It's Hispanic Heritage Month! I've been looking for exciting information to share with you on this the 22nd annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which was officially launched September 15.
For me, Hispanic Heritage Month is about deepening our understanding of who we are as pan Hispanic people in the United States, as well as acknowledging our individual roots, which in my case are Puerto Rican.
There's a very rich and colorful history to explore, so I've pulled together some Web sites where you can find fascinating information about—us! I invite you to come along on this magical heritage tour and to expand this article by adding Web sites and other information of your own.
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| Recognize any of these words? |
Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española — Have you ever been involved in a "revulú" or "embeleco"? Drank some "pitirre"? Been a little "chango" or experienced a "pasme"? These are words whose meanings can be traced "100 percent" to Puerto Rican vernacular or regionalisms. Listen to some well-known island personalities pronounce and explain these and other words as part of the campaign "Atrévete y dilo!"
Museo del Barrio — For those Latinos who trace their roots to Nueva York, here's a fascinating look at the history of Hispanics in the Big Apple. This newly installed exhibit, titled "Nueva York 1613-1945," got a good review in the
New York Times by Edward Rothstein, titled
"Looking South, Not East, Into New York’s Past." Rothstein said the exhibit is a "reinterpretation of New York’s relationship to the Southern Hemisphere through an unusual accumulation of artifacts, paintings, political cartoons, clothing, music, books and photographs, which reshape the city’s history." If you can't make it to the
la Gran Manzana, be sure and read the review. Better yet, buy the museum's upcoming catalog.
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| Immigrants heading to New York. |
El Diario La Prensa — New York's Spanish-language weekly published a wonderful article by José Acosta about the Hispanic experience at Ellis Island, titled
"Ellis Island: Puerto de oro para hispanos." As it turns out tens of thousands of Hispanics entered the country through Ellis Island. Read the article and explore the
Ellis Island Web site. I plugged in my last name and found 312 Padillas who immigrated through Ellis Island from as far away as Ireland (hey, how'd that happen?), Spain, Cuba, Brazil and a few from "Porto Rico." Happy searching.
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| Borinqueneers training in Bayamón, P.R. |
U.S. Army — On the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War, the United States Army is paying homage to the Puerto Rican soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment. The
Borinqueneers, as they are known, landed in South Korea in 1950. A year later, they overran the Chinese army’s 149th Division. "Puerto Rico’s
Borinqueneers represent Hispanic Americans’ distinguished legacy of courageousness and selfless service spanning the American Revolutionary War to the present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan," according to the
Army Web site.
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| Louis Castro's baseball card. |
Who in the World is Louis Castro? — He is not universally known, but Louis Castro just may be the first foreign-born Latino to play in Major League Baseball. Castro, who played only in the 1902 season as in infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics, may have been born in Medellín, Colombia, according to an article on the
Smithsonian site. His baseball career is considered unremarkable, except for the speculation about his birthplace. Castro is "a mystical, mysterious, even phantasmagorical figure," according to the Smithsonian article. Maybe so, but today he would fit right into the MLB, where more than 25 percent of the players are foreign-born Hispanics.
