HIGH POINT, N.C. — Across the United States, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
“There are multiple countries in Central America that celebrate their independence, including my country," Laura Godinez Arce, director of the YWCA High Point's Latino Family Center said. "I’m from Costa Rica, so we celebrate our independence along with other countries in Central America on the 15th of September and Mexico celebrates it on the 16th, and then there are other countries along that time, but also celebrate independence."
But it’s also not just to celebrate independence, it’s also a month for Hispanic and Latino Americans to honor their diverse culture.
“It is a way for us to commemorate and honor all of the Latino and Hispanic cultures that we have," Arce said. "All the great achievements that our community has been able to done and have done here in a country that has welcomed us."
For Arce, it’s a celebratory 30 days that’s meant to bring people together.
"It’s a way for us to engage with our community to be able to open a space for us to celebrate ourselves, but also to bring our community to learn about our culture and how not so different we are, right," Arce continued. "There’s a lot of things that we do like our food and you get to relate with others and learn about their food, their music, and see how we grew up and things like that."
It’s in those similarities that allows Arce, and many others, to readily embrace each other, just as they embrace both sides of themselves.
“You know it’s really hard to be born somewhere else and then grow up here, and some part of you still feels really connected to the culture, but you are also really connected here to the United States, it’s that no son de aqui, ni de alla— I’m not either from over there or over here, Arce stated proudly. "I recently heard someone say you know we have to let go of that and we have to say, 'We are from there and from here'."
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latino Family Center and the YWCA of High Point will be presenting Noche de Baile, a dance night at Stock + Grain Assembly on Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m.