Hispanic History Month? Why?
Today a person of color shared that she did not understand why there was a Black history month celebrating the contributions of Black Americans. She asked: "What about the other months" as if to say that one month of acknowledging Black Americans seemed an oddity. I thought about being Latino and there being a Hispanic History month, pondering how I feel about this. First I have to clarify that I don't call myself Hispanic because for me that is a name used to identify me by another culture rather than our own identity. I like the word Latino because it feels stronger to me and an in your face word for my people and me. Hispanic feels so fluffy and seemingly a less powerful word. I like Latino because I decided it is a word for my culture that I like better. Either way I must agree with this Black women that one month in a year is not sufficient for the large contribution we make every day of the year. I would like to see our people celebrated all the time on an ongoing basis. I would like to see more Latinos being selected for roles like the ones Jennifer Lopez has been cast in where one might otherwise not have a Latina actor. I would like to see us honored in magazines as models who are as beautiful as the others and that mainstream models that are beautiful are not all white.
I am Latino to the core and interestingly I was born in Ohio. My grandmother and great grandmother both were very Latina and they instilled this pride in me that included teaching me to speak Spanish. At the core of who I am as a man and a person I am Latino first and then I happen to be American. I think that the fact that there was so much of a push for me to be assimilated I decided long ago that this was not me and that being a Latino was more of who I was. I would not give up my language or my upbringing or morals as a race. I learned certain useful things about life that I think I will carry with me all of my life and that have something to do with my being a man of color with a different culture. Yet for many who noted that I "did not have an accent" I was anything but Latino and this was only an excuse to dismiss a part of me they did not understand or accept fully.
To select a month to celebrate any one people's culture is not a privilege as some would sell it to be. It is only a disguise and an indirect message that we need to be singled out for a block of time where we can feel important or valuable. In many ways this is insulting to me as a Latino even if there is a small part of me that feels some small amount of joy around it. Still like the beautiful Black women who shared her wisdom and thoughts I too believe this to be a bit ridiculous, especially given the fact that this changes nothing about how others view us or honor us as a people. I for one will say thank you but regretfully I won't be attending.
Elliott Maximo Collazo
I am Latino to the core and interestingly I was born in Ohio. My grandmother and great grandmother both were very Latina and they instilled this pride in me that included teaching me to speak Spanish. At the core of who I am as a man and a person I am Latino first and then I happen to be American. I think that the fact that there was so much of a push for me to be assimilated I decided long ago that this was not me and that being a Latino was more of who I was. I would not give up my language or my upbringing or morals as a race. I learned certain useful things about life that I think I will carry with me all of my life and that have something to do with my being a man of color with a different culture. Yet for many who noted that I "did not have an accent" I was anything but Latino and this was only an excuse to dismiss a part of me they did not understand or accept fully.
To select a month to celebrate any one people's culture is not a privilege as some would sell it to be. It is only a disguise and an indirect message that we need to be singled out for a block of time where we can feel important or valuable. In many ways this is insulting to me as a Latino even if there is a small part of me that feels some small amount of joy around it. Still like the beautiful Black women who shared her wisdom and thoughts I too believe this to be a bit ridiculous, especially given the fact that this changes nothing about how others view us or honor us as a people. I for one will say thank you but regretfully I won't be attending.
Elliott Maximo Collazo
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