A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
On a recent Friday evening on the east side of Los Angeles, 19-year-old Kennia Camacho signed on to host a radio show.
KENNIA CAMACHO: FM dial and streaming on kqbhla.com. Happy Friday, everyone. This is your host, Kennia, and this is "Crisis Communicator."
MARTÍNEZ: KQBH is a low-powered radio station broadcasting out of the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory. The signal only reaches about 10 miles. She started hosting the show a couple of years ago when she was a high school senior. So I had to ask her why, in this age of TikTok and Instagram, why would a teenager be drawn to radio?
CAMACHO: I've always listened to radio since I was a little girl. My mom was always strictly radio, so she kind of, like, introduced me to what it is to listen to a host. I barely found out what Ryan Seacrest looks like, but I thought he was, like, my cousin because of how good these people can connect with you. And that's my whole purpose, is to connect with people.
MARTÍNEZ: And so when that idea came to you, to have your own radio show, what did you think that you wanted it to be?
CAMACHO: I wanted it to be kind of like similar podcasts that I've heard where people are themselves, and themselves in a way that it might not always be appealing and it might not always fit anyone's standards, but they're themselves in a way that I can connect because they're human. So I wanted my show to be something like that, a place where I can be myself and hopefully, like, lead as people can also be themselves.
MARTÍNEZ: She's a community college student now, and each week, she picks a theme and connects it to what's going on in her life for her listeners to hear.
CAMACHO: So today's topic is the one and only imposter syndrome. Ooh, do I feel it intensely. And I'm very fortunate that I have been offered my very first ever internship at NBCU in the summer, and I'm so excited for that. And even before I was even offered the internship, I was terrified of it. How do I - like, why am I like this?
MARTÍNEZ: Camacho might have imposter syndrome over her upcoming internship, but it's not holding her back. She is ambitious and organized but wonders if succeeding might mean giving up parts of herself. She sees others in her family go through this. For example, on her show, Camacho talks about one of her tias, her aunt who immigrated from Mexico and now lives in a place where tortillas are not readily available.
CAMACHO: And she's at Harvard now literally curing cancer. I'm like, wow, who knew a person could achieve that much? But I thought it was kind of funny because when she talked about how Boston was, and I just thought, oh, she's living the life. She's doing what she's always wanted. And she's like, they don't have tortillas here, and I'm sad about it - I'm really sad about it. To me, at the moment when I heard that, first of all, I had to understand that not everywhere has tortillas.
Tortillas are so huge in our culture. This is something we eat with every single day. It doesn't matter - breakfast, lunch, dinner. What those tortillas really symbol, that there's not enough people who are like you for that to even be in the store near you. And this being the first time in your life you're not surrounded by people like you, like, how does one cope with that? And she told me it's her family. Like, it's literally her family.
MARTÍNEZ: Family is the touchstone she returns to over and over as she works through her fears.
CAMACHO: It is officially 5:30, and it's time to crisis communicate.
MARTÍNEZ: The second half of the show Camacho dedicates to sharing one more personal crisis of hers, and then those of friends and community members live in studio or shared via message. It's a lot of what you might expect from a college student from financial worries to her love life.
CAMACHO: (Imitating horn) - I'm sad again. So I have put myself out there again romantically, and the door just got shut right in front of my face. And, oh, no.
MARTÍNEZ: To helping a nail artist figure out how much to charge his first client.
CAMACHO: So his crisis is how do I overcome, like, this weirdness? And why can't I accept when somebody is giving me this profit, or what is blocking me from this blessing of receiving this money?
MARTÍNEZ: On top of this, Camacho feels the weight of being a young leader in her community in this moment when so many people are fearful as they go about their daily lives.
CAMACHO: Kind of what I noticed is, like, the lack in people showing up places and how entirely scary it's been. How do we feel safe in just walking down the street? How do we feel safe in taking our kid to these after school programs? And really what's going on? And there's been several resources out there...
MARTÍNEZ: She's been working with local groups, distributing red cards, small pieces of paper that fit in a pocket or wallet, letting people know what they should and should not do if they encounter ICE.
CAMACHO: How can we really battle these ICE raids? And how can we uplift our community at this moment and reminding ourselves that we're not alone? And it's knowing your rights. Tell your tias, your tios, your primas, know your rights. Don't open that door.
MARTÍNEZ: The kind of large-scale raids that have occurred in New York and Chicago have not happened in Los Angeles yet, but rumors are enough to keep people inside, which means fewer customers shopping at local businesses. And some restaurants and shops have been laying off staff, reducing the hours they're open.
Do you feel that, especially in Boyle Heights, that having a show like the one you have and being a Latina, bilingual - Spanish speaker, English speaker - that you in some ways are a voice of the community?
CAMACHO: Yes, I do, which is why I think it's so important that I, like - today, I mentioned, like, the ICE raids and police. And I don't only do this on "Crisis Communicator" but for the other podcasts that I kind of work with. I've been given this skill, and I need to ensure that the message is being reached to people.
MARTÍNEZ: Camacho told me that her network of family, community and "Crisis Communicator" have given her strength and confidence to succeed.
CAMACHO: You know, that's what community does. It sees the light in you before you could even see it, and it really helps uplift me. I'm 95% sure that nothing can stop me. And I think that's just come from, like, my radio show. I look at my parents and I look at my family members, and I need to be better, and I need to break statistics. Like, when I look at the state of the world, I think, they don't have a brown woman up there. They need a brown woman up there. And if I have to be the brown woman that beats it and makes it, then I will.
MARTÍNEZ: And now she's turning around and using that confidence to help her community face its own crisis.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROSA PASTEL")
BELANOVA: (Singing in Spanish).
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Wow, A, that's a lot of weight on some young shoulders.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MARTIN: That's a lot. What stuck with you?
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, yeah, I sat in on her show. And the confidence and poise as a teenager on a live microphone - when I used to record myself at that age in my own room, I'd fumble and flub, you know, all kinds of things that I couldn't speak out loud. And also the thing, too, is that she's a community college student. I went to four community colleges.
MARTIN: Wow.
MARTÍNEZ: So I totally have a soft spot and respect for the hustle community college students have to have.
MARTIN: Well, much respect for both of you. And what kind of feedback is she getting from her listener?
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, I mean, she's getting a ton of, like, support because as, you know, we mentioned in the piece, she is a voice for her community, a community that needs a strong voice, and she certainly is one.
MARTIN: We're going to be hearing more from her. I am sure of that.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, the future radio is secure with people like her, yeah.
MARTIN: A hundred percent.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROSA PASTEL")
BELANOVA: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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