What makes each Latinx person proud is unique. Latinidad is not a monolith, as so many Latinx people have proven. Let’s continue advocating for the community and celebrating the culture long after Latinx Heritage Month ends.
Lorena Diaz
Community Organizer
"Being Salvadoran, being Latina brings me so much pride. There are so many things that make me proud our culture and roots. But if I had to choose, I would say food and music. They bring us together and remind us of home. One of my fondest memories of when I first moved back to the U.S, is of my dad taking us on long car rides during the weekends to try different foods. Whether it was Cuban, Puerto Rican, Honduran, or something from Latin American. We would drive around Baltimore listening to classics. All the salsa, bachata, and cumbia that would fit in those car rides. When my dad knew we were missing being back home, he would take us to eat pupusas. For those hours, it felt like I was back in El Salvador with my grandparents. No matter where we go or where we are, we always leave some of our sabor y sazón."
Neydin Milián
Communications Coordinator
"What I love most about my heritage is our diversity. Our countries are diverse and so is our skin tones, our races, our foods, our dances, our accents, etc. Yet what unites us in our latinidad is family and love. The love we have for our culture, our family, and each other is one of a kind. That is what makes me extremely proud to be Latina."
Sergio España
Director of Engagement and Mobilization
"I am grateful and incredibly proud to be first-generation Guatemalan American. And as a Marylander, I am in awe of how our Latinx immigrant community has been vocal in striving to protect their fundamental rights from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore. My Central American community has held strong, and has continued to recognize how our immigrant struggle is directly tied with the overall pushback against White Supremacy and anti-Blackness. As my movement sister Maria Rodriguez in Frederick always says: “Juntos sin temor somos más fuertes. Levantate!”
We also have a roundup of blogs from Latinx Heritage Month 2019 where ACLU-MD staff members talk about what "latinidad" means to them.
Images designed by Nicole McCann.
