Hispanic Heritage Month

Let’s celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by learning about Hispanic/Latino culture and history!

Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sep. 15 and ends Oct. 15. It originally began in 1968 as just a week celebration but in 1988 was spread to a month-long by President Reagan. This annual celebration is to acknowledge the cultures, histories and contributions that Hispanic/Latino Americans have made to the United States.

Hispanic refers to someone who is from or whose family members are descended from Spain or a Spanish-speaking country.  Latino/ Latina refers to someone who is from or whose family is descended from Latin America. However, it is determined by the individual which term they want to use.

Instead of beginning on the first of September, Hispanic Heritage Month occurs through the weeks when some Central American countries are celebrating their independence days.  On Sep. 15 these countries are celebrating their Independence Day: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico celebrates its independence on Sep. 16 while Chile celebrates on Sep. 18. Belize commemorates its independence on Sep. 21.

Hispanic Heritage Month is important because according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino population is over 63 million. In 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, states that one in every four children in the United States is Hispanic. A study done by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and UnidosUS found that Latino history is greatly ignored in high school history textbooks.

Let’s learn about some work from figures in Latino history. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a composer, playwriter and actor who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and more. He is active in his goal to increase the representation of people of color. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the first Latina and third woman to serve on the Supreme Court. The well-known singer Selena Quintanilla Perez was the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy and opened the door for future Latino artists.

Here at USCA we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with events and activities. On Sep. 27 at 4:30 PM, there will be a Hispanic and Latinx Student Panel in room 140 in the Business and Engineering Building. On Sep. 29 and Sep. 30 there will be a Hispanic Heritage Month community celebration in Augusta Commons. An ICE event will take place on Oct. 5 at 6 PM for Disney’s “Encanto” showing in parking lot D on campus. At 1 PM on Oct. 6 there will be Loteria in the Gregg-Graniteville Library Lobby.