National Hispanic Heritage Month brings people together across Minnesota to celebrate the vibrant cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities.
The month spans from Sept.15 to Oct.15, but Addy Gonzalez, executive director of the Minneapolis Arts and Cultural Affairs Department, said she celebrates the accomplishments of the community every day.
Hispanic Heritage Month was signed into law in 1988 as a way to celebrate the independence of different countries in Latin America. Hispanic refers to individuals who come from a Spanish-speaking country, whereas Latino refers to those born in or who have ancestors from Latin America.
On Sunday, the second annual Minneapolis Latino Business Week kicked off.
The Center For Performing Arts is hosting Latinidad en Acción: Arts & Business, which features Latino food, businesses and performing arts.
It is a chance to amplify and uplift Latino communities, Gonzalez said.
“We have power,” Gonzalez said. “Our economic output is approximately $4 trillion. That’s powerful, and we shouldn’t forget that. If we consciously invest, collaborate and build with one another, we can accomplish a lot.”
Gonzalez said she immigrated to the U.S. at 10 years old and grew up in southeast Los Angeles. She added that upon moving to Minnesota, she went searching for a Latino community and found a welcoming and artistic city.
Gonzalez said the CFPA events are free and open to the public. She said she hopes people will use the week to show up for one another, learn and cultivate connections.
A networking mixer and community forum at CFPA on Friday will cap the week’s events and feature keynote speakers nominated by the Latino community, including Gonzalez and Laura (Pacha) Galaviz, a Xicana cyclist and entrepreneur from South Minneapolis.
Galaviz founded Bici Xicas in 2016 to create a safe space for femme, queer people and people of color to cycle and learn bike mechanics. She spent her youth biking around Lake Street, surrounded by Latino-owned businesses and admired the determination and creativity of the community.
“We’re very much a community of crafting,” Galaviz said. “That includes food, cyclists, textiles, clothes, bags and everything you can think of.”
Now a business owner herself, Galaviz said Bici Xicas serves as both a hub for the Latino community and a bridge to other cultures. The shop offers bilingual, pay-what-you-can repair services and classes.
“We’re just a safe group that they know they can count on to be able to communicate with people and meet people where they’re at,” Galaviz said.
Galaviz said Hispanic Heritage Month is a time when celebrations and opportunities to connect are heightened.
“You’re getting to go and visit these places that maybe you’re not thinking of during the year,” Galaviz said. “I get to see what people are working on and actually connect with folks a little bit closer.”
Mexican Independence Day parades kicked off this month. One on Lake Street featured live music and performances, soccer matches and street food.
The CINE LATINO Film Festival from Oct. 8–12 featured the rich stories of Spanish- and Portuguese-language films.
Since immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico City 35 years ago to obtain his Ph.D. in history, Rodolfo Gutierrez, executive director of HACER, a Latino research and advocacy organization, said he regularly attends events throughout the month. He added that it is an intensely powerful and pride-filled time.
“We as a collective of Latinos are contributing to changing the cultural and economic landscape of Minnesota,” Gutierrez said. “When I arrived here, it was almost impossible to find tortillas that really tasted like tortillas from Mexico.”
Now, Gutierrez said, grocery stores and restaurants offering a taste of Mexico are all over. He added Latino presence in Minnesota has grown exponentially, with the current population nearing 400,000.
Gutierrez said the contribution of Latinos has always been important to the state’s history.
The first permanent Latino resident in Minnesota can be traced back to 1886, when Luis Garzón, a musician, fell in love with and married a Minnesotan woman, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. By the 1920s, he opened a Mexican grocery store and founded the state’s first Mexican-American orchestra, according to MNHS.
Since the 1880s, the Latino community in Minnesota has flourished into a culturally diverse and hard-working community, according to Gutierrez. He said it is important to dismantle common myths about Latinos, like only being from Mexico or undocumented.
Based on 2021 data, around four out of five Hispanic Minnesotans are U.S. citizens, reported the Minnesota Council on Latino affairs.
Gutierrez said many Hispanics who are not U.S. citizens hold working visa documents.
“If you can start changing that perspective and approach the Latino community without prejudice in your mind, you can learn more and support those communities,” Gutierrez said.
Gonzalez said it is not only the accomplishments of the Latino community that she celebrates at Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond, but the spirit.
“I love our joy,” Gonzalez said. “I love our food, our music, our heritage, our history, as troubling as it is sometimes. I just love that we can bring so much joy and color to the world.”
