The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

The author, who was raised in Chile, is one of the most widely read writers in the world and has been very vocal about her exile from a military coup in her home country.

Allende, now 82, has written more than 25 books that have been translated into more than 40 languages.

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Her first novel and international bestseller, “The House of the Spirits”, was published in 1982.

“I have been telling stories since I was a child. Stories have incredible power, they challenge our minds and touch our hearts, they connect us to other people and teach us that we are not alone in the journey of life”, said Allende in a Barbie Podcast that can be heard on Sept. 19. 

Allende’s doll features her beloved pup Perla and a miniature replica of her first novel. The Barbie design team dressed the author in a bold red dress with a gathered cap that drapes over her shoulder. It also includes gold statement earrings, black heels, and bright red lips, according to Mattel.

In 2014, former president Barack Obama honored Allende with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, alongside 18 other distinguished figures in the arts, sciences, and public service.

“I want young kids to dream big. Everything is possible”, said Allende.

“As the first internationally acclaimed Latin American female author, Allende is both a storyteller and a trailblazer. Through her writing and social activism, Allende has worked tirelessly to give a voice to the voiceless and inspire hope worldwide”, said a Mattel press release.

Other women who are also part of the elite list of Barbie Inspiring Women Series include Dr. Maya Angelou, Celia Cruz, Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Billie Jean King and Kristi Yamaguchi among others.

Allende’s dolls are available at participating Target and Walmart locations, as well as Amazon.com, for the price of $35.

“We are more than just our culture. We are also women on the verge of healing,” said Yvonne Marquez, the owner of Las Adelitas, a gift shop inside Agua y Viento coffee house. “It is small, but it holds so much.”

Marquez named the shop after “Adelitas” women freedom fighters in the Mexican Revolutionary War. The women soldiers wore ammo belts around their torsos and led regiments of men into battle.

“They were such strong women and I wanted to hold space for women,” said Marquez.

In addition to vending jewelry and artifacts showcasing cultural pride, the shop doubles as a safe space for Chicanas to gather, share and grow.

“It’s almost like going to your hermana’s house — your sister’s house,” said Milagro Ruiz Bello, a healer who uses sound in spiritual cleanses at the shop. “It’s a very warm (place).”

“It’s like all like the magic put into one place,” said Xochitl Brizuela, a children’s Spanish teacher, who teaches the adult women at the shop the language they’ve lost or never learned. 

“There is a need for us to learn again; Spanish is not easy for me, but it still is something I want to learn,” said Marquez.

Along with the lessons and healing, Marquez brought along Rebecca Contreras, an art curator to design the show “Nuestro Tiempo: El Grito de la Independencia”.

“It’s a real beautiful and unique space here,” said Contreras.

The show features 12 artists from around the region including Oaxaca, as well as Central and South America and their cultural expressions of strength and love.

It is the love that brightens Marquez’ heart the most. The love of women finding a space to be who they are, learn more about their culture and feel safe. 

“The love that we get has just been beautiful,” said Marquez. “I’ve had people who have gotten emotional and who have cried, who just say it just feels like my abuelita’s house.”

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Radical Clothes Swap is a Los Angeles-based Latina-run nonprofit aimed at helping people simultaneously conserve and save money by having them look no further than their own closets.

“We host free clothing swaps throughout Los Angeles,” said CEO and co-founder Nicole Macias. “We’re just trying to get people to see how much textile waste is created through the fashion industry and teach people sustainable practices.”

The concept is simple: people can bring five to ten clothing items to donate and, in return, take home five to ten items.

“In a capitalist-run world, what’s one of the most radical things that we as a community and society can do? To us, that’s giving away free resources and specifically giving away free clothes,” Macias said. “Our mission and goal is to provide free resources to the community, normalize radical sustainability, and kind of just change people’s relationships with consumption, capitalism and shopping.”

Radical Clothes Swap began in 2021, hosting periodic clothing swaps and gaining a larger audience with each event. The nonprofit hosts an event at Angel City Brewery every second Saturday of the month.

