UCONN L.A.S.O. celebrates Latino cultures

On Thursday, October 8, 2009, the University of Connecticut Latin American Student Organization (L.A.S.O.) and Greater Waterbury Latino community leaders gathered together at the UCONN Waterbury campus in downtown to celebrate.

The occasion was National Hispanic Heritage Month, which honors the histories, cultures and achievements of Hispanics in America. In recognition of this, the Congress, by Public Law 100-142, as amended, has authorized and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating September 15 through October 15 as "National Hispanic Heritage Month."

Ronnie Vazquez, master of ceremonies and one of the coordinators for this event proudly read President Barack ObamaBarack Obama's proclamation and noted the city of Waterbury's diverse population and influx of people of various Hispanic descents.

Julievette Santiago, Vice President of L.A.S.O said, “I feel that there are a lot of negative stereotypes of Hispanics and I wanted to show the campus and the community what Hispanics are really all about.”

The wall was decorated with Hispanic profiles, which included Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina seated among the nine Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; Arturo Sandoval, Grammy Award-winning musician; and Ellen Ochoa, former NASA Astronaut and first Hispanic woman in space to name a few.

Students from North End Middle School were dressed in traditional cultural costumes from various Latin American countries. The students were led by Luoanelly Iglesias, bilingual teacher at North End.

There were musical performances by "Estampas de Mexico", who came from New Haven to share their shoe stomping skills. The group "flor de Cana" entertained the audience with traditional Puerto Rican folklore dance of the Bomba y Plena.

L.A.S.O students delighted the audience with poetry readings in both Spanish and English. Some of the students read poems written by Pablo Neruda and Piri Thomas, while Santiago read an energy-filled poem that she wrote herself titled “The New Generación” that left the audience standing on their feets and clapping loudly.

“Hispanic culture is beautiful and interesting and I feel others should take the time to see that and not judge based on misconceptions,” Santiago said.

The goal of this celebration was to provide the community with an opportunity to learn, share and expand their cultural awareness. In 2007, Connecticut had a total Hispanic Population of 411, 000, which equaled to 12% of the state population, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

“The preservation of one’s culture is a fundamental duty and responsibility. Preserving my culture is very important to me,” Vazquez said.

Felix Manuel Rodriguez is the author of Dad, Me, and Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali and Acting President of the Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury, Inc. To learn more about Felix, please visit his website www.dadmeandali.com or contact him via e-mail at http://mailto:dadmeandali@yahoo.com.