Hispanic Heritage Month is almost over. From September 15th through October 15th, the USA recognizes the history and contributions of the Latino/a/x community during Hispanic Heritage Month. This year, I wanted to share a bit about each country in Latin América where I had the chance to visit. My primary reason was to highlight those countries that are not as visited, but also to share some other less known places in tourism-high countries. Today, I want to share my experiences visiting Honduras.
Nothing like the bright colors of the mercados of Latin América.
It is possible that what you have heard about Honduras is all related to violence, death, murders, drugs, and the political instability that feeds those social ills. Although it is true that Honduras has had a history of violence related to gangs and drugs, it is also true that the country is a beautiful place beyond the well known tourist destination of Roatán island.
I have been to Honduras twice. Both times I visited the capital, Tegucigalpa. My travels there were related to work: partnering with the United Nations HIV/AIDS Program, which at the time, was led by a good friend who has since passed. Visiting with a friend who lived there made a huge difference in how I experienced Honduras. However, this doesn’t mean that you will not experience a wonderful country if you go alone or as a tourist.
Tegucigalpa, or Teguz, as the locals call it, and Comayaguela, it’s twin city, are filled with surprises. Walking around the old town of Teguz was a great way to understand the people of the country. The streets are filled with stores, food vendors, and my favorite, bookstores! There is a small hotel district on the modern part of the city, where visitors can stay with low or no concerns about violence reaching them. (But always remember that all big cities have violence and crime, this is not exclusive to Latin American big cities.) The district has great cafés and bars which offer great places to meet locals and learn more about their culture. Every morning, I would walk to the little café near my hotel to get some delicious local coffee and just relax by taking in all the beauty of the district, it’s public art, and to watch as people made their ways to work, school, and engaged in their daily routines.
The ever-present contrast of old and new in Latin América.
The second time I was in Honduras, the people were hosting almost daily marches demanding their government to be more transparent and accountable to the people. Of course, I could not just stay by the sides while my siblings were doing the right thing, and I joined the marches and protests for a bit. This is not something I would encourage people to do, of course, as it could be very dangerous. But I was moved to doing it, and I knew I had the privilege of “passing” and not calling to much attention to my participation as a foreigner.
Visiting the mercados, or markets, should be on everyone’s list when traveling to Latin América. We visited a couple of them, and although I cannot remember their names or exact location, I do remember eating some of the best meals there. I was also excited to eat the traditional baleada, a must-have of the Honduran culinary tradition. It was also interesting to see the many fast foods restaurants dedicated solely to baleadas.
One evening, a small group of consisting of my friend, a few of her coworkers, and I took time to enjoy the nightlight. It was great visiting a local establishment with live music and dancing as well as good food. After this, we attended a wonderful concert from Honduran singer-songwriter Guillermo Anderson at the National Theater in Tegucigalpa. Anderson’s music spoke to my soul! He blends some trova with other traditional Latin American music, all with lyrics that speak to the reality of people’s lives, from falling in love to emigrating. I had never heard of Guillermo Anderson before this trip, and now I am obsessed with his music. His song “El encarguito” speaks of the yearning that we all have as we leave our countries and ask whomever can send something to us, to do so. Joining cultural events such as this are important when I travel because it shows me a side of the country which I would not know if I only stayed at hotels with no interaction with the arts scene of the places I visit.
Finally, I would highly recommend a day road trip to Valle de Angeles. This beautiful mountain town is a must-see for any person visiting the area near Tegucigalpa. Valle de Angeles is a quaint, rural town with cafés, craft shops, lowkey bars, and beautiful traditional Honduran architecture. It offers an opportunity to leave the hassle and bustle of the big city to join the quietness of rural life. The road itself is beautiful and a great way to experience a part of the country that very few get to experience. To my surprise, as we
The sprawling city of Tegucigalpa.
were approaching Valle de Angeles, we ran into a Puerto Rican restaurant with very traditional dishes from the Island! A veteran who was at some point stationed in Honduras and married a local woman, decided to stay after service, and they decided to open this restaurant as their way to bringing a piece of home for him, while also generating income during their retirement. Their food was delicious!
Honduras is a beautiful country, with wonderful people and places to visit. It is a shame that people have listened more to the news than to the people of the country. Although I knew I had to take extra precautions while visiting, I also got to experience a country that is thriving with culture, nature, and natural beauty. I can’t wait to visit once more, and I hope you get inspired to visit it too.
I want to continue taking you on a journey with me throughout my beautiful Latin America. Of course, I can only share the experiences of the places I have traveled, which is what I am doing with this series of publications. Today, I want to take you on a journey to the second Latin American country I visited: Venezuela.
I visited Venezuela for the first time in 1997, right after my trip to Nicaragua. In fact, my little group — three young women and I, all from the same religious group from college — flew from Nicaragua, through Panamá, to Venezuela. There we met with a larger group from the same religious organization from college. However, while we were in Nicaragua, there were general strikes in the country. The public transportation sector had joined the students in strike as prices were going to be raised in the public universities in the country. This meant that the ferries from Ometepe to the mainland were suspended.
