Hispanic Heritage Month

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Janelly Gomez

Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration that takes place from September 15 to October 15th. Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates how those communities have influenced and contributed to American society at large. It first began as a commemorative week in June 1968. It was introduced by California Congressman, George E. Brown. It took a while but on September 17, 1968, the law was passed declaring Hispanic Heritage week to be on the 15th and 16th of September. After a very long time, Hispanic Heritage Month was declared a month-long celebration on September 14, 1989. This was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period Mexico’s national Independence Day follows on the 16th, while Chile’s occurs on the 18th, and Belize’s is on the 21st. Many other countries are celebrated too, like Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The month is celebrated nationwide through festivals, parades, art shows, conferences, community gatherings, and much more. Anyone and everyone can celebrate the month and show their appreciation for Hispanics too. There are certain colors that represent Hispanic Heritage Month, these colors are yellow, orange, and red and muted colors of brown, gray, blue with some greens, blues and black.  Many people take this month-long celebration very seriously, while some don’t. Hispanic Heritage Month is very important because it celebrates their cultures and independence.

Overall, it’s an important month and it could teach you a lot about others.