Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at Bethesda
Join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month as we speak with Andrew Siañez-De La O, stage/audio dramatist and Writer-Designer at Zenimax Online Studios; Roddy Colón, Associate Social Media Manager; and Ricardo Graham, Lead Character Artist on The Elder Scrolls Online.
Each of these important members of the Bethesda family speak to their unique and personal experiences of what it means to be of Hispanic heritage, how those experiences have influenced their careers at Bethesda, and the importance of cultural pride.
Thank you all for taking the time to share your stories and experiences with us.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Andrew Siañez-De La O: As a Mexican American who grew up on the border (shout out to El Paso, Texas), I find that my heritage is like an old TV that can’t quite catch a signal. It flickers between both sides of the border without ever feeling entirely settled. It’s transitory and nebulous, but also free in the way it bends and shapes to my growth as a person and my relationship to my culture.
I’ve attached a current photo of myself, along with two older photos that I think illustrate a bit of my background. One of me as a child growing up in the El Sala barrio of El Paso and another photo of family from the early 1900s just a few years before joining the Mexican Revolution.
Andrew Siañez-De La O
Roddy Colón: My name is Roddy and a few years ago I started working at Bethesda; first as part of our Quality Assurance department, and currently as part of our Community Marketing team as what I like to call a friendly neighborhood art guy (Associate Social Media Manager). I was born overseas on a 98-degree day in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an island in the middle of the Caribbean between North/Central America and Europe (think Numenor) its heritage and culture are a result of mixing various peoples of European and African descent through a half millennium of migration. I have family tracing back to parts of Spain, Italy, and various parts of the Caribbean.
Roddy Colón
Ricardo Graham: My name is Ricardo Graham, but everyone calls me Rico. I am the Lead Character Artist for the Elder Scrolls Online. My mother is Puerto Rican, and my father is white. I grew up in a mostly Hispanic household surrounded by lots of Puerto Rican dishes. Mainly rice & beans, platanos, empanadillas, pasteles and tostones. Oh, don’t forget mofongo!
Ricardo Graham
What makes you proud of your heritage?
Siañez-De La O: At the risk of being melodramatic, though what is being Mexican if not having a flair for the dramatic, is that my heritage is like a haunting. A long history of intergenerational trauma and societal anxiety mixed together with the resilience and perseverance of every person that came before us. This is, perhaps, a flowery way of saying that Mexican people have, and will continue to, defy their oppressors and find a place to grow.
Colón: The mixing of cultures, foods, fashion, music, and traditions is something I wish more people got to be a part of. I’ve lived in and visited many different places around the world, but there is a warmth, deep sincerity and honest passion that is hard to put into words which I’ve only seen in few places. I feel like embracing other people’s traditions and celebrating them as part of your own brings out the best in all of us.
Graham: Mainly I love the community and love that the Hispanic cultures brings. When you go to the island you see that everyone helps each other out, especially in times of crisis like the hurricanes. Puerto Ricans are known for their resilience during hard times and have overcome a lot. I’m also a huge fan of our food. People love to make all the food fresh because most of the ingredients are grown right there on the island!
What from your heritage would you introduce to someone who may not be familiar?
Siañez-De La O: Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 film “Y tu mamá también” is a great place to start with its portrait of Mexican adolescence and its examination of class and masculinity. You also can’t go wrong listening to Juan Gabriel or Selena, both artists having redefined what Mexican music could be. Or, even just a glass of homemade agua fresca, cucumber lime being my favorite, can be a taste of Mexican heritage.
Colón: If you love getting presents from Santa, understand that there is a second winter holiday where gifts are left overnight for the family to open in early January that Puerto Ricans celebrate (3 Kings Day). Music, food, dancing, beach days, hearing someone call it Los Elder Scrolls, there’s tonnage.