Moreover, during this time, there was also an earthquake in Venezuela that devastated parts of the country. This was our first trip to Venezuela and we had no idea where the earthquake happened and whether it was close to where we were supposed to stay.
Thankfully, we were able to clear everything up and were able to travel to Venezuela after all. This was the first of many trips I took to Venezuela. I have visited before, during, and after the Chávez presidency. I have seen the country transform in many ways. Here, I will not take share about those transformations, as I believe this is a delicate topic that should never be entered into without first engaging the brilliant minds of Venezuelans who support, oppose, and are ambivalent about the political reality of their country. I would do a disservice to my Venezuelan siblings by focusing on my political opinions instead of highlighting the beauty of their motherland.
Stairs enveloped in mist as you continue the journey up once you get to the top of Cerro Avila in Caracas.
The first time I visited Venezuela, I stayed in the home of the local pastor whose church we were working with. His house was on a very scary cliff, in the town of El Junquito. He was a dentist, and made good money through his job. His service to the local church in an impoverished neighborhood of Caracas was part-time. He used his skills as a dentist to provide free service to the community too, and the church had a dental clinic for the people in the community.
El Junquito wasn’t particularly interesting to me. But Caracas was! The city is a huge sprawl in a valley and extends to the foot of the mountains around it. As you come up from the Maiquetía Airport, you can see the haphazardly built structures covering miles and miles of mountain slopes. At night, the lights look beautiful. During the day, it looks impressive and dangerous. In the neighborhood where we were working, the passages and narrow paths crisscrossing the slopes from house to house, some built one on top of another, were a maze we did not dare to walk through. This in itself was a beautiful sight. It was beautiful because you could feel how much the community cared for each other, as they helped each other navigate this network of paths that were so confusing that outsiders were warned not to venture in. The Caracas that I experienced that first time, and the second, and third time I visited, was a city of drastic contrasts. It was a city filled with cars, motorcycles, public buses, and a pretty impressive urban metro system. It was a cosmopolitan city filled with culture and arts. It was a city filled with the delicious aromas of national and international cuisines.
A view of Caracas from Cerro Avila.
Caracas is my favorite place in Venezuela. Contrary to many Latin American cities, Caracas doesn’t have a very defined and preserved “old town.” You walked through history and modernity all the same time. As you step out of the old Roman Catholic Cathedral in the center of the city, there are modern buildings and shopping malls all over the perimeter. This contrast was new to me, and I enjoyed it very much.
In Caracas is also where you can find Cerro Avila. The impressive mountain on the side of the city is reachable through a cable car. The first few times I rode this cable car, I had no worries. However, the last time I visited Caracas, I guess my age showed, as I was scared to death to go up! I positioned myself in the center of the car and curled up in the fetal position until we reached the top of the mountain to the amusement of my sister and my friend who were serving as our tour guide. But once on the top, you get to see the city through the fog.
Another place that is magical in Venezuela is Colonia Tovar in the state of Aragua. I have visited this place a couple of times. This town up in the mountains is the result of German immigrants arriving in Venezuela over a hundred years ago. The climate on the mountain was reminiscent of the climate in their home towns. They produce some of the sweetest and biggest strawberries I have ever had! It is worth visiting the colony and enjoying a day or two trying all of their traditional German dishes and strawberry creations.
Valencia and Maracaibo are the other two places I have spent time in. Although I didn’t get to explore much in Valencia, it was a family visit and we got to enjoy some good time with my aunt and her husband’s extended family who lives there. Having some street food late at night was probably one of the greatest experiences in Valencia. Maracaibo, on the other hand, was also a magical place. Every morning, I would wake up early and walk to the nearby bakery to buy freshly baked bread for the group with which I was. The team there made a delicious strawberry jam (I get to see the thread here!) Eating that freshly baked bread was heaven!
The views of the houses on the cliffs as you drive up from the Maiquetía airport to Caracas.
Venezuela has my heart because of many other, more personal experiences I had while traveling and shortly living there in my youth. Although it’s been a few years since my last visit, I do hope to return someday. I want to continue eating the delicious street foods, especially, the arepas reina pepiada (my favorite), and their empanadas — there’s a story about empanadas and a visit to Simón Bolívar’s hacienda from which I will spare you this time. Venezuela is a beautiful country, with wonderful people, and way to much to discover in just a few days over a decade of visiting it. I know in my heart that I will visit more places and get to see the Salto del Angel with my own eyes someday. Until then, I live with the wonderful memories of many, many months spent exploring the streets of Caracas, and the memory of the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread in Maracaibo.
