Generating Connections

FIRST GEN AMERICAN IS ON THE AIR — AND ON THE MOVE TO BUILD A MORE INCLUSIVE NEW HAMPSHIRE.

BY ERNESTO BURDEN / PHOTOS BY ROBERT ORTIZ

The WMSN 1590 radio studio is the perfect place to keep an eye on the Gate City. Situated on an upper floor of their corner building on Main Street you can hear the construction taking place on the new Nashua Center for the Arts building and oversee the bustle of downtowners and the variety of shops and eating spots that keep these streets walkable and attractive. Nashua, chosen twice by Money magazine as “the best place to live in America,” likes to bill itself as a real city with a hometown feel. That’s not too far off the mark for most residents, but for some newcomers it’s a very different proposition. This was vividly illustrated in a video that went viral about a year ago when radio show host Diana Ploss taped herself haranguing a crew of Latino workers for speaking Spanish to one another while landscaping in front of the radio station. Ploss repeatedly informed the men they were in an English-speaking country and that they should be using the local language. “Are you here illegally?” she shouted. The video reveals that her loud and hostile tone of voice eventually lured one outdoor diner from across the street to come and ask why she was “harassing” the men. Ploss had paid the station for her time slot to produce her show — a strident local retread of the kind of right-wing programming typically associated with AM talk radio. She posted the video of the confrontation to publicize her show and make her points, but for many of the hundreds of thousands who viewed it, her remarks appeared to be a casebook example of bigotry. Oscar Villacis was one of those who saw it that way. Villacis, a long-time resident of Nashua and a first-generation American whose family had migrated from Ecuador to New York and then settled here in 1999, describes them as overwhelmed by the challenges of their new life. By the time Oscar was 13 he was more than they could handle. He lived at the Nashua Children’s Home until he was 18. After that, he was ready to make his own mark and he was looking for ways to prove it.

Which may have been the foundation for what happened next.

Rather than just retaliate online like so many following the Ploss incident, he decided to get involved locally.

He went to the managers of the station to complain. The video had become a problem, or at least a burr under the saddle, for the owners, so they were not unsympathetic when they heard Oscar ask, bluntly, “How do we get her off the air?”

Villacis learned that though her contract protected her from summary removal, there was a loophole — a stipulation that a petition requesting her removal with 2,500 signatures would be sufficient to require the management to revoke her agreement and offer the spot to someone else.

Villacis already had plenty of friends and was gathering supporters for some of his ideas of how to make the city more inclusive and welcoming. That local cred and the fame of the video incident made it possible to exceed that required number by about 2,000%.

“We brought them 45,000 signatures,” says Villacis. Ploss was gone and there was a timeslot to fill.

Fadayz (at left), a motivational speaker, DJ and street dancer, is interviewed by Oscar Villacis.

Meanwhile, WSMN station owner and producer George Russell had listened to a recording, a podcast pilot, that Villacis had made. It was just one of his many ideas for how to make a difference for his home “town” of Nashua and for the people of color, immigrants and other marginalized folks he had met growing up there. Russell told Villacis it was good and suggested he consider taking the spot. But there was still the monthly bill required for an hour of radio time.

It was a lot of money for him to come up

with, but once again the internet intervened. Getting the word out via a fundraising program, he soon had the funds to purchase the hour. That was when Russell made one more offer.

“He asked if I spoke Spanish,” Villacis says with a chuckle. Russell had been looking for someone to host a Spanish-language hour on WSMN and told Villacis that if he would produce one, he could have that hour as well, no extra charge.

It was a lot to assimilate. Fortunately, Villacis was not alone. He had developed a list of allies in the local business community and had been developing his ideas for a podcast he called First Gen American. His wife, Megan, who was already working alongside him, served as an encourager and supporter. After starting his parent company First Gen Multimedia, she became both publicist and overseer, so he looked to Megan for her counsel. Her answer was simple: “She’s like, ‘If you want to do it, do it. You know you can do anything.’”

It did seem to fit with his original vision, and having a media “anchor” in the form of a radio show, something on which to base some of his other plans for online and in-person community building, was appealing as well. The fact that they would be using the same medium that had launched the careers of archly conservative voices like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity just made it seem all the sweeter.

He knew they’d need more help, though, and in the early days, with Covid-19 already causing trouble for finding employees, it would require some special people motivated by more than just money.