Other Puerto Rico fun facts…
The Piña Colada was invented in the capital San Juan
Miles Morales is half Puerto Rican in the Marvel universe
Ponce de León, who searched for the fountain of youth, is buried in San Juan
Graham: The first thing I would recommend is the food. Puerto Rican food is big on flavor. On the island you can find some amazing restaurants! San Juan is host to a few Michelin star restaurants with some of the best food you’ll ever eat. I would also want people to know about our amazing coffee! Many Puerto Rican ground coffees are infused with fruits or chocolate to give them an amazing flavor.
We have a lot of famous Puerto Ricans who are actively working to help out the Hispanic community. One of my favorites is Lin Manuel Miranda, who wrote and starred in the play Hamilton. He took a story that was primarily Caucasian and reimagined it with a diverse cast. He helped create the Disney movie Encanto, allowing young Hispanic children to experience movies with characters that look like them.
I would also introduce people to our music. Reggaeton is one of the most popular styles. When you travel around Puerto Rico you can hear the music playing from everywhere. People blast it from their cars, street corners, off their boats and even along the beaches.
How has your heritage influenced your career or work at Bethesda?
Siañez-De La O: Because the majority of my writing background has been focused on stage and audio dramas, I've always approached the work as creating narratives and opportunities that reflect my border heritage. I wholeheartedly believe that my border lens deepens the stories I write, from science fiction to slice of life to fantasy, and helps broaden my audience's understanding of what Latinx/e storytelling can be.
Colón: My culture could best be described as a melting pot of various traditions and my work/art style is very much mirrored the same way. I’ve developed a quick style that merges a bit of Japanese animation along with the Marvel/DC Comics style to land somewhere familiar but still different. I have a longer style that borrows from neo classical traditional painting mixed in with 3D renderings for lighting and perspectives. These may sound like strange mixes, but they go well together. Making art I find is about having a wide range of experiences and inspirations to draw from, then laying them out visually. I love making vibrant, lighthearted art full of a vast array of characters usually having fun or just completely in their element, and that in my mind’s eye frankly sounds like a fun day by the beach hearing the waves do their song.
Graham: Growing up in the typical Hispanic household, we were always poor. My parents never graduated high school and I was determined to pull myself out of that life. Making art had not only become my passion but also an obsession. I felt that if I worked hard and gave it everything I had it would give me access to a better life that I could then pass on to my wife and child. As I entered the game industry, I noticed that there weren’t a lot of people that looked like me, especially in upper management. This inspired me to pursue a career in leadership. I wanted to pursue this path for many reasons, but one of them was so that I could encourage other minorities to do the same. Diversity is important to me and is definitely a driving force behind my actions. As a kid, I never would have imagined getting to this point. For many of us, we didn’t even know it was a possibility. Thanks to ZeniMax and some amazing people in upper management, I was given the opportunity to pursue this path. It’s been an amazing journey.
What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?
Siañez-De La O: I think, to me, it’s about honoring both legacy and impact while making space for the next generation. It’s absolutely a time of celebrating all those historical changemakers, but also a time to amplify and lift up new voices. If I were to assign homework, it would be to watch a film or read a book by a new voice and share it with a friend.
Colón: Taking a moment to realize how connected I am to my grandfathers, great grandmothers. Seeing how other cultures across the Caribbean, Central, South America and parts of Europe are in truth just variant versions of our traditions, customs and lore.
Graham: Hispanic heritage month, to me, is a time for Hispanic people to show off their pride. It’s a chance to educate people about our culture, our history and our traditions.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Colón: I grew up in the Caribbean hoping to one day work on a videogame and having absolutely no idea how I was going to go about that. At the time all my favorite videogames had names that sounded not even remotely close to mine (granted, Roddy is a strange name). People that pave ways for others help people like me dream big. I’m thankful, lucky and very proud to say that if it can happen to me, it can absolutely happen for you.
Graham: Puerto Rico is currently being hit by a devastating hurricane. They’ve lost power, they are experiencing floods and they are dealing with mudslides. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers through these hard times.
