Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month
October is a wonderful time for many reasons – the cooler air, the rhythm of school settling in, and of course taking the time to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. So, however you choose to identify- Hispanic, Latine (o/a/x), Chicano/a, Puerto Rican, or Cubano/a– we celebrate you! This is a time to learn and honor the histories, cultures, and contributions of your ancestors. The celebration starts mid-month because Sept. 15 marks the independence anniversary of five countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. It is followed by Mexico's Independence Day on Sept. 16 and Chile's on Sept. 18. Another important date that falls within this 30-day period is Día de la Raza, or Columbus Day, which is celebrated on Oct. 12.
Hispanic vs Latine (o/a/x)
The ethnicities are not interchangeable. It is important to consider how your staff, colleagues, clients, etc. identify before labeling your event or audience or you can end up with a few no-shows or tuned out neighbors in your space!
A Hispanic person is someone who comes from or is a descendant of a Spanish-speaking country. Latine (o/a/x) is used when referring to someone who comes from Latin America or is a descendant from any Latin American country. A person can be both Hispanic and Latine (o/a/x), but not all Latinos are Hispanic.
How to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?
It is important to be intentional about creating space for cultural storytelling, sharing of cultural components (may include faith), learning, music and more importantly food! This is also a fantastic opportunity to collectively review your policies and processes. How do you collect demographic data? Do you still require for the Hispanic/ Latine (o/a/x) people to check the “white” box? Revisit or establish community agreements to build and maintain safe spaces- that means that we must talk about situations that have felt supportive and offensive. Watch “Our America: Todos Unidos” special.
Structural racism is the result of the accumulation of historical and cultural factors that have allowed racial inequities to endure and adapt over time. The historic (and present time) structural impacts of systems on the Indigenous, Hispanic/ Latine (o/a/x) and Black communities are detrimental. We continue to see the challenges today such as implicit biases, institutional and structural racism to perpetuate systems of poverty, lack of resource availability, quality of service provision, linguistic gaps, immigration barriers, and more.