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It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of programming out there for Latino children. Latino children are expected to consume children’s programming that features mostly white protagonists and simply put up with it. And when it comes to bilingual programming? Forget it. But a new show called “Club Mundo Kids” is trying to change all that.

“Club Mundo Kids” is a bilingual, educational program aimed at children of first and second generation Latino children.

The new show, hosted by former ABC News correspondent, Romi Puga, is aimed at the underserved audience of American Latino children who speak Spanish as their first language. However, “Club Mundo” also smatters in some English words here and there as part of their programming.

“There is very little content being created that is speaking to U.S. Hispanic, Latinx children and telling their stories,” Romi Puga recently told The New York Times. “The younger generation doesn’t really have anyone breaking things down and talking directly to them in a way that is digestible.”

Unlike “Dora the Explorer” or “Elena of Avalor“, “Club Mundo Kids” aims to talk to children about Latino life in a real world context.

While “Dora the Explorer” and “Elena of Avalor” are invaluable for showing Latino kids versions of themselves on screen, they function more as escapist entertainment. “Club Mundo Kids”, however,” features real-world Latinos in front of the camera–as well as a few Latino puppets.

Romi Puga hosts “Club Mundo Kids” from her backyard along with her “neighbors”, a friendly pink puppet named Maya and Coco, an adventurous puppet shaped like a coconut.

Together, Romi and her friends educate their young audience on important, real-world topics, like space exploration, recycling, and the Endangered Species Act.

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They also discuss topics directly related to Latindad, like why different Latin American countries use different words and have different accents.

“We do a lot of that,” Romi told NBC News. “Just opening their minds to, ‘Hey, my classmate speaks Spanish but his Spanish doesn’t sound like mine. Why is that?’ And so we’re explaining that but in a fun way, and our hope is to encourage empathy, curiosity and that feeling of identifying with this show, which embraces multicultural identities.”

Above all, the creators of “Club Mundo Kids” hope that the show will create a space for American Latino children who feel like they don’t completely belong in either culture.

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Since 2018, more than 1 in 4 newborns in the U.S. are Latino. These children have a complicated, multicultural identity that is being overlooked by the mainstream media. Romi, who was born in Miami but has parent from Chile and Argentina, understands this conflict firsthand.

“To me, that’s what I want ‘Club Mundos Kids’ to be — that group for kids, a place to identify, where they don’t need to pick one or the other,” she told NBC News. “They don’t need to pick English or Spanish but they can celebrate and be proud of their multicultural identities.”

“Club Mundo Kids” is currently airing on both Televisa and Universo.

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Updated March 24, 2021.

The police of Houston are under fire again after it was revealed that a 1-year-old boy was shot in the head by an officer earlier this month. The tragic incident happened on March 3.

At the time Daisha Smalls was at a gas station filling up her car when she saw police cars and sirens.

According to Smalls, she was sitting inside of her car when a man approached her and told her to get out of her car.

At the time of the attempted hijacking, Smalls’ son Legend, was in the backseat.

“I wouldn’t give him my car because I let him know that I have a child in my car and that I would not leave my car without my son,” Smalls explained. The man then pushed his way into the car and attempted to hijack the vehicle.  

Police shot into Smalls’ car and killed the suspect who’d forced his way onto her lap. The police also injured her son Legend.

Daisha Smalls joining attorney Ben Crump weeks after saying her 1 year old son, Legend, was shot by Houston Police when a suspect, they were chasing, took them hostage in their car at a SW Houston gas station. Legend is still in the ICU. https://t.co/Tbq4MUc2p5 📸: Ben Crump Law pic.twitter.com/WeEn7Pubqe

— T.J. Parker (@TJParkerABC13) March 16, 2021

The 1-year-old was struck in the head with a bullet.

“I was just scared for my son’s life,” Smalls explained in a recent interview. Smalls went onto share that her son “didn’t deserve to be shot, especially not by the police.” According to reports, doctors removed part of Legend’s skull to make space for brain swelling. They were able to remove the bullet but small fragments from the bullet remain.

“He’s had multiple seizures, over 10 seizures, he’s still fighting for his life,” he explained.

Antonio Romanucci, co-counsel to Smalls’ lawyer said they are still investigating the incident but that the Houston police “can anticipate a lawsuit being filed shortly.”

Earlier this month, Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner claimed that Smalls was not in the car at the time of the hijacking. The hijacker was 30 and the suspect of two armed robberies. Police told him to drop his weapon and when he refused an officer fired several shots at him. The man died at the scene.

Finner claimed that the police officer was unaware that Legend was in the car. 

“Fearing for the mother’s safety, one of our officers discharged his duty weapon, fatally striking the suspect,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement shared to Twitter. “Sadly, baby Legend was also struck. Officers at the scene immediately rendered first aid to Legend… We are hoping and praying for the full and speedy recovery of little one-year-old Legend Smalls.”

Small’s attorney, Ben Crump explained that the clerk at the gas station told ABC13 that there is a surveillance video of the shooting.

“Why would they shoot knowing she was in the car? Not knowing who else was in the car. There could have been children, there could’ve been others in the car, but they shot,” Crump explained. “Regrettably and tragically, little Legend will live the rest of his life with the consequences of their decision to shoot into his mama’s car even though they knew she was in there.”

The attorney to Smalls, who has disputed police accounts that she was out of the car when the shooting began, has said that they expect to file a lawsuit in regards to the incident.

“Were the actions of the Houston Police Department both objective and reasonable under the circumstances?”Romanucci commented at a recent news conference according to The New York Times. “Clearly the answer is no.”

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