Celebrating Latin American and Hispanic Heritage Month with a Critical Lens By Alex Torres

Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday Monday Motivator #2

One of the great things about working with YA Wednesday is that I get to connect with former students. Alex was a joy to have in class and it is even more exciting to see what she is up to. I love her advice in this post. It is a perfect post for our Monday Motivator. A Monday Motivator provides some information that a teacher can put into action right away or share with their students without a lot of preparation. Thanks Alex for wonderful collection of easy to use resources.

Celebrating Latin American and Hispanic Heritage Month with a Critical Lens
By Alex Torres

Last week I was asked to read Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Mediana to a kindergarten class. The well-meaning event coordinator opened the reading with, “It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month! Who likes tacos? Who likes quesadillas?”. I flinched a little at the vast diversity of Latin American culture with our varied music, rich traditions, current struggles, and complex history to be reduced to two foods.  
 
During this heritage month, I often find myself flinching. Flinching at the way the month is celebrated with little to no nuance on Latin American heritage and the performative allyship that will dwindle come October 16. I find myself flinching because Latinx/Hispanic culture gets conflated with Mexican culture. One small example is finding decorations and even images for flyers that are inclusive of all the Latin American countries that are not Mexican-centric is hard. 

​Yes, I am Mexican, and I love my roots. But if I am frustrated with the microaggressions of being asked “Do you speak Mexican?” or “Where are you really from?”, I can only imagine how much more frustrated my Nicaraguan, Honduran, Paraguayan, Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Columbian, Venezuelan, Costa Rican, Peruvian, Brazilian, Chilean, Argentinian, Bolivian, Uruguayan, Panamanian, Salvadorean, Guatemalan, Cuban, Dominican, and all other Latin American siblings are to be called “Mexican” in a derogatory tone. It must be extra frustrating to already be an underrepresented group and then the focus during a heritage month misrepresents your heritage through being eclipsed by a misconception that Mexican culture is the only Latinx culture. 

In terms of representation for Latinx YA novels, I am hopeful that we are turning from a Mexican-centric Latinx representation and focusing on the diversity of Latin America. When I was growing up Brown in Mississippi, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan was the first and only middle-grade book where I could see myself represented, especially as a Mexican immigrant. Later, a YA book that I appreciated was Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero where the honest tone especially about cultural shaming around weight helped me reflect on my own body image issues. Although I did not read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz until in my twenties, I was elated to see my queerness represented within my Latinx culture. I could only imagine what it would have meant to have more access to Latinx queer stories when I was a teen. I am elated to see the growth of Latinx LGBTQ+ representation. 

​Latinx YA have expanded outside Mexican characters. For example there are books like A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey or Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera which centers Puerto Rican characters. Poet X and Clap When You Land both by Elizabeth Acevedo, focus on Dominican characters. Lobizona by Romina Garber centers on a undocumented Argentinian immigrant and We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez features Guatemalan teens crossing the border which follow a much-needed new wave of timely undocumented Latinx stories.

While there has been some expansion to representing more Latin American heritages, I still do not think we have expanded enough to encompass representation from the 33+ countries and territories that make up Latin America. We need a continued and more balanced diverse representation within the Latinx YA novels.
 
Nuanced and diverse representation matters. And yes, we should all help celebrate this month, but we should celebrate with critical consideration.
 
First, please celebrate this month with nuance. 
 
This month recognizes all those who have Latin American roots. If you only associate this month with tacos, margaritas, sugar skulls, tokenizing the Brown folk in your school/workplace, and lumping everyone as "Mexican," you are missing out on the diversity of the 33+ countries and territories that make up this population. Honor the diversity and educate yourself more about the individual countries.

Here are some recommendations on documentaries, podcasts, and books:

DOCUMENTARIES
Latino Americans, PBS
Paper Children (Niño de papel), YouTube
The Graduates/Los Graduados, PBS
Harvest of Empire: The Untold Story of Latinos in America, Onyx Films
Dolores, PBS
Underwater Dreams, 50 Eggs

PODCASTS
Latinos Who Lunch 
Latinx Therapy 
Scattered, NPR 
Latina to Latina 
Latino USA, NPR 
Con Todo
 
BOOKS
Finding Latinx by Paola Ramos. 
Undocumented by Dan-el Padilla Peralta. 
The African American and Latinx History of America by Paul Ortiz.
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age by Juana Bordas

Second, please celebrate this month by checking your biases and making an effort to avoid microaggressions. 
 
Because we are so diverse and have a complicated history of colonization, there's no one word that really encompasses us as a group. Some people prefer the term Hispanic, others Latinx, Latino/a and even Latine. Here are some short readings on these terms. https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/19965/hispanic-or-latinx-how-evolving-language-impacts-kids/?fbclid=IwAR1S-Cz4ckQ2EZAHZ8RML_LFkb13Hi6JdjFrVLac_0IWBQdESZbrvBfhadU
 
And 
https://www.chicagoreporter.com/whats-liberating-not-limiting-about-using-the-term-latinx/ Don't assume what people identify as. Always ask what they prefer. 

Third, please celebrate this month with a critical lens and critical solidarity. 
 
Educate yourself on the systemic struggles and see where you may be able to help. Latinas/Hispanic women have the lowest wages. The Latinx population has the least amount of college degrees. Latinx immigrants provide the country with farming, construction, housekeeping, and other essential labor and many of those workers don't have access to healthcare, driving licenses, or stable housing. And don't get me started on language access. Let us also not forget the many brown kids who are still in cages. 
 
So how can you help?
1. Volunteer or donate to your local organizations who serve Latinx populations.
2.Find out if your city has a 287(g) and find ways you could help end them to help reduce racial profiling in your area.
3.Visit Unitedwedream.org for more info on how to help undocumented youth.
4.Support Latinx-owned businesses.
5. Ask your school board members what they are doing to increase language access and help Hispanic/Latinx student feel included.
6. Ask congress to stop using tax money for detention centers 
 
This list is not exhaustive. But it's a start. 
 
And of course, keep reading the diverse Latinx YA stories that can serve as windows or mirrors. Here’s a few YA Latinx Books I can’t wait to read.
 
Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore 
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

Happy Latin American and Hispanic Heritage Month

Dr. Alex Torres is the Assistant Director for Latinx Affairs at Louisiana State University where she provides resources, advocacy, and leadership development to amplify opportunities for Latinx students. Alex has over ten years of experience working with underserved students and with implementing culturally sustaining and healing-centered educational approaches. Her dissertation “Documenting Desire: Addressing the Educational Needs of Undocumented English Learners” won the James Olney Distinguished Dissertation Award. She has engaged in community advocacy for immigrant youth in the Baton Rouge area since 2015. You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on IG @dr.alex_torres

Until next time.