Reevaluating Hispanic Heritage Month from a Commemoration to a Call to Action

Tuesday, September 15th marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month: four weeks dedicated to honoring the efforts of many generations of Hispanic Americans, specifically focusing on celebrating Hispanic arts and culture. In 1968, the commemoration was initially intended to be only a week long, but two decades later, it expanded a whole four weeks (from September 15th to October 16th) to celebrate the independence days of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile, and Belize.

Though different families hold their own events and have their own traditions for celebrating the month, the one thing they all share is their value of cultural education and awareness. David Brambilla, senior and co-president of Latinos Unidos (LU), clarifies that the month is, “mostly just dedicated to recognition. Hispanic Heritage Month did, of course, start in the United States, and usually what we celebrate and do tends to be because of our parents and what they contributed to our culture, either from when they lived in Latin America, or what they brought over.” Many first generation Hispanic-Americans hold the occasion especially close to their hearts. 

Julian Perez, junior and co-president of LU further explains, “it’s important to recognize the achievements of others even if it does not directly connect with you because it still affects you in some way.” Brambilla encourages others to “recognize and appreciate how [Latinx] people have gotten to where they are in their lives and what they had to sacrifice in order to get there. [Hispanic Heritage month] is really about being able to recognize that the people who we love and look up to made a lot of effort to get where they are, and their dedication is just something that not many people hear about.”

Typically, the whole nation observes the month by putting on events and festivals to honor Hispanic culture. In 2019, the Bay Area hosted events such as the San Francisco Latino Film Festival and the Día de Paz (“Day of Peace”) celebration in San Jose.

Perez comments that LU had speakers come in the past to teach students about Hispanic culture and the importance of the month: “In the lower school, my mother used to come to the School and give talks, which is how a lot of our events came into place, but [the celebrations are] usually different every year.”

Though social distancing guidelines are placing a halt on large gatherings, there are still many ways to celebrate and respectfully observe Hispanic Heritage Month in 2020. For instance, you can support local Latinx-owned businesses and brands, read books written by Latinx authors, learn a traditional regional recipe, or even watch a Spanish language movie. Perez reflects, “this year I’m going to try to educate myself a little more about the achievements of Hispanic people.” Brambilla expresses a similar sentiment, saying, “In the world’s current setting, I think [this month] is going to be less about celebrating and more about taking action. Even just the little things like posting information on Instagram or sharing something on a social media story is effective.”