Latino Heritage Month helps educate students on the experiences of Latino Americans

Photo by: Brittany Coates

Latino Heritage Month, like Black History Month, was created to cherish the lives and history of Latino Americans across the country. It takes place from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, which is a very important time period for many Spanish-speaking countries. “Many different Spanish-speaking countries celebrate their independence days…within those two dates. That’s why it’s mid-September to mid-October,” Dean Jennifer Reyes stated.

The celebrations at Metea happened between 3rd and 5th period. Classes would head into the library or into a forum room and listen to a variety of presentations about the lives and history of many Latino Americans.

One of the presentations was led by a group of “Abuelos,” or grandparents/elders. They spoke about what it was like growing up as a Latino American, what their life was like, and some of their struggles they had to deal with. The speakers had a variety of backgrounds, which ranged from coming to the US as a child, being born and raised in Chicago, and moving to the US later in life and moving up in the world to gain success. “It was in my mind that I was going to move to the United States and I wasn’t going to live a mediocre life. It doesn’t matter what I do, it doesn’t matter what it’ll take me. If it means taking two full jobs plus being a mom, I’m going to do it,” successful real estate broker and hotel owner Nely Tagle said.

Moments like that are why this month is seen by many Latino Americans see this month as important. This month and its celebrations we had for it helps educate on the uninformed about the lives and struggles of Latino Americans, which is more important than ever in this political environment. “Americans are very kept away from a lot of other things, and basically our ignorance expands into that prejudice and racism. So feel that educating others will hopefully take aways some of that ignorance,” Dean Reyes said.