Jencarlos Canela is an American actor and musician of Cuban descent. The artist is very proud of his Latinx side and made it clear when he spoke on our special video series called 'From Me To Me'.
The singer even recalled his childhood in which his parents called him “Yenqui”. Canela is very aware of the recommendation that he would give himself, “The biggest piece of advice that I have for you is that: you are strong. You have a family that loves you. Take care of them. Look out for them.”
“Being Latino in this country has challenges but it has its tremendous advantages and don’t lose your roots. Don’t lose sight of your heritage. Don’t lose your Spanish ever,” said the 32-year-old star.
In addition, he highlighted “understand that success is just not what you achieve professionally but what you achieve personally as a human being. So work on yourself, work on that relationship with yourself."
When talking about the obstacles that life has presented him, the actor recalled his family and some losses that marked his life. “You’re gonna have to face a few obstacles. Losing family members of ours that like I said, we’re going to go through some tough times. Your grandpa. You lose your grandpa in a very unexpected way and you didn’t call him the night before and he needed to speak to us. That’s going to weigh on you.”
“He just wanted to tell you that he loved you, you know. And you’re a great grand-son, and you’re a great son and those are things that are tough but they make you stronger at the end of the day,” he confessed.
“Professionally you’re going to have to overcome a lot of obstacles as well but just never forget your relationship with yourself. It’s not about the mistake you made, it’s about what you learn from it and if you keep that mindset that’s just going to help you overcome anything, any obstacle you have,” he said.
The telenovela star is aware of the impact he has on his fans and is aware of his fame and what he can do to improve the image of Latinos and Latinas in the United States.
"Concentrate on being the best version of yourself as a Latino, and work, fight and succeed in life so that that best version of you serves as an example," he said.
On his Latinx hero and the motivation that he had to achieve his goals, he immediately said, “Your dad. You have a very up and down relationship with your dad and it’s going to be a rough road because you guys work together.”
“Your mother is an amazing, an amazing heroine of a woman. Your family is going to go through some challenges and we are going to lose people that we love and that are very close to us. But if we stick together, we can get through anything,” Canela said with a smile on his face.
His superpower? Of course, Jencarlos already has it, and without having to think twice he knows what it is. “You’re superpower is the love you have for yourself, for your family, the love you have for others. Your empathy and consideration for others situations and realities parallel to yours. And this [points to his head], this is your most important tool too.”
The singer also knows perfectly what he wants to be known for so he reiterated to himself and his followers “we want to be known for the legacy we leave behind as first and foremost a human being, for our roles, for our passion and our consideration to others. We want to be known for being conscious, and to push the envelope, and to break old patterns, and to make our lives a little better and everyone elses.”
The Miami native knows that his voice is important in the Latino community, “This country wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t for our people. We don’t learn about the contributions that nuestra gente have made for this country in the history books, in the school system. That’s up to us.”
“We need to celebrate our culture. We need to celebrate our people and as long as you stay true to that, to those roots, to that heritage and you inject it into everything you do aesthetically, lyrically, just the way you live your life you will make a difference,” Canela said.
His fatherhood is a phase that he enjoys to the fullest and he knows the importance of teaching family traditions to future generations.
“I think that sitting down to have dinner as a family. I remember coming home from school and smelling that food, my mom’s cooking. My dad used to decorate our plates, and we would sit and have these feasts. I just feel like that has changed a lot and I want that tradition lets us maintain a deep, honest, and open dialogue with our family, and through that guidance and that communication we can make better decisions in our lives,” he added.
Finally, there are phrases that have guided Canela throughout his career and he even shared them with us, “we’re going to live by a few phrases: ‘Things don’t happen to us, they happen for us,’ ‘If you love, you don’t lose.’ Today your voice will be heard. Today your voice will count and you will make a difference.