One of the places I love to visit when I go to Yucatán is the Grand Museum of Maya Culture. Each time I visit, I learn something new or pay closer attention to something I missed the last time I visited. A few weeks ago, when I visited, I paid closer attention to a note about the concept of time in the Maya culture. It explained that the Mayas understand time as cyclical. This is one of the reasons why spheres were used to mark time – the Mayan Calendar. A linear time makes no sense in the Maya culture. The future is behind us, the present is unknown, and the past is right before us. The future is behind us because we do not know how that time will be used and what it will bring. The present is unknown because it is happening as we live, and therefore, we cannot actually see it until it is in front of us. The past is clearly in front of us because we remember.
Each culture has a concept of time that works for them. Everyone knows the USAmerican adage: “time is money!” The whole USAmerican culture is fixated on this cultural reality. Although I have not studied the origins of this, I assume it comes from the Protestant work ethic. According to some early Protestant theologians – specifically, Calvinists – labor is not only honorable, but it also shows whether you have been chosen by God. People in Calvinist societies wanted to show everyone that they had been chosen, and thus, they worked hard to demonstrate that they had been chosen.
Sociologist Max Weber was the person who defined this concept. In his work, Weber argued that this approach influenced the way in which the earlier Anglo settlers of what became the USA were able to succeed. Since then, this approach has permeated USAmerican society. “Time is money” is just a different way of saying that you must not “waste” time; you must use every minute of your life on a task that is productive. Time is seen as something linear, and you complete one task after the other in a linear way, in order to be as productive as possible. You can control time, and it is a limited resource that should not be wasted. I just learned that this perspective is called “monochronic.”
According to the definition I found, “In monochronic societies, people take time seriously, adhere to a fixed schedule, and value the sequential completion of tasks.”[1] This perspective flourished during the Industrial Revolution, as it made sense for this period of history when the main goal was to produce as much as possible.
On the other hand, there are polychronic societies. In these societies “people perceive time as more fluid, where multitasking and interruptions are normal. Time aligns more with the sun, the moon, and Mother Nature than it does with the hands of a clock.”[2]
In Latin America, our societies tend to be polychronic. This, of course, is a generalization. The Protestant work ethic and the USAmerican obsession with making money have definitely influenced most Latin American societies. Nevertheless, our cultures tend to be more polychronic, understanding time in more flexible ways than European and most North American cultures (with the notable exception of México.)
When I first moved to the mainland USA, the understanding of time was one of the greatest cultural shocks. I couldn’t quite comprehend what I understood to be an obsession with timeliness, cutoff times, hard deadlines, etc. I would be flabbergasted at how little quality time people spent in each other’s company. To this date, I still cannot comprehend how many of my USAmerican friends can be exactly on time for something. I do have a theory that they probably just arrive super early and park nearby until the clock marks two minutes before the scheduled time, and then they just walk up to your door. I don’t know! I haven’t cracked the code yet…
As I spend more time in the USA – I have officially lived longer in the USA than in my own country – I have adapted to some cultural and professional norms, mores, and customs. I understand that certain people need me to show up right on time, or sometimes even a few minutes earlier. I try as hard as I can to comply with the expectations. However, culturally, I am definitely wired to see time as a flexible reality.
In my own culture, when it comes to spending time with others, it is not about “being on time” but about the quality of time you spend with someone. Since time is flexible, it is expected that you prioritize companionship more than setting up specific times to start and end. There is a running joke that Latino folk – and in my case, Puerto Rican folk – spend pretty much the same amount of time saying goodbye as the time they spent visiting with you. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is quite close to reality.
Since time is flexible, it also means that you can work on many different tasks at once; or have timelines that look nothing like the linear timelines that are common in corporate settings. A Latin person will most likely go back and forth between projects and within stages of that project. There is no need to follow a specific timeline because it is not necessary. You will have the product finished when it is finished, and it will be a quality product because you gave it the attention that it needed regardless of whether it was “on time” or not. This causes much frustration among multicultural groups! It is especially hard when those groups are made up of people who have adapted to the USAmerican understanding of “time is money” but come from polychronic backgrounds. In these instances, the majority USAmerican coworkers use the example of the people who follow their understanding of time to dismiss the very real different understanding of time of the others in the group.
It turns out that social scientists and researchers in the field of business have already studied these interactions. I read an article online[3] that describes project management from these different perspectives and how multicultural workgroups can manage to be successful.
I will not go into the details of that paper. However, I would like to present some of my own perspectives and understanding of how to approach this reality of differences in understanding time.
First, I think it is important to recognize that “different” does not mean “better” or “bad.” It just means… DIFFERENT! Different societies and cultures have different ways to approach time. We must understand that our own understanding of the world around us is shaped by our histories, social locations, personal experiences, and myriad other things. It is wrong to expect others to behave like me, even in professional settings. It is also wrong to assume that everyone must conform to my understanding of the world. Accept and embrace differences.
