By Les Rivera
Roberta Rosa, the Editor/CEO of Mija Magazine is busy these days. By virtue of her “can-do”, “go-getter” attitude, she could easily qualify as a poster model for the United States Marine Corps. Leading her troops, consisting of a myriad of associates, Ms. Rosa is ready to present the American Latina’s long deserving dreams and visions!

Scheduled for its first national magazine paper issue in March of 2005, Roberta Rosa’s magazine saw its popular online debut in its October 2004 issue.

's mission statement is all about “Where Latinas Matter”. With diverse subject matters Latina life is well covered in general. “To endorse and empower all Latinas that are looking to showcase themselves artistically in the arts” is a part of the magazine’s objectives.

Of course, no Latina magazine would be complete if the deep rooted music and dance of salsa wasn’t included. Beginning with the December issue, Mija Magazine’s bi-monthly salsa column will be keeping Latinas up to date on what’s going on in today’s salsa scene in the U.S.A. and in Puerto Rico!

The column will feature up and coming people, as well as established names, from musicians to dancers to DJ’s to events, and other matters of salsa for Latinas. Salsarican.com will be providing Mija Magazine’s salsa column with fresh contributions.

Here’s an exclusive insight of Mija Magazine’s exciting founder Roberta Rosa:

Les Rivera: Let’s find out about Mija Magazine, its mission, and you first: What prompted you to start this unique magazine for Latinas, and has it involved a lot of work for you?

Roberta Rosa: You know I never wanted to be in this business? I wanted to become an Air Traffic Controller or a Project Coordinator at an arts organization. One day the name just popped in my head while I was working as a secretary/web designer at non-profit organization. The original name was supposed to be “Aye Mija”, but Mija just sounded simple, cute and unique. It was God, I’m telling you, porque you NEED a special blessing in this line of work. I launched the first online issue in April 2004, than experienced growing pains. My computer crashed, and I was down the whole summer and beginning of fall.

The reason I kept on going was due to the overwhelming response of Latinas via email. I read stories from Mijas who have halted their dreams because there was nothing out there for them to keep them going; to picking up where they left off after reading one story out of Mija Magazine. I know I have trying times ahead of me, but as long as I keep getting these responses, I cannot stop. It would be a sin to do such a thing.


LR: The word “Mija” in Spanish means “Daughter”. How was “Mija” chosen as the magazine’s name?

RR: Even though Mija’s origin means “my daughter/mi hija” nowadays the word has evolved into ”spanglish” slang. When I say “Mija” I mean it as a form of affection. It’s just like your best friend saying “Hey girl” or “woman” or “girlfriend”.

LR: What type of positive impact on Latinas do you hope to contribute from Mija Magazine?

RR: If you are a Latina in the mainstream or a simple woman trying to make it day-to-day, whether you know it or not, people see us “Latinas” as the makers of babies and the cleaners of houses. Mija Magazine is here to break that stereotype, by networking with other online sites, businesses, universities etcetera. To establish a viable resource for the entire world to see that Latinas are more than these labels, we are movers and shakers ready to take on la planeta!

LR: How are the plans for your first paper issue to be published in March of 2005 coming?

RR: The process has been so difficult Les; I am a one woman show. I have been meeting with printers, finalizing the Mija ad rates, doing these crazy figures that take literally hours to configure. My starting circulation is 10,000 magazines. I am at “Libra” status of planning. I want affordable prices for my subscribers, but at the same, not trying to go under. So, I am balancing things out.

LR: What progress would you say Latinas have achieved in the United States in the past 30 years?

RR: Progress is not the word; it’s more like a movement! 30 years ago Mijas wouldn’t even get elected to serve in a public office. Now we have numerous Latinas literally running the United States. We now see an influx of small businesses generated by Mijas and corporations ran by Mijas! We need to start getting excited about this!

LR: Where were you born and raised?

RR: I was born in Elyria Memorial Hospital on October 20th, 1979, a good year, and I was raised in Lorain, Ohio 26 miles west of Cleveland.

LR: In your own words, please describe the personality of the Editor of Mija Magazine.

RR: You must mean me? “The personality of the Editor of Mija Magazine” is energetic, simple, down-to-earth, at times sarcastic, open-minded, helpful, respectful, and creative and if I keep going on I will have to add conceited, but I will add comical and animated instead. I always said to myself: “When Mija Magazine gets going; whoever reads it, will see me.” Magazines now-a-days have the “Time-to-make-the-donuts” attitude. I am Mija Magazine. I want you, the readers to relate, laugh, and be at eye-level with me, see my struggles as a young Latina trying to create a media giant as opposed to get inspired by it.

