Hispanic Heritage Month 2009

Hispanic Heritage Month is right around the corner, so what are you doing to celebrate? Some quick facts about HHM from the US Census:

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a monthlong celebration (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15). America celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

So is this perfect timing? Are we celebrating our accomplishments in the United States or are we celebrating our own culture period. To be honest we should all be happy about what we are doing in the United States. Although we struggle a lot, we should still be fighting for what we believe in; whether it's teaching our colleagues at work about ourselves or opening up a Latino restaurant in the middle of a Caucasian neighborhood.

And no matter what happens, remember this fact::

42.7 million - The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2005, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 14 percent of the nation’s total population. (This estimate does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.)