by Alma Suarez

Hispanic Heritage month is now in full swing. Every year from September 15 through October 15, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage month as a time when we celebrate the history, culture and contributions Hispanics/Latinos have made to the United States.

As I wrote the statement above I asked myself, “Do we really?”
As a proud Latina, I feel I celebrate my heritage and contributions we have made to the U.S. on a daily basis. I’m not alone. I know my family, friends, and network of Latino professionals do this every day in many ways.

For example, my father served in the United States Marine Corps for more than 20 years (when the number of Latinos/Hispanics in the military was even smaller than it is today), and continues to do so by fighting the war on drugs at the US/Mexican border. He’s proud of his Mexican roots, and has never denied where he came from but he has proven on more than one occasion that he would gladly die to protect his country – the United States.

So who is Hispanic Heritage Month really for? It’s for everyone. Not just Latinos/Hispanics. Hispanic Heritage Month offers the opportunity to share with our non-Latino neighbors, colleagues, friends and strangers our contributions to America’s melting pot. By doing so, we might see passed our differences and find similarities.

For the Latinos in the US, we can also take this time to highlight our successes to help our younger generation see themselves in a more positive light than how they are sometimes portrayed on TV, in the movies, and in the media. Because Latin America itself is a mixture of diverse customs and traditions, we can also learn about cultures other than our own. After all, we are, as the National Hispanic Heritage Month site states, “many backgrounds, many stories…one American spirit.”