Second, it is always best to foster a culture of communication and trust in the workplace – or any other place! This will help communicate effectively when these differences show up. It also helps with setting communal expectations that are born of the collective ideas and different approaches brought in by the members of the group. When there is trust and communication, people will feel empowered to share their own understanding of time, and a good project leader will help negotiate a workflow that makes sense for the group. This brings me to the next point.
Flexibility is key. What works today might not work tomorrow. Once a workflow has been established for a project, it cannot be assumed that the next project will follow the same timeline or workflow. Good project leaders will need to go back to the drawing board and go over the whole process of listening, learning, negotiating, and adapting a new workflow that works for that group and that project in particular.
These strategies can also work in personal relationships. I understand my friends’ perspectives on time, and I honor them the best I can. They also understand my own understanding of time, and you will never see one of my USAmerican friends showing up at my house for a party at the exact time I invited them! This sounds silly, but it’s true! In my Latinoness, I think I will have everything ready by the exact time I invited my guests, but there’s always something that makes it not possible to be right on time. Thankfully, my friends understand this, and they know they should show up at least ten minutes past the time I asked them. They also know that I value their company more than I value ending a party “on time” – whatever that means in this context – so they are never rushed to leave my home at a particular time.
To finish this article, I want to leave you with a smile on your face. A few years ago, FLAMA, a Latino YouTube channel, posted a really great video titled “Perception of Time – Latino Field Studies.” Please watch it, for a laugh… and to understand better what I have just written about!
When Hispanic Heritage Month was established it was with the idea of recognizing the contributions of Hispanic-Americans (as our community was known) to the United States. Since the term “Hispanic” was a government construct to group a very diverse group of people, other concepts such as “Latino/a” have been used. We understand that not all Latinos/as are Hispanics, and that any terminology used to group our community is going to fall short. Latin America is an extremely diverse region. Our ancestors are Indigenous, African, European, Asian, and of every combination thereof. There are hundreds of different languages spoken throughout the region in addition to Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole. Our histories, cuisines, faiths, values, and every aspect of culture are different. Hispanic Heritage Month is supposed to celebrate this diverse group of peoples, highlighting our contributions to the larger US society, of which Latinos/as have been a part since before the United States was formed as a country.
Yet, for some groups within the Latino/a community, Hispanic Heritage Month can be a reminder of how cultural hegemony erases diversity and identity. The challenge of celebrating a diverse community that does not fit the clear, simple, and binary definitions of the majority Euro-centric American culture reduces Hispanic Heritage Month to a celebration of whichever Latin American cultural heritage is most prominent in a particular context. The month that was meant to celebrate our diversity is reduced to the celebration of the Spanish-Caribbean in the eastern seaboard of the USA, or of Mexican-American communities in the Southwest and West. This cultural hegemony makes invisible large portions of our communities.
Cultural Hegemony Gets Personal
I speak to this from personal experience. When I first moved to the mainland USA it was to the eastern coast. As a Puerto Rican, it was easy for me to find representations of my culture anywhere I went. I didn’t have to adapt my dialect too much and for the most part, people understood when I said “habichuela” or “bizcocho” or “guagua.” The historic large diasporas of Spanish-Caribbean peoples to the easter parts of the USA means that our cultures, dialects, and cuisines are more prevalent. Other people of Latin American descent usually must adapt to these Spanish-Caribbean cultures (Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.) Once I moved to the West coast, things were totally different. Out here, the prevalent cultures are Mexican and Mexican-American. People from all over Latin America and of any Latin American heritage must adapt to these cultures as they have been adopted by the Euro-American majority as the standard or default definition of “Latinidad.” More concerning is the expansion of this standard definition and its adoption by politicians, nonprofits, businesses, and many other groups.
The invisibilization of non-Mexican Latin people has profound consequences both for our communities and for society at large. Spanish is reduced to one dialect and one accent (usually norteño or chilango) at the expense of the plethora of dialects spoken throughout Latin America and the many variations of the Mexican dialect. Latino Indigeneity is reduced to Aztec and Maya identities at the expense of Mapuche, Arawak, Taíno, Guaraní, Garifuna, and the thousands of indigenous groups that still inhabit Latin America. The Afro-Latino/a identity is forgotten as “mestizaje” – the mixing of European and Indigenous identities – is made the standard of Latinidad. And Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Santero, Espiritista, and other faith traditions practiced by Latin folk are hidden in favor of a particular Roman Catholic experience that doesn’t even consider the beautifully diverse experiences and traditions of non-Mexican Latin Catholic communities. For instance, growing up Protestant, I never observed “Día de los Muertos”, or sang to “La Virgen de Guadalupe” on December 12th. Although I recognize and honor the importance these celebrations have, they do not define my Latinidad, nor do they define Latinidad for at least half of Latinos/as in the United States.
