My favorite little ways to celebrate my heritage every day, not just Hispanic Heritage Month.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! This past year, I’ve been reflecting on how important my heritage and culture are to me and my identity. It’s easy to assimilate in America when you haven’t visited your home country in so long, and when day to day life strays farther away from your roots. Being Latina has so much to do with our practices, traditions, and everyday lifestyle. I grew up living in El Salvador three months out of the year until I was about 15. Since 2021, I haven’t been able to be back, and it feels like a big part of me has been far from home for years. I’ve realized that it’s up to me not to assimilate, and instead, intertwine my culture into my everyday lifestyle to keep my heritage alive. Here are some of my favorite ways to do so.
Consuming more media in Spanish.
There’s a scene in Modern Family where Sofia Vergara’s character Gloria is explaining how lonely it feels to not have anyone in her family that speaks Spanish because that’s her first language. In a line that lives rent free in my mind, she says “Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?!” Well, that’s how I feel sometimes, but in English. I speak Spanish every day with my parents, or on the phone with my relatives. As expansive and linguistic as I am in English, I’m not always as lexical in Spanish.Â
So much of our language comes from the media. I learn new words every day from reading articles, books, watching movies or tv shows. I’ve gotten into the habit of watching movies in Spanish, rewatching tv shows I used to watch in El Salvador growing up, and reading magazine or newspaper articles in Spanish. What’s come of it so far is an expanding vocabulary in Spanish and a much easier conversational flow when I speak now. I find that my brain keeps up better with the language when I can follow stories and characters visually.Â
Language aside, it’s helped me reconnect with important and iconic media from my culture. I’m slowly curating a list of must-see movies from Latino America, because just as iconic shows and movies define American culture, there’s a whole world of art and media that I have yet to explore from my own country, and from all of Latino America.Â
Reframing my inner dialogue.Â
As an obsessive reader, so much of my time is spent in books. I first realized I needed to read more in Spanish when I bought a Spanish translated version of Little Women. For context, I’ve read Little Women once a year, every year since I was about 8. That’s at least 14 times. I have a collection of various editions of the book. This is a book I know very well. Yet, when I read it in Spanish, it took me significantly longer to get through it. I realized that my internal dialogue was mostly in English and less in Spanish. Besides reading slower in Spanish, it takes a bit more effort to think in Spanish.Â
When I realized this, I decided to start journaling in Spanish the same way I do in English. I came to the same result–thinking slower in Spanish. My internal dialogue, the way I felt and thought, had less vocabulary in Spanish than English. I couldn’t write poetry, prose, let alone a journal entry in Spanish that fully captivated exactly what I was feeling. As someone who prides herself in feeling and loving in two languages, this really freaked me out. With some practice, I’ve been making it a habit to explore my emotions and thoughts in Spanish. I journal in Spanish, and force my inner dialogue to be in Spanish often. Now, I find myself feeling a moment with Spanish inner dialogue, or knowing how to put into words how I feel in Spanish much more often.Â
Exploring more Latino music.
I noticed over the summer that all my Latino music is on one playlist. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great playlist. For the one Latino playlist I have, I have countless others in English. But all Latino music does not fit under one genre, one vibe, or one playlist. So, I’ve started to break them up and explore new artists–new sounds. My get ready with the girls playlist has artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Beyonce, and SZA, but artists like Rosalia, Kali Uchis, and Karol G are also killing it in the pop princess game! Just because it’s in Spanish doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong on my playlist.Â
Embracing food, art, and traditions.
I used to hate my name. Natalia. I thought it didn’t sound pretty or feminine and I wished my mom had named me my middle name instead; Maria.Â
What a selfish thought! My mom’s name is Natalia too, and my great grandma’s name was Maria Natalia. So who was I to hate my name? The audacity! My family and the women that came before me are the reason I am who I am. They are the most tangible part of my roots. So every chance I get to hear a story from a relative, to learn about a new tradition, food, or place I haven’t met, I take it.Â
Since becoming a vegetarian about 6 years ago, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to eat a lot of my favorite foods from my culture. However, I’m proud to say it hasn’t stopped me once. It took a while to work out some new recipes, but I’ve been able to plant base all my favorite foods; pupusas, tamales, pollo (chickpea or tofu) guisado. What I found in doing so is that so many of my favorite foods were already vegetarian or plant based. There is a deep and rich history in our food, diets, and connection to longevity and spiritual practices that come from our foods. It’s been so enriching to learn about the ways in which we’ve always let the Earth and what grows from it nourish and heal our bodies and spirits.Â
Decolonizing my thoughts and space
Working in the beauty industry has really taken a toll on how I view beauty and how I view myself. In the beauty industry almost everything is made to cater white women. Shade ranges, hair products, beauty standards and trends. I’ve gone through many phases where I thought about how easy it’d be or how much prettier I’d be if I had fairer skin or straight, blonde hair. Then I realized that was the colonizer talking.Â
Beauty standards are the world’s way of bringing down women, and especially women of color and Black women. How could I think less of myself for my indigenous and Latina features, if I find them so beautiful on everyone else? Being your own worst critique is definitely a part of it, but decolonizing my own inner dialogue was a bigger part of it. So now, every day, I embrace my olive skin and the braids I wear, and when my mom tells me I look like La India Maria, I take it as a compliment. Speaking life into myself and other women is my favorite way to fuel my soul, and with a conscious effort, it works like a charm.
Immersing myself in community
The best part about my culture is how much we love our community. It’s been so special to me to connect with my family more and more as I learn about my history, the history of my country, and from a first hand account, theirs! It’s the most enriching source of history and knowledge.Â
Connecting with my community looks beyond just my family. I love to share these practices with my friends or by uplifting and supporting local businesses (or bigger businesses). I like to be involved with communities on my campus and other campuses. Taking the time to support artists, musicians, or even a stranger on the Metro. Supporting my people is so fulfilling.Â
Watching the number of Latino college grads rise every year, watching flags fill our campus, teaching my American friends how to dance bachata, or inviting them over to my house to learn how to make tortillas with my mom–these things are all so fulfilling, especially because of the fact they are rooted in love. The Latino culture is so rich, so expansive, profound and deeply rooted in love, celebration, perseverance, and community.Â
I love to watch us win, and we will continue to, con animo!Â