5 Ways to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month, a chance to celebrate the cultural influence of Latinos in the U.S.! The 56-year-old holiday is celebrated from Sept. 15- Oct. 15, during which the Independence Days of many Latin American countries occur. From eating at local restaurants, to listening to Latine artists, there are many ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and you don’t have to be Latino to celebrate it! Here are some ways to celebrate it:

Support Local Latine-Owned Businesses

In Lawrence, from restaurants to coffee shops there are many Latine-owned businesses that you should definitely support. La Estrella is a must-visit Mexican restaurant located on 23rd street. They have a delicious menu, offer a variety of classic desserts like churros and fresas con crema at their dessert bar, and they even have a convenience store in the basement with a butcher shop. Other restaurants like Paleteria Chihuahua and Angeles Panaderia also offer authentic Mexican food with ice cream and bakeries, respectively, incorporated into their restaurants. Bonus: all three of these restaurants are less than ten minutes away from KU campus.

Delicias del Sur, a breakfast spot featuring South American cuisine is also a must-visit location. If you’ve never tried an arepa or an empanada, they offer plenty of chances to try these and many other South American plates, because as we know Latinos are not just Mexican, but instead come from a variety of different countries and cultures.

Attend a LASU Meeting!

Attending a Latin American Student Union Meeting is a great way to learn more about Latinos and support us. You don’t have to be Latino to come to a meeting and there’s even been students who attend meetings just for a chance to practice their Spanish. It is an environment that is open to all and a great way to get involved. Additionally, students at KU can attend ‘Tour de Latino America,’ an event put on by LASU happening Oct. 23 featuring music, cuisine, and entertainment from many different countries in Latin America. 

Watch Latine-Made Media

According to a report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2022, Latinos make up only 12% of workers in the media including movies, music, radio and TV. Latino representation is important, and by watching films and T.V. shows that feature Latinos or are written by Latinos you are directly telling the media industry that our stories matter.

Watching shows like “Jane the Virgin,” “One Day At a Time” and “On My Block” which center on amplifying Latino stories are a wonderful way to support Latino representation. Even watching shows like Julio Torres’s whimsical “Fantasmas” which doesn’t solely center his Latino identity, or watching Tim Burton’s “Wednesday,” which has icon Jenna Ortega as the lead, can be a way to support Latinos in the media.

If you’re more of a movie watcher there are tons of movies you can watch to celebrate. Movies like “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Blue Beetle” which have Latino leads and even feature parts of Puerto Rican and Mexican culture, are great watches. “Real Women Have Curves” is also a wonderful movie about mother-daughter relationships, and the reality of being a Latino in the U.S. AMC is even bringing back six movies featuring Latino culture, like Disney’s “Encanto” and Pixar’s “Coco,” to their theaters to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and provide these movies with the proper treatment of being viewed at a theater.

And if you’re a musical fan, please please please be aware that while the original 1961 “West Side Story” is wonderful, it does feature a lot of brownface. I’m not going to tell you not to watch the original, because it is important to acknowledge the uncomfortable and, frankly, racist parts of Hollywood. What I am going to suggest is that you 100% watch Spielberg’s rendition of “West Side Story” to see how far we have come in terms of Latino representation. Not only does Spielberg feature talented Latina actresses like Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose, he even brings back the best part of the original film: Rita Moreno. Additionally, Speilberg’s film does not feature brownface. (Sidenote, Lin Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” is also a wonderful musical, featuring the Latino experience in New York City.)

Read Latino Literature

Learning about the history of Latinos doesn’t have to be reserved to history books and documentaries. In fact, many books written by Latino authors incorporate historic details or metaphors which allow readers to learn history while being immersed in wondrous worlds. 

Classics like Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “100 Years of Solitude,” Isabel Allende’s “House of the Spirits” and Julia Alvarez’s “In the Time of the Butterflies” are fictitious works with engaging storylines, with the first two works being riddled with the very Latin American tradition of magical realism. They showcase pieces of Colombian, Chilean, and Dominican history respectively, and are an interesting way to learn about the history of these countries. 

Contemporary works like “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz, “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and “Borderlands/La Frontera” by Gloria Anzaldua show what contemporary life is like for Latinos living in the U.S.

And if you’re more into memoirs, perhaps try Ingrid Rojas Contera’s memoir “The Man Who Could Move Clouds,” which discusses Rojas Contera’s lineage of curanderos (witch doctors) in her family and the reality of growing up in Colombia.

Literature has been an essential part of Latino culture. It has been a way for us to bring light to our hidden tragedies, and bring a voice to subjects that were taboo up until they were written about and brought to light. By reading Latino literature, you are directly supporting and learning about a very important part of our culture and being. The books I mentioned are only a few that I have read myself, but there are many more that are worth reading.

Support Latino Artists

Latino artists are dominating the music scene recently. Not only is listening to music in Spanish a wonderful way to get accustomed to the language and perhaps practice it if you’re trying to learn Spanish, it’s a good way to immerse yourself in the culture. Reggaeton songs like “Titi Me Pregunto” by Bad Bunny, “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee and “Yo Voy” by Zion and Lennox are the perfect songs to pump up any party. 

Anything by Kali Uchis or Cuco is perfect for R&B and Bedroom Pop lovers and bilingual listeners as a lot of their discography mixes both Spanish and English. Personal favorites of mine by Kali Uchis include “que te pedi//,” “Dead To Me,” “telepatia” and though not technically her song, “See You Again.” 

For ballad lovers or people who like crying in their bedroom, songs like “Luna” by Zoe, “Colapso” by Kevin Karl and “Tu Falta de Querer” by Mon Laferte  are must listens. And of course, you can never ever go wrong with Shakira. 

National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the cultural influence that Latinos have had in the U.S. People of Latin American heritage have been in this country since the beginning of its foundation and it’s important to acknowledge our existence, our influence and the contributions that Latinos have made to the U.S. Happy Hispanic Heritage Month amores!

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