Hispanic Heritage Month
By Albert B. Kelly
September 15th marked the start of Hispanic
Heritage month. It comes at a critical time in our nation’s history. I say
that, because as we slog our way through this presidential election cycle, we
are at an inflection point that will go a long way toward determining what type
of an America we will live in.
Like all such observances, a “heritage month” looks back to
the contributions made in the areas of art, culture, business, sports and many
other threads running through our national fabric. It’s worth looking back
because the contributions are many.
Whether in the worlds of science, government, or
entertainment; our nation is a better and a more vibrant place because of what
our Hispanic brothers and sisters have added to our ongoing American story.
Ellen Ochoa, the world's first Hispanic female astronaut
took her first flight in 1991, an engineer and mission specialist logging some
900 hours in space over 11 years- contributed greatly to our understanding of
space, gravity, and medicine.
It was Mario Molina, with colleague Sherwood Rowland at
Cal-Berkeley back in the 70’s, who did the heavy lift on researching CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons)
used in spray cans and refrigerators that was found to be a major cause of
ozone depletion. Molina and Sherwood won the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Who can forget the magic of watching Roberto Clemente
patrolling the outfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates or the pitching masterpieces
from the likes of Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez?
How much less would we be if we never the world never heard the
music of Carlos Santana (Santana), Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), or Gloria
Estefan of Miami Sound Machine Fame? These are only a few of the many thousands
of artists and musicians that have added to our national greatness.
Contributions in the area of government are almost without
measure, whether were talking about Henry Cisneros, former Congressman and HUD
Secretary under President Clinton or Antonia Coello Novello, surgeon general
under President George H. W. Bush.
There are others like Bill Richardson, Secretary of Energy
under Clinton before becoming the United States Ambassador to the United
Nations and then returning to his home state to serve two terms as Governor of
New Mexico.
As we speak, Hilda Solis serves as Secretary of Labor under
President Obama; a post she assumed in 2009 after leaving behind dozens of her
fellow Hispanic colleagues in the House and Senate.
Of course, as a nation that loves our TV and movie stars,
how much less would our popular culture be without the likes of Raquel Welch,
who was born Raquel Tejada; or Martin Sheen (Ramon Estevez) or even Rita
Hayworth (Margarita Carmen Cansino).
A celebratory look back during Hispanic Heritage month is an
opportunity to recognize and acknowledge the immense contributions and
achievements of so many Hispanic men and women across all areas of our national
life and culture- the very ones that contributed to our American
exceptionalism.
But I’m not worried about the past, largely because we can’t
go back there and change it, nor can we make it come out any different than
what it’s been- we simply live with it as best we can. It’s the future that I
worry about and fret over.
I say that, because it’s a future that may or may not
contain a wall along our southern border; a future that might have some type of
deportation force that will do goodness knows what under the cloak of national
security or patriotism.
Maybe it’s a future where we’ll be pressured to key in on
the things that divide and scare us away from one another rather than a future
that prompts us to highlight the shared goals, dreams, and aspirations we have
for ourselves, our children and grandchildren.
Hispanic Heritage month is a celebration to be sure- but
it’s also wondering what the future holds for the thousands of Hispanic students
(and their families) now in the Bridgeton Public Schools.
It’s wondering if there’s a future astronaut or athlete in
our midst who will never realize their full potential because they were
separated from their parents.
It’s wondering if there’s a future Senator or Congresswoman
we’ll never know of because they were hustled away by a deportation force in
the dark of night.
It’s wondering if there’s a future Nobel Prize winner among
us who would have found the cure for the next pandemic, but we’ll never know
because…