CELEBRATING NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Written by The American Latino Team
As our nation struggles through some rather difficult times, we at americanlatino.com find that now more than ever, we as a people need to celebrate our Hispanic Heritage and what better time to do so than during The National Hispanic Heritage month which runs from September 15th through October 15th.
The start of Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15, is also the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Furthermore, Mexico declared its independence on September 16 and Chile on September 18. Most of you might already be aware that this is the month when people recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the United States and calls for a time of celebration of our heritage and culture.
At first, starting in 1968, there was Hispanic Heritage Week which was approved by the late President Lyndon Johnson and then was later expanded by the late President Ronald Reagan to 30 days. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988 on the approval of Public Law 100-402. Hispanic Heritage Month also celebrates the vast and important presence of Hispanic Americans to North America. Maps of late 18th century North America shows this presence, from a small outpost in San Francisco founded in the wilderness of Alta California in 1776, through the Spanish province of Texas where the vaqueros (cowboys) dwelled, to the great fortress of St. Augustine, Florida- the first continuous European settlement in North America which was founded in 1565, many years before Jamestown, Virginia.
The term Hispanic or Latino, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. According to the 2010 Census, 50.5 million people or 16% of the population are of Hispanic or Latino origin. This represents a significant increase from the Census conducted in 2000, which recorded the Hispanic population at 35.3 million or 13% of the total U.S. population. The Pew Hispanic Center projects that the Latino population will reach 60.4 million by the year 2020.
As the Hispanic/Latino population in our country continues to rise so will the contributions and progress of our people as productive and intelligent citizens in this great nation, for history proves what we have already accomplished much thus far. We at americanlatino.com are proud of our roots, heritage and cultures including the ones we forge in this country. We feel it is our duty to remind those of you whom already know and to educate those who do not as of yet, of the great strides we have made here in the United States by some of the most extraordinary and talented people who are of Hispanic/Latino descent.
People such as: Dolores Huerta, the Co-Founder of United Farm Workers in 1966, She was born in 1930 in New Mexico and went on to become one of the most influential labor leaders of the twentieth century. Her accomplishments include economic, social and political gains for workers across the United States.
Henry B. Gonzalez, United States Representative Democrat for the state of Texas. Born on May 3, 1916 in San Antonio, Texas to immigrant parents who fled from Durango in Northern Mexico during the Mexican Revolution in 1911. Gonzalez received national attention for his many crusades and served in Congress longer than any other Hispanic. In 1991 he led a restructuring of the federal deposit insurance system and as Chairman earned a reputation 
for being a fair leader who allowed equitable participation in the creation of bills. Gonzalez was also in the spotlight in 1992 when he requested an investigation of the Bush administration's involvement in loans to Iraq. He also served seven times as a House Delegate to the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Conference. He passed away in November of 2000.
Antonia Coello Novello was born in Puerto Rico in 1944. She went on to become the first woman to ever hold the position of United States Surgeon General form 1990-1993 and then left the post to work for UNICEF.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor was born in 1954 in the Bronx, New York and became the first Latina to sit on the United States Supreme Court. Of Puerto Rican descent, she was raised in a housing project in the Bronx by a widowed mother. She graduated from Princeton with honors in 1976 and got her law degree from Yale in 1979, then served as an assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorneys Office from 1979 until 1984. In that year she went into private practice as a litigator until 1991, when she was nominated to the U.S. District Court by then President George H.W. Bush, she was confirmed in 1992. In 1997, former President Bill Clinton nominated her for the U.S. Court of Appeals but was not confirmed until the following year. She was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice in August of 2009, by a Senate vote of 68-31.
Hijuelos is the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He is a second generation Cuban American, born and raised in 1951, in New York. He earned his masters degree in creative writing from City College. Hijuelos earned his Pulitzer for "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" which was also made into a film and Broadway musical.
These are but a few of Hispanic/ Latino people who have made great contributions to American society. Throughout the National Hispanic Heritage Month, we at americanlatino.com will continue to publish ongoing articles on and lists of American Latinos who have affected great change in our nation through their talent and devotion in making the world a better place for us all. We do so to inspire and support all of our American Latino compadres who hold the hope of our dreams and our future in their hands. We believe in each and everyone of you and pray that you never let anyone or anything stand in the way of who you are and who you are yet to become.
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