Honoring Hispanic Heritage: Alex Garcia
From Sunday, September 15 to October 15, our nation celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month, which honors the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The observation was started in 1968 under President Lyndon Johnson as Hispanic Heritage Week and expanded under President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. The September 15 start day is especially notable as it marks the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Toward the end of the 30-day celebration, October 12 is Columbus Day or Día de la Raza or Indigenous Peoples Day, a controversial date to some.
The theme for 2024’s National Hispanic Heritage Month is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together”, and in honor of the month, we asked All Souls Fellowship congregants of descent from three different Hispanic countries their thoughts on the holiday, their heritage, and commemorating their culture in their respective lives.
Interview with Alex Garcia:
Alex and his wife, Choyce.
Please tell us which country you or your family descend from.
“My mother is from Puerto Rico.”
When did you or your family come to the United States and why?
“In 1958, my grandfather moved his family to Ohio in search of a better-paying job to take care of his family.”
Living in Decatur, what reminds you of that country?
“My mother grew up in a small town called San Lorenzo where everyone walked everywhere and knew everyone. It’s very similar to our neighborhood, Oakhurst.”
Food is so essential to all of us and our experiences and upbringing. Do you have a favorite dish or local restaurant that you can share?
“Food is the #1 way that my mother shared her culture with me and those that she loved. My favorite dish that she and my grandfather prepared is called Pernil. It is a slow-roasted pork butt that is marinated and stuffed with lots of garlic and Latin spices. It is garlicy and succulent and the aroma fills the entire house in the best of ways. My mother’s pernil has had such a profound effect on me that it motivated me this year to start a Latin sandwich pop-up called Madre Garcia’s. I utilize her recipes in crafting my sandwiches and her pernil recipe is the star of the show in our #1 selling Cubano sandwich. I’m looking to open a brick-and-mortar location later next year. https://www.instagram.com/madregarcias/”
Language is also vital to our experiences. How important is it to you for your children to be bilingual?
“Not learning Spanish is one of the biggest regrets of my life. When my mother and her family moved to a small steel town in Ohio in the 1950s, they experienced a lot of racism. To assimilate as quickly as possible, my grandfather would not allow his kids to speak Spanish in the house. As time went on, my mother and her 4 siblings never taught their kids Spanish because it became so ingrained in their heads that they should only speak English.”
With the theme for this year being ‘Shaping the Future’, how would you like to see your heritage honored into the future?
“I’m not sure how to answer this question. What I’ll say is that the first time I heard about Hispanic Heritage Month was probably 5-7 years ago. Each year since then, it feels like it has entered more and more into the national consciousness which is great to witness. There are lots of festivals and events around town during this time celebrating Hispanic heritage. I absolutely love it. It’s difficult to take the whole family to Puerto Rico, so I try to take my family to many of the events like Placita Latina in downtown Decatur which is a great way to engage my kids in Latin arts, dancing, and food (even if it's for a very short time).”