Hispanic Heritage Month

What is Hispanic Heritage Month?

It's a national celebration to honor the history, culture and influence of past generations who come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. It starts September 15^th and runs through October 15^th.

The acknowledgment originally started as a week, introduced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, called Hispanic Heritage Week. It was later expanded to a month in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan.

The reason this celebration starts mid-month is because the 15^th of September marks the anniversary of independence for 5 countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18.

Hispanic and Latino(a)

The words “Hispanic” and “Latino(a)” are often used interchangeably but there is a difference and with every culture, it matters. A Hispanic person is someone who comes from or is a descendant of a Spanish-speaking country. Latino(a) is used to refer to someone who comes from Latin America or is a descendant from a Latin American country. A person can be both Hispanic and Latino(a) but there are some countries, like Brazil, to which they are only Latino(a) and not Hispanic.

You can read more about this here.

In 2018, Latinx was accepted into the Merriam-Webster dictionary but this term has been used years before that. Latinx includes everyone binary and non-binary. The term is used in the same way to describe a person that comes from Latin descent.

Traditions in my family

I had the pleasure of speaking with my Mother-in-law, who fled Cuba to escape the Castro Communist Regime. At the age of seven years old my mother-in-law had left all she knew and moved to Los Angeles, California where she would grow up.  She shared her experience with Hispanic Heritage Month, from her perspective, as a young child growing up in LA. She spoke about when she first heard about this specific month of celebrating Hispanics, she was surprised and pushed it away. Growing up in America she was constantly reminded of her differences, those experiences were not for celebrating, “Why would I want to celebrate being different when I have tried to fit in my whole life?”

By fifteen she began to understand herself more, the month no longer was something she pushed away. Instead, it was a time to embrace her heritage and herself, to listen to other people like her tell their stories, “to enjoy being who I was, instead of trying to fit in.” Being able to hear these stories during this time from other Hispanics she felt enriched. This allowed her to discover her own heritage. Today, she is a teacher, and she takes time during this month to talk about her experiences and culture as a Hispanic/Latinx. “This month allows us to talk about all the stages we went through as an immigrant in the United States.”

I’m grateful my mother-in-law shared her story and experiences with me, understanding one’s story is how we continue to grow as a community and lead with empathy. During this month of celebration, I especially plan to slow down and take a moment to listen to the stories of my Hispanic friends and family. I have provided a few nonprofit organizations below that are directly involved in the Hispanic/Latinx community of Seattle. What traditions and stories would you like to share with us? Please feel free to share below!

Latino Community Fund of Washington State

Casa Latina Seattle

El Centro de la Raza - The Center for People of All Races

Contributed by Anthony Rice, marketing specialist on the Marketing team at Verity Credit Union