LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month creates a new theme.
This year's theme is "Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America."
Israel Cuenca, the founder of the Latin Music Awards, and Yamiley Antoine, the director of Specialized Services and Forensic Interviewer for Family and Children's Place, shared the importance of diversity within the culture.
“Latin America and Central America is very diverse. We have African American descendants, we have European descendants, Native American descendants, we have a mix," Cuenca said. "We have different ethnicities, different languages... the Latino culture is very, very diverse.”
There's currently 20 Hispanic countries and one Hispanic territory, which is Puerto Rico. So many people think all those counties speak the same language. Antoine shared the one stigma she wishes she could erase -- and its the stigma surrounding this.
“When you start speaking Spanish, a lot of people assume that everybody that speaks Spanish is from the same place, and we are very diverse," she said. "We have a lot of countries and cultures that speak Spanish.”
Instead of finding ourselves assuming, this is a chance to open the dialogue and ask. That's why Cuenca believes the month is a chance to educate.
He said this month is "very important," because it helps show people the achievements of Hispanic and Latino leaders in music, art, business, etc.
“It's just a great opportunity to show many people that might not know about Latino culture, or might not know about the great achievements, or great leaders, or institutions, or programs within Latino communities," Cuenca said. "It's a great way to show the world a little bit more about Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S."
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