On the streets of Koreatown, strangers often stop Maria Velasco to thank her. Some recognize her from Instagram or TikTok. Others tell stories of grandchildren speaking Zapotec phrases for the first time, of pride restored through the language they thought was lost.
They thank her not just for her posts, but for what they represent: visibility, heritage, and healing.
At just 26, Velasco has become an unexpected influencer, not for fashion or dance trends, but for Zapotec, the ancient indigenous language of her family’s hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico. And she’s doing it as a graduate student in linguistic anthropology at Cal State LA, where she’s part of a growing movement to revitalize endangered languages and reclaim identity through culture.
But it wasn’t always this way.
“My parents never taught me Zapotec,” Velasco says. “They thought Spanish and later, English was what I needed to succeed. They believed our language had no value anymore.”
Growing up in Koreatown, Velasco felt that silence. She’d hear Zapotec whispered between her parents or spoken among local merchants but never directed at her. In public, the language embarrassed her. In school, it was invisible. Even as her household carried the rhythms and cadences of Oaxaca, Velasco was pulled toward other worlds: mastering English, absorbing Korean, and making her way as a first-generation college student.
“That’s when I immersed myself,” she says. “I realized: I know what this is.”
It wasn’t until a Mexican history course at Cal State Northridge that something shifted. Expecting lessons on Mexican Independence or the Revolution, she instead found herself reading 16th- and 17th-century Zapotec manuscripts the very language she had grown up hearing but never embraced.
“That’s when I immersed myself,” she says. “I realized: I know what this is.”
That immersion led her to digital storytelling, archival translation, and eventually, a sense of purpose. She collaborated on language preservation projects like Ticha, created educational materials, and began filming short, engaging Zapotec-language videos online.
Now at Cal State LA, Velasco is continuing her mission under the mentorship of Professor Aaron Sonnenschein, chair of the Department of Anthropology and director of the Language Documentation + Revitalization Space (LADORES).
“She sees the importance of making the language visible,” Sonnenschein says. “Her work opens spaces, in academia, in activism, in entertainment—where Zapotec can live again.”
At LADORES, Velasco has helped produce over 200 “word of the day” videos and contributed to the development of a standardized regional Zapotec alphabet. She’s also preparing a graduate project that will compare the lives of Zapotec speakers in Koreatown and her hometown of San Francisco Yatee, linking language to migration, memory, and community resilience.
“That encouragement makes me want to teach it even more,” she says. “Even if it’s just a little bit. Even if it’s just a word.”
A Language, Not a Dialect
For Velasco, the most important message is simple but urgent: Zapotec is not a dialect. It’s a language. It has grammar. It has an alphabet. It has survived colonization, migration, and systemic neglect. And now, thanks to advocates like her, it has new life.
“Even some of our paisanos still say it’s just a dialect,” she says. “But it’s always been a language. And it deserves to be treated like one.”
She’s now taking Zapotec lessons via Zoom with a teacher back in San Francisco Yatee, and continuing to build her skills in reading, writing, and conversation.
“Promoting it online is the best way to reach people,” she says. “If I get a like or a share, I know it’s spreading. It’s fulfilling.”
A Voice for the Future
Velasco’s journey mirrors a larger truth: that reclaiming culture isn’t just about looking back, it’s about shaping what comes next.
She’s noticed a change in the older generation, those who once downplayed Zapotec now want their children and grandchildren to learn it. Young people message her with gratitude. Elders tell her to keep going.
“That encouragement makes me want to teach it even more,” she says. “Even if it’s just a little bit. Even if it’s just a word.”
In the heart of Los Angeles, on a campus devoted to transformation and equity, Maria Velasco is preserving the soul of a people—one post, one project, one word at a time.