It’s About Time for Hispanic Heritage Month to Include Us All
Posted on VidaAfroLatina.com on September 15, 2008

Whenever I tell co-workers that I am pumped for this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, they give me with looks of surprise and confusion.

But… you’re not really Hispanic, they say. You don’t look Hispanic so why should you get so excited?

That’s precisely why I get so jazzed.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for all of us to really and truly celebrate everyone who is Latino, whether they look like Jennifer Lopez or like Sammy Sosa, whether they’re from Mexico or from Nebraska.

I can’t really blame my co-workers and many others who are caught up in the Hollywood image of who is and who is not Latino. Without daily contact with Latinos, their perceptions come from television and movies.

The responsibility, then, falls on all of us, all Latinos who celebrate all that we are, to use this month to educate everyone, non-Latinos and Latinos alike, about the diversity of our experiences, languages and physical characteristics.

Afro-Latinos have long been ignored by this month’s celebration (and Black History Month festivities as well), as have our Indio brothers and sisters as well as the many Asians who call Latin America home.

The media plays a role in this for sure, focusing on those with European characteristics when discussing Latino political and social issues.

But we all know our people are diverse and our histories are more complex than what makes the evening news and the daily paper.

Of course, in order to celebrate the contributions and experiences of all Latinos in the United States and beyond, we have to take an open and honest look at our histories—both the atrocities and the triumphs. And in 2008, we are long overdue for opening our eyes to these facts.

For example, Hispanic Heritage Month cannot solely focus on the Spanish exploration of the Americas. We must also acknowledge and accept the role of African slavery and the massacre of Indians to our histories. And we cannot simply blow these experiences to the wind. They must be a part of who we are.

Fully integrating all Latinos into Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity for all of us to learn from our hermanos y hermanas about their life experiences. We no longer have to pretend that the only story worth telling is that of the conquistadores.

And we no longer have to pretend that only those who look Salma Hayek and Ricky Martin get to call themselves Latino.

The Hispanic umbrella is wide enough to cover us all and the true celebration can begin with this month as we share our cultures with each other and the world.

A former high school teacher, Ivy Farguheson followed her passion for writing by entering the journalism field. A reporter for the Muncie Star Press, she covers class, race and economics in the East Central Indiana region. Ivy can be reached at ifarguheson@yahoo.com.