The Mexican cultural hegemony promoted by white supremacy is not only impacting non-Mexican Latin folk. This cultural hegemony also impacts other Mexicans. My husband is Mexican, from the state of Yucatán, and of Maya indigenous identity. In the white supremacist, cultural hegemonic definition of “Mexican” and of “Latinidad”, his accent, his cuisine, and his traditions do not fit. From time immemorial, the Maya people of Yucatán have celebrated “Hanal Pixan”, a month-long observance to welcome back and honor those ancestors who are before us (in Maya tradition, the past is before us, while the present is behind us because we cannot see it.) During this time, families prepare altars, present food and drinks as offerings, and have rituals of welcoming for the ancestors. On three different dates throughout the month a special tamal called “pib” is prepared and eaten with those ancestors. Hanal Pixan has been merged to
some extent with the Roman Catholic tradition of All Souls and All Saints Days, while keeping much of its Mayan roots. But you would never find a hint of this Mexican cultural tradition presented in any of the “Hispanic” celebrations of “Día de los Muertos.” Once again, cultural hegemony erases a part of our identities.
The Causes and Roots of Cultural Hegemony
There are many causes for cultural hegemony. Our own brains try to minimize the use of energy by categorizing things around us in the simplest ways. Culturally, we try to group people as to make it easier for us to understand them. White supremacy in particular has been really great at minimizing differences by grouping folk as “white” and “black” and then assigning value to each category, with lighter skin being more valuable than darker skin. This tool of control offers Latinos/as, who are of every race, a mirage opportunity to “become white” and thus, access power. The lighter our skin, the closer we are to being part of the standard definition of “American.”
It is in this context where we find the first clues to this cultural hegemony imposed in Latinidad. First, the powers-that-be decided that “Hispanic” was a good enough category for people of Latin American descent. This was regardless of their racial background or historical heritage. Whether a person was indigenous to these lands or an Austrian Jew who found refuge in Argentina, now both were classified as “Hispanic” for the mere fact that Spain conquered most of what is today Latin America. Second, when the communities reacted to this misnomer, they came up with “Latino”, and if they were progressive enough, “Latino or Latina.” This at least alleviated the reality of those who, having cultural roots in Latin America, did not have or do not want to be associated with Spanish heritage. The Euro-American majority decided how our community was going to be named, regardless of centuries of self-identification within our communities. Finally, the acceptance of mestizaje as the standard of Latinidad served the purpose of ensuring that Latinos and Latinas thought of ourselves as “almost white” people in the context of the United States. (Please know that this concept is used very differently within Latin America. But I will not be discussing this in this essay.) Erasing Afro Latinidad can only serve the white supremacy agenda, not advance the Latino/a community.
On the other hand, once the stage was set to have a homogenous definition of Latinidad, it was easier for one dominant Latin culture to ignore the rest.
Throughout the years, Mexico has been extremely successful in developing its media presence throughout Latin America. The richest man in Mexico also happens to be the most successful telecommunications executive in Latin American, Carlos Slim Helú. América Móvil, his telecommunications empire, has an almost monopoly of the communications world throughout all of Latin America with the notable exception of Cuba. The Mexican theater and film “Golden Age” marked the scenic arts in ways that no other country was able to do. Today, Mexican novelas (soap operas) and movies dominate most of the TV market throughout the continent. Pretty much any Spanish language singer – and sometimes actors – who wants to have a successful career knows that they must gain over the Mexican market, no matter how successful they might be in their countries of origin and neighboring countries.
As a result of the success of Mexican cultural exports – films, novelas, music, cuisine, etc. – there is no corner of Latin America that has not been exposed to the Mexican dialect (on its norteño and capital city versions), foods, and music, among others. Thus, although pretty much any Spanish-speaker can understand Mexican Spanish, people in Mexico and people of Mexican descent elsewhere have not had the chance to be exposed to our dialects. Therefore, although there are plenty of words in Spanish to call a cake – bizcocho, torta, queque –, pastel has become the “standard” in the USA. If they are only familiar with Mexican Spanish, someone will be very confused when a South American asks them for a torta and find out that they meant a cake, and not a sandwich. That’s because torta is the South American Spanih word for cake, while in Mexico they call cakes, pastel. There are plenty of examples like this, as words for beans (judías, habichuelas, caraotas), pepper (ají, pimiento), banana (guineo, cambur, banano), jacket (chompa, cazadora, abrigo) and many others are Mexicanized and the many different ways in which they are called elsewhere are forgotten.
This is not on the Mexican people’s backs. I am not advocating for the elimination of Mexican dialects in public or private use, nor am I complaining about Mexico’s success in investing in its own arts and cultural programs. On the contrary, I admire the fact that, with the USA being so relentless in spreading American English as the lingua franca, and American music and films as standards, Mexico has successfully overcome this by continuing to produce high-quality content in Spanish in pretty much all the art forms. What I am doing is explaining the reasons why it is so common for the Mexican dialect to be the “standard” for Spanish in the United States.
