My absolute favorite thing about my Mexican culture is how close-knit we are. We’re all family, regardless of blood, and we love to support one another no matter what. To celebrate my Hispanic heritage, my family and friends always throw a party with great food, music, and company. Actively gaining knowledge about Latin culture; our people, our food, our music, is a great way for anybody to celebrate and honor our heritage. For this Hispanic Heritage Month, I wish to share with you some of my favorite things about our culture.
Music and food go hand in hand in my culture, especially for holidays and celebrations. I can talk for hours about how delicious my mother’s tamales and pozole are! Enjoying these two is very common during holidays and for me, eating them brings a little bit of Mexico to my life. Mariachi music is also very common around special events because the music celebrates the joy and hardships of our people. The music is performed by a group of people who dress up in big sombreros with amazing matching outfits—they perform all kinds of music by many of our favorite artists! My siblings and I love surprising our mother with mariachi on her birthday and for Mother’s Day. This always brings out the happy tears!
Mexico is known for its telenovelas and sitcoms. Growing up, one of my favorite shows to watch was “El Chavo del Ocho,” a popular slapstick sitcom that featured an orphan, played by the famous “Chespirito,” and the ups and downs he and his friends experienced living in a vecindad. It’s nothing but comedy, but it also gave a look at how our community looks and how close-knit we are. Chespirito became one of the most influential figures in comedy, both in the U.S. and across Latin America.
Another popular figure in Mexican culture is news anchor, journalist, and author Jorge Ramos. Growing up, I would see him as the news anchor on “Univision 34.” Seeing how passionate and dedicated he is, not only to “his people” but to THE people has always inspired me to be a better person and to do better by my neighbors, no matter what they look like, what language they speak, or if they are rich or poor.
My hope for you this Hispanic Heritage Month is that you will take advantage of learning from your peers, seeing how they grew up and embracing all of their different cultures; food, flags, languages, and much more. Celebrating culture has helped me connect with our customers of different backgrounds and appreciate my peers even more. Share some of the knowledge you learn on social media or simply reach out to a Latin peer to show support! Not only will this help you build better connections to those around you, but let’s face it, you’ll enjoy joining in on the celebrating!