Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month: An Interview of Solidarity in History and Heritage

By Josh Ganados & Isaiah Hobus

I

grew up in a predominantly white church where Hispanic/Latinx month, Asian American Pacific Islander month, and Black History Month were never mentioned. In fact, for most of my life, I did not even realize my own cultural history (AAPI history) or Hispanic/Latinx heritage was given a month of celebration. Despite the fact that the intentional celebratory time has existed since 1968 and 1977. I will never forget the backlash I heard about these months: “Why do they need a whole month?” “I am tired of hearing about this.” “Why should I care?” All of this compiles into the fact that through racialization, people of color are regulated to the margins of culture where even brief intentionally carved out time is disregarded to the margins.

Rather than being a source of embarrassment, months of cultural heritage and history are celebrations of the imago Dei embodied uniquely by different people in history. For the church, it should be the celebration of the gospel’s universality, that the gospel is not regulated to one culture as decided at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).  

What follows is an edited dialogue where I interviewed my friend and coworker Josh Ganados. Josh is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at TreeHouse. This interview springs from the intersection of celebration of Filipino and Hispanic/Latinx history to promote solidarity between the AAPI community and the Hispanic/Latinx community. 

Can you share about your own cultural identity? 

My father is Mexican and my mother is Euro-American. I grew up in Phoenix, AZ, a place with a rich history and presence of Mexican heritage and community. My parents divorced when I was young, so much of my life growing up was living between two worlds. No matter the space I was in, because of my appearance and last name, I was seen as Mexican. In some spaces, that was a celebration, in other spaces, I was seen as the outsider or inferior. My father’s side of the family instilled deep pride and passion for our ethnic heritage, beyond food, music, and language. My mother’s side of the family has no connection or focus on ethnic heritage, it was simply “white.” Watching boxing, making tamales together as a family, and grilling with the neighborhood was a regular occurrence growing up. I was and am mijo to all of my elders.

Today, I stand on the shoulders of the many who came before me. My family comes from Hermosillo, SO, Nogales, SO and Ciudad Miguel Alemán, TA. My grandparents grew up on the farms in west Phoenix where the United Farm Workers showed up to boycott the economic injustice and exploitation of farm workers. They learned English in school having neither of their parents be fluent in English. They endured anti-Latina/o policies and cultures throughout school, within jobs, and in communities. They started businesses, built homes, developed communities, and never let go of our history and culture.

Can you give me a brief history on Hispanic/Latinx Heritage month? 

Hispanic/Latinx Heritage month is from September 15th to October 15th. A people group that represents the largest ethnic minority in the United States, nearly 20% of the population. Instead of starting at the beginning of the month, the celebration begins in the middle of the month. One of the reasons is that five Latin American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) celebrate their independence days on September 15th. Three more countries (Mexico, Chile, and Belize) celebrate their independence days just a few days later.

Can you explain the difference between Hispanic and Latina/o/e/x?

Historically, people that are Spanish speaking have been referred to as “Hispanic” and would not include people from countries like Brazil and Haiti. People of Latin American descent have been referred to as “Latina/o/x/e” and would not include people from Spain. In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was an agreement between Spain and Portugal about what lands they could colonize in the Americas, therefore not every Latin American people group speaks Spanish. There are a variety of languages in Latin America including French, Portuguese, Spanish and indigenous languages. A person can be both Hispanic and Latinx. They can also be Latinx and not Hispanic or Hispanic and not Latinx. We are not a monolith. There is a vastness of diversity from Afro-Latina/o/x/es, indigenous groups, and mestizo/as.

What has this month meant to you personally? 

I feel a sense of deep pride in celebrating, learning, and embracing my culture, the diaspora, and many other cultures within the community. But, I also have feelings of reduction and exploitation. I struggle with seeing the reduction of many cultures that get minimized to food, that experience cultural and labor exploitation, and this diverse community being portrayed as monolithic. If you’ve had the privilege of being inside of a Mexican home, at dinner or BBQ in the barrio, you know every dish is a taste of heaven. There’s a variety and there’s food for the whole block. My frustration is that food is often the one of only things with Mexican culture people know, celebrate, or accept. Too often, there’s a love for food, but not the people, the culture, or the history.

Somehow, people see our food as rich and our labor as cheap. Our music makes people move, but our presence is told to move. Our people invite others to tables, but our people are met with a wall. Along with our contributions towards building and sustaining the United States, we have a rich history of activists, artists, inventors, scientists, educators, philanthropists and more.

Do you think the gospel and the witness of scripture have anything to say about celebrating cultural heritage?

The Bible is rich in highlighting culture and heritage. A tragedy in the West is believing that following Christ means to abandon the goodness of one’s culture or to neglect the culture of others. Along with cultural abandonment is the lack of learning the history of our families, of others, and the places we live. Our ethnicities and culture are parts of where we come from, who we are today, and how God uses us.

We see it in the end that eternity will have a great multitude of the beauty and diversity of God’s people in Revelation 7:9. People of every nation (ethnos). The New Jerusalem doesn’t do away with the diversity of God’s people, but rather it is the display of the fullness of that diversity. Where there was once division through difference, there is now oneness (not sameness) and the embrace of difference because of the gospel. Galatians 3:28 does not mean people do not have a culture or ethnicity, but that there isn’t a hierarchy among children of God.

We also see in the beginning that the beauty of God is seen in the beauty of his creation, specifically, his image bearers (Genesis 1:26). The nations (ethnos) display the glorious mosaic of God’s infiniteness. One culture cannot possibly display the fullness of an infinite God. God is reflected differently and experienced in so many ways beyond our own experience. We can ask the question, “How does this culture see, hear, celebrate, praise, and experience God in a way that expands my vision of God, opens my heart to other image bearers, and mobilizes my hands towards the good of my neighbor?”