The white supremacy structures in which the USA operates make it easier for homogenization to take place. It also makes it easier for the rest of us to be invisible during a month that is supposed to highlight the contributions of all our cultures, histories, and identities.
A Possible Solution
Is it possible for this cultural hegemony to be overcome? I believe it is!
If we want to go back to the origins of Hispanic Heritage Month we can hold on to the core of its purpose: to celebrate the contributions of Hispanics and Latinos/as to the USA. It is absolutely perfect to include tacos, tamales, norteño music, and Mexican folk dances in your Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. And it is equally important to expand this and include other cuisines, dances, histories, and symbols of more Latin American communities. Here are some ideas on how your agency, nonprofit, church, workplace, or any other group can expand their offerings to celebrate our comunidad.
Don’t assume. Ask! It is so simple. Even if you are of Latino heritage, ask around to find out more about the Latino/a community in your area. Even if there is one specific national heritage more prominent than others, I assure you that you will find people of all sorts of Latina/o cultural heritage around. Ask them what would be meaningful to include in any celebration of our cultures.
Learn. Read books from authors of every national background. Follow news from throughout the region so you know what’s affecting local communities with ties to those regions. Read about the history of colonization of USA in our countries of origin so you can understand the patterns of migration of our communities. Watch documentaries about our region and our countries of origin. Attend events created by and for Latinos/as, especially if they are from cultures outside of whichever is the majority Latin culture in your context.
Expand the celebrations. Find out who is the small business owner of a restaurant from a Latin cuisine that is not from the majority Latin community represented in your area. Order from them instead! Introduce even other Latinas/os to cuisines different than theirs. A business can have a whole catered event with different empanadas from all throughout the continent! The same for dances and performances. Bring in tango dancers, include bachata and salsa in your parties, teach a cumbia class during one of the events. (As reggaeton becomes more and more prominent in Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, I highly recommend checking with people who speak the dialect of the signers, as many of the lyrics can be extremely crass, offensive, and vulgar to specific communities. Also, not all reggaeton lyrics are like this, and I personally enjoy the style, so this is not a judgment on the genre, just a recommendation to make spaces more accessible and safe for all.)
Have fun! Among the many things that unite all our communities is how boisterous, energetic, and fun we are! Whether we call it pachanga, farra, parranda, juerga, fiesta, pary, bembé or whatever other word we have for it, Latin parties are filled with joy and celebration. There might be a time to start, but you never know when the party will end. Have flexibility with your celebrations and let the community enjoy its time together.
Reclaiming La Herencia Hispana y Latina!
Latina trans activist Sylvia Rivera once said, “We have to be visible. We are not ashamed of who we are.” She was referring to the trans community and the LGBTQ community in general. Nevertheless, Rivera was a proud Latina woman too. She never hid her Venezuelan and Puerto Rican heritage. At times, the invisibilization of so many Latinidades makes us ashamed of being public. Many of us switch our accents or use dialects that are not natural to us. Often, we stay silent about our own heritage lest we make those in the majority uncomfortable. That is not the solution to cultural hegemony.
The solution to cultural hegemony is being visible, vocal, and proud of our individual cultural heritage and the many mixes of heritages created in the United States. Our Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations should be expansive and always expanding. It should show every aspect of Hispanic and Latino cultures. Hispanic Heritage Month should be a time to celebrate our diverse Latin heritage in all its extravagance. Let’s bring Garifuna dances, and serve Bolivian salteñas; let’s pour Chilean wines, and enjoy Guatemalan parrilladas; let’s dance to the rhythms of African drums in Puerto Rican bomba and Peruvian landó; serve sopa paraguaya and Dominican mangú… Let’s make every effort to create welcoming and diverse celebrations that honor the richness of our Latin cultures. Let’s proudly and very visibly reclaim our herencia!
Pero no cambia mi amor Por más lejos que me encuentre Ni el recuerdo ni el dolor De mi pueblo y de mi gente
Todo Cambia, Julio Numhauser
Hace quince años, más o menos – con una pequeña interrupción en el 2011 – vivo en los Estados Unidos. La mayoría de este tiempo la he pasado entre estudios y trabajo. Ambos – tanto estudios como trabajo – han sido por lo general en contextos angloparlantes. Como estudiante, pasé cuatro años en la escuela graduada de teología, sumergido en clases todas en inglés, con libros en inglés – aun cuando el curso podría ser sobre teología latinoamericana –, escribiendo ensayos en inglés y asistiendo a servicios religiosos en inglés. Durante el tiempo que trabajé como pastor de congregaciones, la mayoría de estas congregaciones fueron angloparlantes. Aquí también tuve una interrupción, puesto que serví una congragación hispana en la ciudad de Nueva York. En esta congregación – y es importante que señale esto – la mayoría de las personas eran ecuatorianas, con una buena dosis de bolivianos, puertorriqueños, colombianos, cubanos, guatemaltecos, hondureños, peruanos y una persona mexicana.
