Salsa dancing, chicken fajitas and "Chicano" are all things that Americans recognize as "Hispanic." Wednesday on the quad there was an opportunity to learn more. AU kicked off the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month with "A Lo Latino," a celebration on the Quad. Organized and coordinated by the University's Office of Multicultural Affairs, the festival showcased many different aspects of Latin American cultures such as cuisine, arts and crafts, literature, music and dance.
Vendors Stephen Oshins and Ernesto Roma proudly displayed hand-crafted Guatemalan indigenous jewelry made of pure silver. Oshins said that the jewelers work in single-family units that oversee the creative process from the smelting of the ore until it is polished into a jewel. Angelica Vargas, a native of Columbia, offered jewels made of ceramic and wires from small cooperatives in Bogot and Pereira.
Two dancers from the Mexican Dance Ensemble Los Quetzales performed while the crowd ate fajitas from Guapo's, a Tenleytown restuarant. Serjio Acevedo, current resident director of Leonard Hall, and Helen Alatorre, assistant director of Multicultural Affairs, performed a salsa dance while a few students paired off and imitated their moves. Carlos Gutierrez performed the sensual Argentine tango and the cha-cha. The Mariachi Estrellas, a Mexican singing group from Northern Virginia, provided traditional mariachi music. Later in the day, musician and composer Barbara Bernstein turned AU's amphitheatre into a Latin dancehall as she taught the students meringue and salsa.
In addition to all the music and dancing, there was also a spoken word performance. Early in the afternoon, poet and Artistic Director of "Sol y Soul" Quique Aviles took to the stage for a reading of some of his work. The overall theme of his poetry was the diversity and struggles of Latinos living in the United States.
Much like other cultural awareness celebrations, such as Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month attempts to foster intercultural communication on AU's campus. Acevedo, a native of Chicago, called it "intercultural competence." He said that the point is to educate those without a Latino heritage about his culture in order to encourage tolerance among the members of the AU community. For example, hearing Quique Aviles recite his poems might inspire a student to buy his books and thereby learn about a Latin American culture.
Amanda Quinones, a freshman who lives in Letts Hall, said that it is important to recognize all cultures to "break down stereotypes."
"To be friends with someone, you have to know where they're coming from. Hispanic is not just a look," she said.
Then what does it mean to be Hispanic? Everyone had a different answer but there was one word that resonated in all responses: home. Acevedo, whose parents are Mexicans with a mixed French and mestizo heritage, said that being Latino is more the result of upbringing rather than ancestry. For example, a white person who grew up in a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Chicago is Latino because such is his culture, his "home."
"Identity is based on values," Acevedo said.