“This is the first one I ran into in LA, used to go to them in New York, but they’re a wonderful organization,” said Stephanie Meyer, who comes to Radical’s events to donate clothes whenever she can. “I do think that upcycling clothing and having opportunities like this really does help in terms of what doesn’t end up in a landfill, right?”

For co-founder Jannine Mancilla, this type of work is a lifetime in the making.

“Being a first-gen child of immigrants, we didn’t have a lot of money to buy clothes, so I grew up thrifting, second-hand, hand-me-downs,” Mancilla said. “We hosted our own clothing swap at a public library that we worked at and that just sparked more of an interest in like wanting to do this.”

Mancilla and Macias operate Radical Clothing Swap along with manager Enriquetta Navarro.

Together, the trio has been honored for their work by the City of Los Angeles.

They’re also proud to be Latinas creating an inclusive space for all.

“We are all children of immigrants. We all grew up doing sustainable, sustainably, living our lives and swapping within our own circles,” Macias said. “It just kept growing with every time we would host one and so we realized that we needed to continue to do this and share our knowledge with with our community.”

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Celebrated each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the month is a chance for many in the U.S. to learn about and celebrate the contributions of Hispanics, the country’s fastest-growing racial or ethnic minority, according to the census. The group includes people whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

There are more than 65 million people identified as ethnically Hispanic in the U.S., according to the latest census estimates.

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Before there was National Hispanic Heritage Month, there was Hispanic Heritage Week, which was created through legislation sponsored by Mexican American U.S. Rep. Edward R. Roybal of Los Angeles and signed into law in 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The weeklong commemoration was expanded to a month two decades later, with legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

“It was clustered around big celebrations for the community,” Alberto Lammers, director of communications at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute said. “It became a chance for people to know Hispanic cultures, for Latinos to get to know a community better and for the American public to understand a little better the long history of Latinos in the U.S.”

The month is a way for Hispanics to showcase their diversity and culture with the support of the government, said Rachel Gonzalez-Martin, an associate professor of Mexican American and Latino Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point to coincide with the anniversary of “El Grito de Dolores,” or the “Cry of Dolores,” which was issued in 1810 from a town in central Mexico that launched that country’s war for independence from Spain.

The Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica celebrate their independence on Sept. 15, and Mexico marks its national day on Sept. 16, the day after the cry for independence.

Also during National Hispanic Heritage Month, the South American nation of Chile observes its independence day on Sept. 18. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, previously known as Columbus Day, is observed in the U.S. on the second Monday of October.

Over the past decade, the month has grown due to the larger Latino consumer base in the U.S., Gonzalez-Martin said. Gonzalez-Martin said visible support from the federal government, including celebrations at the White House, has also made it easier for Hispanics to celebrate.

“Hispanic Heritage Month was a way in which to be Hispanic and Latino but with official blessing,” Gonzalez-Martin said. “It was a recognition of belonging and that became really powerful.”

The four-week period is about honoring the way Hispanic populations have shaped the U.S. in the past and present, Lammers said.

“It gives us a chance to acknowledge how Latinos have been part of this nation for so many centuries,” Lammers said. “I think that’s what is great about this. It has allowed us to really dig deeper and a chance to tell our stories.”

Not everyone who is Hispanic uses that label

Hispanic was a term coined by the federal government for people descended from Spanish-speaking cultures. But for some, the label has a connotation of political conservatism and emphasizes a connection to Spain. It sometimes gets mistakenly interchanged with “Latino” or “Latinx.”

For some, Latino reflects their ties to Latin America. So some celebrations are referred to as Latinx or Latin Heritage Month.

Latin Americans are not a monolith. There are several identifiers for Latin Americans, depending largely on personal preference. Mexican Americans who grew up during the 1960s Civil Rights era may identify as Chicano. Others may go by their family’s nation of origin such as Colombian American or Salvadoran American.

Each culture has unique differences when it comes to music, food, art and other cultural touchstones.

