was eventually promoted to executive director. She then continued organizing activists, working to found Justice League NYC, an organization dedicated to criminal justice reform within New York. Recently, Perez played a key role in the organization of the Women's March Foundation, which helps advance women's rights in the United States. The Women's March Foundation helped elect 103 women to Congress.
Carmen Perez. (2020). In Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650012127/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=cb50c145
Profession: Activist, Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice
American Like Me Story Traits: Identity, Basketball, Family language barriers, Gang violence, Sibling loss
Issa Rae
Issa Rae is a Black American actress, writer, director, and producer, primarily known for her YouTube series, The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl. The show garnered millions of views on YouTube, and Rae used her popularity to challenge the stereotypes associated with Black people in entertainment. Rae later developed a television series titled Insecure, which premiered on HBO in 2016. The show earned her several Golden Globe and Emmy nominations and completed its fifth and final season in 2021. In 2023, she co-starred in the film Barbie in the role of President Barbie and the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as Spider-Woman.
Issa Rae. (2023). In Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650010479/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=4415c318
Diane Guerrero
Diane Guerrero was born on July 21, 1986, in New Jersey. Her family lived in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were illegal immigrants from Colombia who were unable to become American citizens. Guerrero feared that her parents would be deported one day. When she was 14 years old, her parents and brother were sent back to Colombia. The young Guerrero had nowhere to go, and family friends took her in and looked after her. She kept in touch with her parents through phone calls and summer visits. She graduated from the Boston Arts Academy and attended college. Guerrero received a degree in political science and communication and then decided to pursue an acting career.
In addition to her acting career, Guerrero volunteered with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that worked on immigration issues. She also worked with Mi Familia Vota to encourage citizenship and voter registration. She was named a White House Ambassador for Citizenship and Naturalization in 2015. Her memoir, In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, was scheduled for publication in May of 2016. Guerrero was also chosen as a featured speaker at the 2016 American Library Association summer conference.
Diane Guerrero. (2016). In Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650010130/BIC?u=nclivecoacc&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=d3beb4f8
Profession: Actor, Writer
American Like Me Story Traits: Religion, Divorce
Joy Cho
Oh Joy! founder and Creative Director, Joy Cho, has authored seven books and consulted for hundreds of creative businesses around the world. Joy has given keynote speeches on entrepreneurship, leadership, and business at many conferences and companies including Alt Summit, Pinterest HQ, Target HQ, and Hallmark HQ. For two years in a row, Joy was named one of Time’s 30 Most Influential People on the Internet and has the most followed account on Pinterest with over 15 million followers. Most recently, Joy’s house and studio have been featured in House Beautiful, Parents, and Domino Magazines.
Hi, I’m joy! (2023). Oh Joy! https://ohjoy.com/about
Profession: Graphic designer, Author, Entrepreneur
American Like Me Story Traits: