Hispanic heritage month

Sept. 15 kicked off National Hispanic Heritage Month, a national emphasis that is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 every year. Those who live and reside in the Charleston area can expect this monthlong celebration to bring with it many opportunities to learn about and engage with the rich culture surrounding Hispanic heritage.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of the culture and history of people of Hispanic origin, which includes those whose ancestry is traced back to Mexico, Spain, the Central and South Americas and the Caribbean.

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson enacted Hispanic Heritage Week. It was expanded and passed into law under the Reagan administration in August 1988, and America has celebrated and observed it since. During this 30-day period, several Latin American countries also celebrate their independence days.

In Charleston County, Hispanic people are the third largest race or ethnicity, accounting for no less than 5%, or 21.1 thousand people within the population. 

Buccaneers will have the chance to celebrate while exploring and appreciating the Hispanic cultures locally.

There are quite a few free events in the Charleston area:

Círculo Hispanoamericano will be celebrating its 48^th Anniversary on Sept. 29 at the Charleston Gaillard Center in the Public Meeting Room from 6 to 8 p.m. This event will consist of a visit from Mayor John Tecklenburg, Spanish songs sung by the Holy City Arts and Lyric Opera or HALO, and the presentation of the Dr. Carlos F. Salinas Award, which will be going to a local college student of Hispanic or Latin descent. This will be followed by a small reception. This event is a great opportunity for Buccaneers who want to hear cultural music and support their fellow college students in the Charleston area. 

CSU will have a guest speaker Oct. 1. Yuri Cordero, vice president and executive producer for the largest Spanish language broadcast networks, Univision. She will be giving a reading of excerpts from her Amazon bestselling book, “La Virtud Del Proceso” (The Virtue of the Process), an autobiography that covers her career and working her way up to where she is now, her battle with breast cancer, and the mental illness of her mother. The book outlines the ways in which Cordero fought her way through her circumstances in order to persevere and achieve her goals. The event will be held in the Whitfield Center for Christian Leadership, room 102-103, at 4:30 p.m. and will be held in English with Spanish interpretation provided.

Starting at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12, Círculo Hispanoamericano will host another free event, a film screening of the movie “La Lluvia,” which translates to “The Rain.” The film is a mise en abyme, otherwise known as a film-within-a-film, which focuses on a cast, crew and director traveling to Bolivia to film a movie about Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquest of the New World, however, they do so in the middle of a domestic dispute, the Cochabamba Water War, which they then find themselves morally and physically stuck in the middle of. This film has won several awards and received high critical praise. More information, including the location of the screening, will be made available and publicized by Círculo Hispanoamericano on their Facebook page.

Charleston County Parks will be holding their annual Latin American Festival Oct. 9 from noon to 5 p.m. at North Charleston Wannamaker County Park, right down the street from CSU. This event would normally be $10 for admission, but with a student ID, admission is only $5. There will be music, dancing, a salsa competition and other live entertainment. There will also be vendors selling cultural arts and crafts, as well as authentic food from food trucks.

Have a happy Hispanic Heritage Month, Buccaneers. 

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Marissa Thompson is a senior communication major and is an intern with the Office of Marketing & Communication.

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