Celebrations are planned throughout the month

From California to Florida, there will be no shortage of festivities. The celebrations tout traditional Latin foods and entertainment including, mariachi bands, folklórico and salsa lessons. The intent is to showcase the culture of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other Latin countries.

Events highlighting Hispanic culture include a quinceañera fashion show in Dallas on Sept. 14, the New York Latino Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 17-22, and the Viva Tampa Bay Hispanic Heritage Festival on Sept. 28-29.

The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., is offering a slate of activities elevating Hispanic heritage, including a celebration of the life of Celia Cruz and exhibits of art made in Mexico.

___

Associated Press writer Terry Tang contributed to this report.

PST ART: Art & Science Collide: Over 70 regional galleries, museums, and art centers will spotlight works by over 800 artists in this five-month spectacular, which makes its debut Sept. 15. “daytime fireworks,” an experience created by artist Cai Guo-Qiang, will open the multi-venue exhibition at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Hispanic Heritage Month: The parade-filled, art-strong, movie-marvelous celebration opens Sept. 15 with Fiestas Patrias in Santa Ana, the Lowrider Parade on the Miracle Mile, the Mexican Independence Day Parade in East Los Angeles, and mariachi music at The Ford (and a Bob Baker Marionette Fiesta, too). There’s lots more ahead, too, through Oct. 15.

Pumpkin Patches: October will be a gourd, er, good month to hop from patch to patch in search of the ideal jack, but if you can’t wait to jumpstart your autumn joy, be cheered, fall fans: The pumpkin patches at Irvine Park Railroad in Orange and Tanaka Farms in Irvine open this weekend. Be sure to check parking and prices before you go.

40th Annual Maritime Festival: Tall ships are a huge and hallowed hallmark of Dana Point as summertime begins to make its final bow, and the weekend of Sept. 13, 14, and 15 will find massive masts, cannon battles, and pirates aplenty around the Ocean Institute. Some happenings are ticketed, like the Pirate and Mermaid Ball, arrr.

Creep It Real OC: Ready to throw it back to the nostalgic Halloween celebrations of the 1980s and 1990s? This weekend-big whimsy will offer oodles of spooky shopping, special guests, magic, tunes, and panels rocking a notable nostalgia vibe. Arriving at the Heritage Museum of Orange County in costume? For sure, like, you totally can. Tickets and info? On the site.

Pictured at top: Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), ARTEONICA: Art, Science, and Technology in Latin American Today, “Matrix Vegetal,” 2021/22, Patricia Domínguez. Commissioned by Screen City Biennial and Cecilia Brunson Projects. Installation at Macalline Art Center, Beijing. ©Patricia Domínguez

Hispanic Heritage Month is a lively and lovely large-scale annual celebration, a festivity that not only spans two distinct months — September and October — but two seasons, too.

The wide variety of events are known for their ebullient spirit, warmly held traditions, and flair-filled fun and they traditionally begin on or around Sept. 15, a start date that pays homage to Mexican Independence Day, which takes place Sept. 16.

Then? The fiestas dance for a full four weeks, with film festivals, music-filled parades, and flavorful food parties festooning the calendar.

Check out some of the 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month events happening around Southern California below.

Good to know? You’ll want to see if tickets are required before heading out to these joyful events; some are free and some require admission.

East LA Mexican Independence Day Parade: This festive Fiestas Patrias will begin at E. Cesar Chavez Avenue and Mednick Avenue at 10 a.m. on Sept. 15; special guests, music, and great food are part of the beloved gathering.

2024 Fiestas Patrias: Head for the historical heart of Santa Ana on Sept. 14 and 15 for a sizable street fair, dance performances, and all sorts of convivial sights. The parade is set for Sept. 15.

Latino Restaurant Week Long Beach City: Dine out around the LBC from Sept. 29 through Oct. 5 and savor this tasty to-do, which is presented by Affluent Hispanic Properties’ Chefs in Philanthropy program.

Latin Restaurant Weeks: This two-week event will celebrate its inaugural outing by spotlighting a host of SoCal eateries, including coffeeshops and caterers. It’s all begins Sept. 13 with a wrap date of Sept. 27.

Hola Mexico Film Festival: “Casa El Paraíso” is the opening selection for this esteemed celebration of cinema, which is marking into its 16th year. Over 20 films, and 20 short films, will be screened during the fest, which is summoning movie magic from Sept. 20-27.

Lowrider Parade: A grand and glittery procession will roll on Miracle Mile on Sept. 15 in honor of Mexican Independence Day. The Lowrider Parade is free to see, while the “Best in Low” show inside the Petersen Automotive Museum is ticketed.

Latino Heritage Parade and Festival: There are numerous Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations on the Pasadena calendar — a Fiestas Patrias party is set for Sept. 13 — but if you’d like to enjoy the Latino Heritage Parade and Festival, be in the Crown City Oct. 5.

FIG Restaurant x Dr. Alexandra Lourdes: A special fundraising menu — the beneficiary is the Santa Monica Education Foundation — is available at the Santa Monica eatery from Sept. 17-Oct. 31. The culinary innovator created several tempting dishes for the collaboration (find out more now).

“Coco” Fan Event: Mariachis, folklorico performances, and a “Fiesta of Lights” will bedeck the limited-time cinematic experience, like so many pretty marigolds. It’s strumming at the El Capitan Theatre Sept. 20.

The Ford: This cultural gem has long paid vibrant tribute to Hispanic Heritage Month and in 2024, the shows begin soon: Las Colibrí will perform at “¡Viva La Tradición! La Quinceañera” Sept. 14 while the Bob Baker Marionettes will throw a merry “¡Fiesta!” Sept. 15.

Jenny and The Mexicats: Book your seat for the kaleidoscopic stylings of this genre-spanning band as well as Peruvian folk dancing and the Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet. The place? Be at The Luckman Sept. 21.

Para La Cultura Celebration: Shop a UNIDOS night market at Plaza West Covina; live music and other celebratory details are on the Sept. 20 schedule.

The Chicano Collection/La Colección Art Exhibit: Admire “original paintings from 26 prominent Chicano artists” at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15; the artworks come from actor and art champion Cheech Marin’s private collection.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

Los Angeles artist Lily Martinez showcases her dedication to the celebration in her own creative way. She creates iconic “Catrina” dolls, which have been getting the attention of Angelenos. 

The Catrinas that Martinez creates are influenced by her Mexican American culture. Her profound love for Los Angeles and Mexico is evident through the vibrant colors of makeup, traditional Oaxacan floral headpieces and modern Dodgers “Catrina” dresses.

Drawing from her background in the toy and fashion industry, she infuses each piece with sewing and stitching details using fluorescent colors, giving life to the dead. Martinez had an exhibition with her Catrina dolls on display in Pico Hall on Olvera Street for two weekends and attracted an estimated 6,000 guests.  

The exhibit also showcased the “Sacred Heart” dress designed for and worn by Vanessa Bryant. The dress carefully integrates symbols paying tribute to the late Kobe and Gianna Bryant, including the colors purple and gold and a basketball serving as a crown.

She revealed that in her family’s home, Día de los Muertos was less prominent compared to Halloween. But once Martinez attended the annual Día de los Muertos celebration at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with her family in 2014, her life underwent a profound transformation. 

“Being in such a peaceful space, it was just beautiful, and I was like, ‘Why wouldn’t I want to feel that joy again?’” she said. Martinez’s artistic eye saw an abundance of color, light and symbolism, inspiring her  to celebrate her country’s traditions.  She has since dedicated her creativity to sharing that light with Angelenos. 

This exhibit has concluded for the year, but Martinez promised that more Catrinas will be unveiled during her next exhibit  in September 2024.

For Martinez, her connection to Día de los Muertos and Mexican culture is more than just a passion; it’s a deep-rooted tie. “The opportunity to explore this tradition in the holiday just reinforced how beautiful our culture is,” Martinez said.

