It is a time to celebrate the histories of the Latino community. Each year, the celebration starts  on September 15 and continues until October 15. Hispanic Heritage Month started off as being a week long celebration, until they decided to celebrate it for 30 days. Hispanic heritage month was first introduced in June of 1968 by California congressmen George E. Brown.

 The event brought awareness to help commemorate how the Hispanic community has been influenced by American society. The term Hispanic or Latino (Latinx) refers to the person’s culture or origin-regardless of their race. The act was put into place to recognize the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community has gained monumental importance throughout the 1960s when the civil rights movement was at its peak starting to grow awareness of multicultural identities.

Why is Hispanic heritage important?

The timing of Hispanic heritage month coincides with Independence day, celebrated by several Latin American nations, celebrating ¨the five Central American neighbors. Johnson called them Costa Rica, El Salvador , Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. This is when the five nations declared their independence from Spain on September 15 1821. In Johnson’s proclamation he also acknowledged Mexico.

 Chile also declared their independence from Spain on September 16 1810.They also took part in the Heritage Month, Although Johnson did not mention Chile in his proclamation. They chose to  celebrate Independence day during that week (September 16 1810 from Spain) and Belize declared their independence to Great Britain.