Cuando era pequeño, recuerdo que a quienes se iban de Puerto Rico y regresaban eran vistos casi como “traidores a la patria”. Nadie decía nada abiertamente, es cierto, pero se les trataba como tal. “Ya te ves más blanca que una gringa”, le decían a algunas de mis tías cuando visitaba el poblado Castañer donde crecí. “¿Se te olvidó tan rápido el español?” le preguntaban a mis tíos que llevaban más de veinte años viviendo en Illinois o Nueva Jersey. “¿Es que no le enseñan español a esos nenes?” le preguntaban a tíos y tías cuando sus hijas e hijos batallaban para comunicarse con lo que aparentaba ser su poco vocabulario en español. Todas estas actitudes eran las que veía en mi propia familia. Pero estoy seguro que existían en otras familias también.
Por mi parte, siempre pensé que irse de la Isla era como una traición. Sí, yo también lo pensaba. ¿Por qué se va la gente de este paraíso? ¿Por qué se retiran como si no pudieran hacer nada por este país y luego vienen con acentos, ropas diferentes, creyéndose más boricuas que aquellos que nos hemos quedado y queriendo tener injerencia en asuntos internos de la Isla que dejaron atrás? De verdad que no comprendía por qué las personas que salían de la Isla querían regresar con opiniones políticas y sociales; con expresiones culturales que eran ya irrelevantes a la realidad del momento en Puerto Rico; pero más que todo, con ese acento que ni era del todo español “boricua” ni inglés bien hablado. Me irritaba. Como siempre me he identificado como independentista, pues me irritaba más, porque pensaba que quienes se habían ido, no deberían tener la oportunidad de reclamar su puertorriqueñidad.
Eso es, hasta que me tocó a mí. Ahora soy yo quien está en el otro lado del discurso, como receptor de las críticas de amistades y enemistades que me piden que me quede callado cuando asuntos políticos, económicos, sociales y demás vienen a ser discutidos en el foro público puertorriqueño. Ahora soy yo de quien se burlan por un acento que algunas personas llaman “neutral” y que otras a quienes les interesa menos esconder su xenofobia llaman “mexicano”. Ahora es de mí de quien se dice que estoy “engringado” porque se me olvidan palabras y conceptos en el idioma de Cervantes y a veces mezclo el español con el inglés como la cosa más natural del mundo pero que es una aberración a los puristas boricuas que no pronuncian las “s” al final de las palabras y que arrastran las “r” como si estuvieran hablando francés, o, en la mayoría de los casos, las cambian por “l” aunque morfológicamente esté incorrecto…
Hay algo que entiendo ahora y que no entendía cuando era parte de los puristas puertorriqueñistas: la puertorriqueñidad – o cualquiera que sea la nacionalidad u originalidad de la persona – no tiene que ver con residir en el lugar, sino con las raíces que te unen a ese lugar. Por eso fui, soy y seguiré siendo puertorriqueño, con mancha de plátano incluida, no importa dónde resida ni cuánto tiempo pase fuera de la Isla. Como cantaba Mercedes Sosa – la argentina que vivió en el exilio en Francia y Esapaña hasta que pudo regresar a su amado país -: “Cambia, todo cambia; Pero no cambia mi amor, por más lejos que me encuentre, ni el recuerdo ni el dolor, de mi pueblo y de mi gente.” Y que valga decir que la canción fue escrita por un chileno, Julio Numhauser, quien también ha vivido en el exilio en Suecia desde que tuvo que abandonar su país durante la dictadura. Sí, todo cambia, pero no cambia el amor, el recuerdo, el interés, la pasión, el anhelo de mi gente y del país que me vio nacer y crecer. Miles de millas nos pueden separar, pero mi puertorriqueñidad no me la quita nadie; ni la realidad en la que vivo, ni los puristas puertorriqueñistas en la Isla.
Ciertamente, no fue la violencia militar la que me hizo salir de Puerto Rico. Al usar a Sosa y a Numhauser no quiero decir que mi situación haya sido idéntica. No lo fue. Aunque sí tuvo que ver la política con mi exilio. Pero lo que quiero demostrar al utilizar estos ejemplos es que toda persona que por cualquier razón deje a su patria para instalarse en otro lugar, sufre tanto de añoranza por su pueblo como de rechazo por parte de quienes, por cualquier razón, se han quedado.
