The commencement of reds, oranges, greens, and yellows in September not only marks the beginning of fall, but the empowering annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Originally initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson—for the purpose of celebrating the 60 millions Latinos that have contributed to the culture and history of American society—Hispanic Heritage Month has evolved into a month-long diverse and vast commemoration that highlights the independence of Hispanic countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, and Mexico. Starting September 15th and ending on October 15th, bright oranges, yellows, reds, and greens will be seen through festivals, art shows, conferences, and community gatherings that recognize and celebrate Latinx identities.
Tania Zendejas, a Spanish teacher at Irvington reflects on the holiday saying, “September is super important for all Latino countries because it represents not just Hispanic heritage, but we also feel extremely proud because it focuses on how different Hispanic countries gained independence back in 1821. It’s not just heritage that we’re celebrating; it’s also having our own identity and our own way of living, and that we have our own traditions and cultural events”
“This month I’m planning to go to downtown Hayward because there’s a lot of Latinos in that city so they have a special event where they’re going to have mariachis playing for the community. I try to use the colors that represent my flag, and then I try to cook traditional Mexican dishes like pozole and enchiladas. In my class, my students are going to be learning about the history of the country, history of our independence, and our heritage.”
“El grito is an activity that we all enjoy as Mexicans because in every single one of the towns in our countries, for example Mexico, they come to the main plaza every September 15 at night and they scream out ‘Viva Mexico!’ or Viva all the people that fought to gain independence. It’s something that I really enjoy in this specific time of the year because it reminds me of who I am and why I have to be respectful to the history of my country and culture.”
Emma Rodriguez (12) elaborates: “Hispanic Heritage Month is really important to me because that’s where I can celebrate with family and teach others the culture and history of Mexicans, since it is normally celebrated around the time of when we gained independence. It shows where we as Mexicans stood before, how we overcame a lot of things like oppression, how we were treated unfairly, and how we were able to fight back for our independence. Hispanic Heritage Week is where we’re going to be teaching other people how to play our types of games and explaining the history behind them. There will also be a presentation on the history of Mexico and how we were able to gain our freedom back.
“We have pretty big parades going around in the Bay Area, in San Jose especially. It’s like everybody comes to this one part in San Jose and people put Mexican flags on their trucks or their cars, and just drive around. We all eat Mexican food and listen to Mexican music and I don’t really think that there’s much of an American influence on it because we celebrate it just as we would in Mexico. My favorite part about celebrating this week is spending this time with family and friends and hearing ancestral stories of how my family was able to come to the United States after facing a lot of racial profiling here and in Mexico.”
