It’s time to celebrate Hispanic heritage! Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
“Hispanic Heritage Month is an important time to celebrate the cultures, heritage and histories of Latino communities in America. Lane County especially has a rich and diverse Latino community, and this is an essential part of the cultural fabric and identity of our home,” said Stacy Ray, executive director of the Lane Arts Council, which organizes Fiesta Cultural.
Hispanic Heritage Month actually started as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan changed it into a 30-day period.
Sept. 15 is the anniversary of independence for El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. Mexico celebrates its independence on Sept. 16, and Chile celebrates its independence on Sept. 18.
According to hispanicheritagemonth.gov, Hispanic Heritage Month is “celebrating histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.”
There are many events that are happening locally to celebrate the month.
There will be an art gallery called “To Heal Rotting Wings and the Limbs That Cut Them” for free through September at the Starlight Lounge in Eugene. There will an art gallery at The Bookmine on Sept. 30 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Every Friday there will be Friday Night Dances from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Downtown Riverfront Park for free. The Eugene Public Library will be holding Bilingual Storywalks at Crescent Park and Petersen Park.
There are many people to remember, movies to watch and books to read in celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month.
Meghan Ellinghausen, a blogger for The Inclusion Solution, says to remember Jose Andres, Sylvia Mendez, Joan Baez, Jovita Idar, Sylvia Rivera, Octaviano Larrazola, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Julia Constanza Burgos Garcia, and Arturo Alfonso Schomburg for Hispanic Heritage Month.
Movies to watch include “I’m No Longer Here,” “Pelo Malo,” “Even the Rain” and “The Book of Life,” according to Gustavo Solis, a writer for USC News.
Disney+ also has a Hispanic History Month section called “Hispanic and Latin American Stories Collection,” which includes movies such as “Encanto,” “Coco,” “West Side Story” (2021), “Ferdinand,” “McFarland USA,” “Cesar Millan,” “Love, Victor,” “Untamed Mexico,” and “Wild Central America.”
Taylor Mendoza, a writer for Boston University’s school paper, says books to read for Hispanic Heritage Month include “My German Brother: A Novel,” “Mexican Gothic,” “Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States,” “The Poet X,” “The House on Mango Street,” and “Cemetery Boys.”