LR: You are the only Latina DJ in the state of Ohio. How and when did you become a DJ, where do you perform, and what types of music do you spin?

RR: My DJ name is DJ RORO as ROberta ROsa. I have been spinning off and on for four years now. I started doing college radio, than AM, than I branched off into clubs. I spin the best hip-hop, r &b, salsa, merengue, freestyle and reggaeton. I perform in various clubs and events in the Cleveland vicinity. It is a real hard hobby to get into, since all the other guy DJ’s consider you as some sort of a threat and try to underrate your prices. I end up saying, “This is my hobby, not my career.”

LR: Between Mija Magazine and being a DJ, what other interests do you have?

RR: I am heavily involved in the Latino Community in my city. I have been volunteering for various non-profit organizations for seven years now. I love to write poetry, that’s how I vent and when I have the time I perform Slam Poetry. I am also working on writing finalizing one play and beginning another.

LR: How can people get their copy of Mija Magazine when the first paper issue comes out, how can they subscribe to the magazine, and how much does the subscription cost?

RR: They can email me personally at rrosa@mijamagazine.com and simply ask for a free issue along with there information. Subscription costs have not been determined as of yet, but will be announced by Mija Magazine’s next online issue set to be released December 13th.

LR: Except for dancers and fans, Latinas have always been poorly represented in salsa. Why are there so few Latinas in a typically male dominated salsa artist industry?

RR: This is a great question. Growing up the women around me always say when a Latina singer comes on the radio or TV, “Ehh I don’t like women salsa/merengue artists!” To me this is as mystery as Braille buttons on drive up ATM’s.

PERO, to take a shot at your question; in my opinion, I know there are Latinas out there trying to make it in Salsa, why haven’t we seen them yet? Maybe because this is a male dominated industry and the record company CEO’s are men that want to see a more sexual product; and when a perspective Latina finally comes along the reason why we haven’t seen her yet is because she didn’t want to be seen as a sexual product, but as a genuine singer. The answer could also be lack of Latina executives in the business and a shortage of mentorship in this field.

LR: Latinas represent a multitude of nationalities, origins and cultures. Each Latin country and culture has its own special style and beat of music and dance. Salsa did not experience an explosive worldwide popularity until about fifteen years ago. Prior to that salsa was mostly a household name in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and on the U.S. East Coast. How do you think the salsa column will be received among Latinas of all nationalities in Mija Magazine?

RR: While viewing Salsarican.com, not as a CEO of a magazine, but as a Latina DJ; I saw that this site had roots! The array of music displayed on the site, the articles, even the pictures of the staff struck home to me. I detected genuineness/personality, which struck a cord in my heart that said, “This is the same rhythm Mija Magazine vibes to!” Salsa has had its many battles with new genres popping up out of nowhere, but it is still here. For example the ever growing genre of reggaeton! Many salsa singers are annoyed with reggaeton, but salsa still shines. Anyways, Reggaeton is the 21st century version of the Latin freestyle movement of the 80’s-early 90’s. Salsa is here to stay! Mijas know this, embrace it and dance with it. A salsa column will do real well on Mija Magazine are you kidding? (Laughing).

LR: Are you a salsa dancer? If so, which style do you dance, and how would you categorize your skill level?

RR: Esta comico hoy Les? I dance drunken salsa! I really need lessons; I have a hard problem with that damn extra third step. AHH it frustrates me every time! Anyone that wants to teach me needs a lot of patience. I don’t need to dance to salsa to love it, that’s why I am trying to take timbale lessons. I usually hide in the DJ booth. (Laughter).

LR: Do you personally have any favorite female salsa artists, musicians or dancers? If so, who and why?

RR: My favorite salsa dancers are Sue Ellen Gramajo, from Houston, Texas & Nadya Cortes, from Chicago, Illinois & my hometown salsera Eileen Torres in D.C. My favorite singer is a new artist out of Combo Records named Helena Santiago. She is someone to watch for. Oh and the lady from Sonora Poncenia, she is wonderful…just forgot her name. As for musicians, Sheila E. hands down. These ladies are the only ones in their trade, just like me being la unica Latina DJ in Ohio; they are number one in what they do and broke the mold when they got there.

LR: We wish you the very best of success with your great magazine Roberta. Hopefully Latinas everywhere will be able to pick up their own copy at newsstands nationally in the near future! It was a pleasure speaking with you.

RR: Thank you Les, for your time in conducting this interview. This indeed has been a great pleasure. And a final note to your readers, if you ever see me attempting to dance salsa at an event, either teach me or politely tell me to sit down, unless you want something to laugh at! J