A Quinceañera party is characterized by its lavish ball gowns, emotional dances and elaborately choreographed performances, according to DePaul University. The celebration also most commonly includes a cake and is celebrated at event venues typically reserved for high school proms.

Teenage boys across the country are adopting a similar celebration with their own twists, creating an up-and-coming tradition that is being dubbed “Quinceañero,” which is the Spanish masculine word for Quinceañera.

But what are the key differences between a Quinceañera and a Quinceañero?

Surprisingly not so many.

In an interview with NBC LX Home, Hason Hernández, who had a Quinceañero, said he thought of the idea of hosting one instead of having a typical 16th birthday.

“Everybody thought it was a nice idea and pretty fun,” Hernández said.

Instead of wearing a dress, Hernandez said he wore a suit; instead of heels, he wore dress shoes.

But despite those changes, Hernández still kept the key characteristics of a typical Quinceañera, which include waltz dances with family and friends.

“He danced with his dad, with his godfather, with my brothers,” said Mónica Hernández, Hason Hernández’s mother. “I liked it because regardless if you’re a man or a woman, you still go through a transition to adolescence.”

A centuries-old tradition

Norma Capitanachi, director of Quinceañera Magazine, says the tradition can be traced back to the Aztec civilization.

“Originally the Aztec celebration was for men when they became young adults,” Capitanachi said. “At age 13 or 14, they would present them to society but with time the celebration evolved to be just for girls.”

According to the Codex Mendoza, a visual history of Aztec life created in the 1540s, boys and girls were celebrated at 14 years of age to celebrate them obtaining their life-long skills.

“Feasting was a very common activity and carried on for a great many reasons in Aztec daily life,” said Frances Berdan, an American archeologist who studies Aztec civilization.

Defying the status quo

Though Quinceañero parties are becoming more popular across the country, they weren’t always looked at as openly as they are today.

Roberto Pacheco, who hosted his Quinceañero in 2005, said he initially got some pushback from friends and family, who had hosted Quinceañera parties for girls only.

“I was very excited to do it but in the back of my head I always had that bit of, like, ‘Are people going to think different of me?'” Pacheco said.

Pacheco added that as he pushed forward with his plans, people began asking why he wanted a Quinceañero and went as far as questioning his sexuality.

“I then got the (questions) ‘Why are you doing that? That’s kind of weird, are you gay?’ But I just said it had nothing to do with anything. This was just a celebration of me, just for a good time,” he added.

“I am happy that I did it (Quenceañero). I am proud that I did it,” Pacheco said. “There doesn’t need to be this stigma that you can’t do it as a male for whatever reason.

Likewise, Mónica Hernández said times have changed, and it is time for society to embrace a tradition that celebrates kid’s transition to adolescence regardless of gender.

“Times have changed… just like back then marriage was between a man and a woman, we now celebrate men marrying men and women marrying women. I think it is good we break with these old notions,” Mónica Hernández concluded.

Also known as the “Foos in Medicine,” Irvin Garcia Leal and Alexis Ivan Aleman are third-year medical students at UCLA. They met at an event and began posting videos on social media using the expression “foo,” a shortened version of “fool” commonly used by people around Southern California to refer to one another.

The pair quickly gained followers. “People saw that we were mentioning this,” Garcia Leal said. “Look at this ‘foo’ in medicine, he’s studying here. And people liked it.”

One day, they decided to replace their stethoscopes with their smartphones, giving rise to the idea of sharing their story and motivating future heroes in white coats — heroes with Spanish surnames.

“We have battles that make this career more challenging,” Garcia Leal said.

“We grew up seeing our parents work hard, paying the bills,” Aleman added.

A difficult path

Aleman’s mother, Fidelia Damian, is a determined immigrant and very proud of her son’s achievements.

“It makes me very proud, and yes, I get emotional,” Damian said.

Garcia Leal’s family’s American dream began in the fields of Washington state, but they always lived with a fear of deportation.

“When I was a child, there were times when immigration would come to the apartments where we lived, and my mom would tell me to hide,” he recalled. “We would go under the bed.”

