Dear Campus Community,
The Hispanic community has contributed greatly to the American experience. Their contributions are countless. Each year from Sept. 15 to Oct.15, we set aside time during National Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the many ways the Hispanic community has helped shape American society. This year, the National Hispanic Heritage Month theme, Hispanas: sé orgulloso de tu pasado, abraza el future [Hispanics: Be proud of your past, embrace the future] reminds Hispanics to embrace their background, honor their heritage, and prepare for tomorrow.
Hispanics are sometimes mistakenly grouped into one culture. But they are multi-dimensional. Each has a rich history influenced by indigenous cultures — Arawak, Taino, Aztec, Mayan, African, Spanish. And each embraces its own customs: Puerto Rican, Mexican, Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, and those from Central and South America countries like El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, and Chile — to name just a few.
“Latinx” is a gender neutral, nonbinary alternative to the term Latino or Latina, and today more popularly used interchangeably with “Hispanic.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month is also a time when we can learn more about the culture, heritage, and contributions of Hispanic American trailblazers:
- The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, first Latinx woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Latino American Civil and Workers’ Rights Leader Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association and led pickets and boycotts that pressured farm owners into granting strikers’ demands.
- Pediatrician, educator, and women’s rights activist Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias, first Latina president of the American Public Health Association and a Presidential Citizens Medal recipient.
- Biochemist and molecular biologist Severo Ochoa, 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient for discovering an enzyme supporting synthesis of RNA.
- Rita Morena, the only Latinx actor with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony and the first to earn a Peabody Career Achievement Award.
Continuing the legacy of their forebears are elected officials like U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joaquin Castro, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio; educators like Jaime Escalante; playwrights like Lin-Manuel Miranda; authors like Gabriel García Márquez; entertainers like Jennifer Lopez and Jencarlos Canela; actors like Michael Pena and Selma Hayek; and chefs like José Andrés and Maricel Presilla. And the list goes on…
But not all trailblazers are renowned. Some are lesser known, like businessman and HVCC alumnus Nicolas Morales, owner of a State Farm Insurance agency in Albany. For his efforts so much closer to home, Morales has received numerous awards for his work with the Schenectady Hispanic Committee’s Latino Leadership, Capital Region YMCA Black and Latino Achievers, and Upstate New York Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Businessperson awards.
We invite you to visit the Marvin Library this National Hispanic Heritage Month to take a deep dive into the rich legacy of the Latinx community. Visit the following link for more information: https://chronicle.hvcc.edu/wordpress/library-resources-supporting-national-hispanic-heritage-month/.
Additional information can be found at https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/hispanic-heritage-month.
In solidarity,
Ainsley Thomas
Chief Diversity Officer
a.thomas1@hvcc.edu
Facebook: @HVCCODEI
Instagram: HVCC_ODEI
https://hvccodei.wixsite.com/website/news
Published: Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:10:32 +0000 by a.thomas1