It's Time to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day
Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which officially runs from September 15th to October 15th, and celebrates the cultures and contributions U.S. Latinx and Hispanic Americans have had and how they have positively influenced and contributed to our nation. This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month theme is Serving Our Nation.
“The timing of Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of several Latin American nations” --History.com. “September 15 was chosen as the kick-off because it coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of five ‘Central American neighbors,’ —Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Those five nations declared their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821.” In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively.
With today kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, we wanted to shine the light on a very important date for Mexican American’s, which is tomorrow, September 16th --Mexican Independence Day.
According to Genise Rodriguez, a Senior in the UConn School of Social Work Bachelor’s program, whose family is originally from Mexico, says “Mexican Independence Day is when Mexico started its journey of Independence from Spain. It is usually celebrated with a lot of good food and drink celebrations, and of most importance is when the President rings the bell on September 16th, declaring the Independence of Mexico.”
Mexican Independence Day is the most important holiday for Mexican Americans, and is often confused with the more popular holiday, Cinco de Mayo. According to Lisa Werkmeister Rozas, Ph.D. LCSW and Associate Professor School of Social Work and Puerto Rican Latino Studies Project at UConn, “Cinco de Mayo was first celebrated particularly in the town of Puebla, Mexico” and celebrates the date of the Mexican Army’s May 5th victory over France at the Battle of Puebla. “In the United States, we took that on as a holiday, predominantly in the 1960’s and it really had to do a lot with the beer companies and wanting to market their different Mexican beers that were then made available in the United States. “But really Mexican Independence Day on September 16th is the much more important holiday because it celebrates their Independence from Spain.”
Join us tomorrow, September 16th, to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, as we partner with UConn School of Social Work to bring to you this educational and experiential video, highlighting Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexican Independence Day.
You’ll even learn how to make three Mexican dishes from our friends at Ocho Cafe in West Hartford, CT! Tune in to UConn School of Social Work's Facebook page @UConnSocialWork or go to: https://fb.me/e/5K8MFEHSs on Wednesday, September 16th at 6 PM! Come, and celebrate with us!
