Moises Velez does more than tell the stories of middle Georgia’s Latinx population
By Vanessa Alva
Moises Velez is the founder and editor of the local Spanish newspaper Que Pasa which has been circulating for about 20 years. The Puerto Rican native began distributing the newspaper almost ten years, but as the Latinx (the gender neutral term for Latin American identity) population in middle Georgia grew, so did his mission to serve this community.
Velez moved to Macon 34 years ago after being hired by the United Methodist Church as a producer for their show “Good News.” In Puerto Rico, he studied social studies and had a passion for learning and sharing information. After working on the show, he went to different jobs but kept his passion for informing people.
“I worked in different places like Wendy’s, Geico and other places. But I always tried to keep people up to date on what was happening in the area. I used to use an 8x10 paper and give it out to the people. Later on, I decided to join with The Macon Telegraph and we started doing the newspaper,” he said.
Velez’s dedication to being a resource of information became something bigger as the need for a Spanish-speaking resource in the area became more pressing. Between 2001 and 2014, the Latinx population in middle Georgia increased 139 percent, while the overall population increased 11 percent, according to the Telegraph. Velez said this changed the stories he covered on the newspaper.
“The role of Que Pasa changed a little bit through the time,” he said. “The first editions we had few people and people didn’t know where to go or what to do. (The stories) were about how to take an ID to the bank to make a checking account. I did a story on how to write a check about where to sign and where to write the amount because they didn’t know anything about that.”
As younger populations have grown and people have accesses to other resources, the stories the newspaper covers have changed.
“Now that we have a younger population, we don’t need to do all of that. But, we need to keep people informed about immigration, health and other issues,” he said.
Velez’s role in the Latinx community goes beyond that of a journalist.
“Because I have been around for so long, parents will come to me if they have an issue with their children’s school. These stories don’t get reported but they contact me because they trust me. That is a different role as a journalist, but because of my position I can reach those that can help,” Velez said.
He says he reached out to the Bibb County School superintendent’s office regarding an issue a parent had.
“I just went straight to the superintendent’s office and said ‘Listen, this is happening’ and he said he didn’t know about it and would fix it,” he said.
Due to the lack of resources or lack of knowledge of these resources, the Latinx population in middle Georgia has depended on Velez for guidance, advocacy and information.