Los medios de comunicación sociales nos permiten tener contacto constante con los países que hemos dejado. Esto también hace que nos mantengamos acercados a situaciones sociales, económicas, políticas y demás en nuestros países de origen. Si queremos aportar al discurso público en nuestros países, ¿por qué impedírnoslo? ¿Qué nos hace menos puertorriqueñas o puertorriqueños? ¿Quién dice que hemos dejado de interesarnos en el presente y el futuro de nuestra tierra? Los gobiernos (y no solo el de Puerto Rico) contrata servicios de consultoría de países extranjeros todo el tiempo. Esto lo hacen porque a veces el tener una perspectiva diferente, “desde afuera”, puede ayudar inmensamente en el desarrollo interno. Entonces, ¿por qué demandar que nos callemos quienes vivimos fuera de la tierra Borincana? Nuestra experiencia de vida en la Isla y fuera de ella es, creo yo, necesaria para el desarrollo del país. Esto no quita validez ni peso a las opiniones y las acciones de quienes todavía viven en Puerto Rico. Por el contrario, las fortalece.
Además de nuestra esto, lo cierto es que en el mundo globalizado en el que vivimos, todas las personas podemos hacer público nuestro sentimiento y nuestras posiciones con respecto a cualquier cosa de cualquier país. El hecho de que somos de un lado, de que vivimos en otro y de que hablemos diferentes idiomas no significa que no podemos entender la realidad de otros países u otras sociedades. Si no, ¿por qué tanta gente en Puerto Rico tiene opiniones e ideas de lo que debe hacerse en el Oriente Medio? O sea, según quienes nos critican por proponer ideas sobre la realidad actual de Puerto Rico, quienes vivimos fuera de la Isla “no tenemos vela en ese entierro”, pero lo mismo no le aplica a quienes viven en la Isla y tienen ideas de qué debe hacer el gobierno de Siria y las guerrillas ciudadanas. ¿Lógica etnocentrista?
Hay otro punto al que hice referencia al principio y quiero retomar; el acento. Quien ha salido de la burbuja San Juan-Bayamón-Guaynabo-Caguas (¡y mira que hay muchas personas que nunca han salido de allí!) sabrán que cada rincón de la Isla tiene su acentito. Unos más y otros menos, pero todos tenemos un acento regional. Recuerdo que cuando pequeño mi hermana y yo nos reíamos con la forma “cantadita” de hablar de nuestra familia de Morovis. ¡Morovis! Otro pueblo montañoso no tan diferente de Adjuntas donde crecí, pero con sus regionalismos y hasta su propio acento regional.
Tanto el jíbaro del campo como la señora de la loza tienen su acento particular. Cuando el jíbaro se muda pa’ la loza y la señora de la capital se muda pa’l campo, sus acentos pueden cambiar. El jíbaro comienza a pronunciar la “s” al final de la palabra mientras que la doña comienza a arrastrar la “r”. Eso pasa todo el tiempo. Es parte de una cultura en movimiento. Es parte de vivir en un mundo donde estamos en cada momento interactuando unas con otras. Cuando los horizontes se ensanchan y ya no es solamente salir de la loza pa’l campo, sino de un país a otro, es también posible que los acentos cambien. Esto no quiere decir que todo el mundo cambia su acento. No. Algunas personas, por cualquier motivo, lo mantienen. Otras, sin embargo, cambian. Es parte normal de las interacciones humanas.
Como dije al principio de este ensayo, estuve al frente de una congregación que era mayormente ecuatoriana. El transporte público, para mí, es guagua. Así que, en puertorriqueño, yo digo “coger la guagua” para referirme a la acción de tomar el transporte público para ser transportado de un lugar a otro. Pero hay algo importante en las relaciones internacionales y el uso del español… En Ecuador, “guagua” es niña pequeña, mientras que “coger” tiene, además de la acepción de “tomar”, otra acepción, que es de naturaleza sexual. Lo que para mí es una acción normal del día a día, para un ecuatoriano es una vulgaridad. ¿No es responsabilidad de un buen líder el adaptarse a la comunidad que sirve? Entonces, debo adaptar mi español a la comunidad que me circunda. Esto no me ha hecho menos puertorriqueño ni me quita el deseo de estar involucrado en la realidad política, social, económica y demás del país al que me siento unido.
El acento no me define como puertorriqueño; como tampoco define mi puertorriqueñidad el lugar donde vivo, mi sexualidad, mi color de piel, mi educación, mi sexo, mi género, mi posición social, mi trabajo, etcétera. Mi puertorriqueñidad no depende de cómo la definan quienes se han quedado en la Isla. Tampoco depende de cómo la definamos quienes hemos salido o quienes nunca la han visitado (hay puertorriqueños y puertorriqueñas que han nacido en Estados Unidos u otros países que también se interesan en la realidad de la Isla.) Mi puertorriqueñidad y cuánto quiero involucrarme en las discusiones de la realidad isleña la defino yo. Me interesa seguir leyendo, aprendiendo, escuchando, opinando sobre la realidad de la Isla. Me interesa seguir poniendo mi granito de arena en el desarrollo social, político, económico de Puerto Rico. Me interesa porque amo a mi Isla y no importa cuánto cloro los puristas puertorriqueñistas me quieran tirar, la mancha de plátano no se me va a quitar. ¡Yo también soy puertorriqueño!
SocioTheology 
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