1 Corinthians 12:26 says when describing the body of Christ, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Our belonging to the body of Christ creates a connection that is to be shared among each other. Suffering and rejoicing are shared. The sufferings of history and today can be shared. The rejoicing of history and today can be shared.

Paul notices culture and adjusts many times (Acts 17). The neglect or overlooking of a cultural group is to be listened to, addressed, and restored (Acts 6). Paul even displays in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 the need and importance of cultural agility for the sake of the gospel. We see how the imago Dei reflects the vastness and beauty of God. We see that we are called to suffer and rejoice with the body of Christ. The body of Christ that is formed of all the nations (ethnos) (Matt. 28:19).

Are there experiences, categorizations, or shared trauma where AAPI folks and Hispanic/Latinx folks can find solidarity?

The conserving of our cultures has endured colonialism, fought for independence, and has brought contributions around the globe and in the United States. Many of us share the story of family migration and navigating a land and spaces that force assimilation and exclusion. Historically and today, we have been vilified, seen violence and hate crimes towards elders and paleteros, massacres in El Paso and Atlanta, and xenophobic messages all throughout every region of the United States. We have often been lumped into a monolithic image of “Asian” or “Latina/o.” The diversity, complexities and uniqueness of these groupings often create cultural reduction, assumption, and misidentification. 

We also have shared experiences of labor exploitation through farming and railroads, and other forms of manual labor. From “rounding-up” that was to Japanese internment camps of the early 1940s to the “rounding-up” that was mass deportations of Mexicans in the 1920-1950s, many of whom were United States citizens. There has been a fear of deportation by those who immigrated and even those who were born in the United States. Many Asian and Latinx immigrants have built a life in the United States while also longing for loved ones and culture in the homelands. 

One example of active solidarity is the story of the Delano Grape Strike. The history and legacy of the United Farm Workers can often exclude the vital and persistent efforts of the Filipino community. The Filipino grape workers in Delano, CA belonged to the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led by Larry Itliong. He called César Chávez and Dolores Huerta to join the strike, knowing solidarity was necessary. The solidarity between the two groups was vital for change because for years the white growers would position races against each other. Days later, the Latina/o members of the National Farm Workers Association joined the strike. The two groups united and would later form the United Farm Workers. The leaders of each union joined together in solidarity and persistently demanded change through the strike and boycott. Together they won the strike for better wages and working conditions for over ten thousand farmworkers experiencing harsh treatment and exploitation.

I personally believe Asian American history is excluded from American history. Do you believe it is the same with Hispanic/Latinx history?

Absolutely. I think all communities of color have experienced erasure and had their stories, perspectives, and history excluded. Sometimes, even within racial justice efforts and conversations, the thought or dialogue can become a binary of Black & White, all while neglecting the numerous communities that do not fit the binary. Growing up in Arizona, the home state of César Chávez, I did not learn about or celebrate the history of contributions, overcoming adversity, or culture of Latinx communities in school. I didn’t learn in school about Dolores Huerta, that the very land I was on was not United States land, the Mendez family (Felicitas, Gonzalo and Sylvia), Rodolfo Gonzales, the Haitian Revolution, the women of the Pecan Shellers Strike, Guillermo González Camarena, the Zoot Suit riots, Latina/o hate crimes and lynchings in the United States, Roberto Clemente, Romana Acosta Bañuelos, Jaime Escalante, Chavez Ravine, John Carlos, East LA walkouts, Felix Longoria, or Peter Hernandez (Hernandez v. Texas). We were present in classrooms, but absent from textbooks or curriculum.

What are some ways that AAPI Christians can learn more about our Hispanic/Latinx brothers and sisters?  

Within the church, across the globe, and in the United States, we continue to rapidly grow. But our footprint has already been here for centuries. Brown Church, by Robert Chao Romero, is a great place to start. In his book, he highlights Hispanic and Latinx Christians the Church can learn from, look to, and celebrate from the past and today. There is a perseverance, a standing for truth and justice, and a welcoming embodied in the Brown Church. Looking to leaders like Sandra Marie Van Opstal, Jon Aragón, Kat Armas, Alexia Salvatierra, Rich Villodas, and Robert Chao Romero reveals the diversity and wisdom of Hispanic/Latinx Christians in action. As Robert Chao Romero says, the Brown Church is the “the vast and beautiful cultural mixture” and anyone in “the in-between space.”

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

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Josh Ganados is a Phoenix, AZ transplant and currently resides outside of Minneapolis, MN with his wife Kaycie. He is a graduate of Crown College (MN) with a degree in Biblical and Theological Studies and has served for 9 years in youth and young adult ministry. He currently serves as the Director of Diversity Equity & Inclusion at TreeHouse. He is passionate about equipping Christians on how to live justly and seeing racial harmony in the Church. If he isn't spending time with family, he enjoys dreaming, traveling, reading, and breaking bread with others.

Isaiah Hobus is a recent graduate of Bethel University with a degree in biblical and theological studies, and currently a Master’s of Divinity student with an emphasis in Christian community development at Northern Seminary. He is also a youth outreach associate at a nonprofit ministry for teens, Treehouse Hope in Minnetonka, Minnesota, where he mentors teenagers. In his spare time, he enjoys reliving his days as a college athlete in cross country and track through runs, sticking his nose in a book, and guzzling black coffee.