When they began looking for interns to assist getting plans off the ground, Jasmine Torres saw the posting. “I thought to myself, this is different. I was looking for something different.” She’d followed the Ploss story, and then heard the pilot podcast that Villacis posted on SoundCloud. She says she thought it was brilliant. And needed. Torres was working at the Boys and Girls Club at the time and, despite having a career and degrees in culinary management and psychology, she essentially threw her hat into the ring as an intern.

The team coalesced as the three of them brought their core competencies to the challenge.

With Villacis as host and executive creative director, Torres as producer and executive director of operations, and Megan as director of marketing and content creation, the team has learned to lean on each other’s strengths — and know each other’s weaknesses. Villacis jokes about his attention span: “I’m everywhere,” he laughs. “Here, here, there, there, this, that.”

“I just organize it,” Torres chimes in. This kind of experience, she says, provides insights for the other businesses in the community the team is expanding to serve.

The project has grown far beyond a radio show, with all of the team members stretching to execute new ideas and

expand the concept to encompass five different shows, a podcast studio where recording artists can book time, and media consultancy; helping businesses create media for their websites and social media and strategize marketing and promotion.

“We’re just continuously learning,” says Torres.

Villacis produces a different themed show every day of the week as well as his Spanish language show, “Latinos en Vivo,” every Wed. at 12. Jasmine has her own show “Love Lessons with a Latina” in which she tackles not just matters of romance and dating but also problems of abusive relationships and troubled marriages.

“This is not a business,” Villacis says, “this is a classroom.” And it’s a classroom about much more than just business, he says. It’s a class on how First Gen Americans can take their own shot at what people call “The American Dream.”

“I think the American Dream is constantly changing,” Villacis said in an NBC TV interview last year. “As we try so hard fitting in, we do an awesome job sticking out.”

Their radio show and other work result from some remarkable collaborations, but not only between Villacis, Megan and Torres — the show’s guests are invited into a growing network; a “Black and brown Chamber of Commerce,” as Villacis describes it, “because we help individuals develop after the show.”

“Do you need a business plan? We help you set up a business plan,” Villacis says. “You need a partnership agreement? We help you set up a partnership agreement. We help you develop all the way through.”

They see their reach expanding to minority-owned businesses in other cities, as far North as Laconia and also into the nearby portions of Massachusetts. Each new company brings its own needs and challenges but also its own network to play in what seems to be an ever-growing sphere of influence.

The team feels this is especially important as the entrepreneurs who join them on the show — and who they work to develop — share, in addition to common business obstacles, many of the unique challenges faced by immigrants and first-generation Americans.

Latinos en Vivo, FGM’s weekly Spanish segment hosted by Villacis and Torres, is described as “a radio program dedicated to educating the public about the issues that interest them today. We are here to serve by telling your stories the way they should be told in your language …our stories, our community, our lives, Latinos live.”

It’s all part of what Villacis calls the “swinging pendulum” effect that a first-generation American experiences — retaining a sense of belonging to his former land and heritage while also seeking ways to prosper in the new world in which he lives. Add to this the fact that they often serve as the primary aides and guides to parents who may never learn to speak the new language with ease or become familiar with the customs and expectations of the American way of life.

It’s a role that Villacis, whose mother was a factory worker and his dad a handyman, knows all too well. And the persistence of those who would create obstacles to that process, like a certain radio host, can’t stand up against a positive attitude, a smart organization and a few lucky breaks, like the one that put his team on the air, five days a week.

So, to all first-generation Americans and to anyone struggling for a little hope, Villacis says, “I know there’s still a great opportunity for us to come together and solve some of our problems.”

Connecting with First Gen American

Oscar Villacis and team are on live radio, Monday through Friday from 12-1 p.m. on WSMN 95.3FM or 1590AM. They are eager to hear from all new Americans (and old ones, too). Here are some ways that you can connect:

Weekly show line up: MONDAY: Asking for a Friend with Oscar Villacis TUESDAY: First Gen American WEDNESDAY: Latinos En Vivo THURSDAY: Love Lessons with a Latina FRIDAY: Asking for a Friend: Business Spotlight

All shows are on Facebook live: facebook.com/FirstGenMultiMedia facebook.com/firstgenamerican