However, everything changed when DACA came into effect.

“I decided to continue and put in even more effort,” Garcia Leal said.

“All the positive things that are happening, that’s what tells me, ‘OK, we’re doing something right,'” Aleman said.

A familiar face in medical consultations

Damian knows that her son’s sacrifice will pay off, and it will be exactly what she would have wanted when visiting a doctor.

“I would like the doctor to speak to me in Spanish, my language, and explain everything to me, right,” Damian said.

The lack of Latino representation in the field of medicine has a long history in this country.

“For nearly 100 years, we depended on Latin American-educated doctors because the medical schools in California graduated a Latino every two or three years,” said Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, a professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.

But the “Foos in Medicine” hope to change that with their social media campaign. Their viral videos have been viewed over 3 million times.

“None of us had family or community members in this doctor space,” Garcia Leal said.

“It’s a source of pride for me to say that I come from South Central Los Angeles. Yes, we can,” added Aleman.

That’s why we’ve rounded up a symphony of diverse voices to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

No two Latino or Hispanic experiences are the same. The layers of identity, cultural expression and history are as varied as the shades of skin tones of those with Latino or Hispanic roots.

Find inspiration in these Hispanic Heritage Month quotes from creators, activists, pioneers and other famous figures. May these words from the past and present roast slowly in your soul like pernil, shake you up like música tropical and remind you of what’s true every day (not just during Hispanic Heritage Month):

• “You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.” — Cesar Chavez
• “The Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.” — Sonia Sotomayer
• “If we could light up the room with pain, we’d be such a glorious fire.” — Ada Limon, “Bright Dead Things”
• “While our culture, traditions and religion may differ, we pride ourselves on working hard, educating ourselves as much as possible, striving for better lives for our children, loving our often large and blended families, and sharing as much of our history and customs as we can with anyone who chooses to really see us. We are not so different after all. People simply need to see us for who we are and not who they expect us to be.” — Natalie Morales
• “It’s not about what you wear, but about how you live your life.” — Oscar de la Renta
• “There is so much fear and hate. We must negate it with active, courageous love.” — Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
• “We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for.” — Dolores Huerta 

• “If we want to live in love, we must recognize that we already exist in it.” — Rich Villodas 
• “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” — Frida Kahlo
• “You have to remember the value of your individuality — that you have something special and different to offer that nobody else can.” — Jennifer Lopez
• “You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda
• “I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.” — Sonia Sotomayor
• “It is through art that we will prevail and we will endure. It lives on after us and defines us as people.” — Rita Moreno
• “When Latinx kids don’t see themselves represented on stage or film or television or newspapers or history textbooks, what they’re told is, ‘You don’t matter. But when they see themselves represented, then they are told … ‘You are important. You are authors. You are scientists. You are explorers. You are special. You are leaders. You are respected. You are the reason we are here.’” —John Leguizamo

• “People think of Latina women as being fiery and fierce, which is usually true. But I think the quality that so many Latinas possess is strength. I’m very proud to have Latin blood.” — Zoe Saldaña
• “If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don’t do that, you are wasting your time on this Earth.” — Roberto Clemente
• “I tell students that the opportunities I had were a result of having a good educational background. Education is what allows you to stand out.”— Ellen Ochoa
• “The point is not to pay back kindness, but to pass it on.”— Julia Alvarez 
• “Forgiving is not forgetting. Forgiving is remembering without pain.” — Celia Cruz
• “I’ve put up with too much, too long, and now I’m just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less.”— Sandra Cisneros

• “As an immigrant, I appreciate far more than the average American, the liberties we have in this country. Silence is a big enemy of morality.” — Gloria Estefan
• “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” —Gabriel García Márquez 
• “I realized very early the power of food to evoke memory, to bring people together, to transport you to other places, and I wanted to be a part of that.”— José Andrés 
• “You are not lucky to be here. The world needs your perspective. They are lucky to have you.”— Antonio Tijerino
• “My weapon has always been language, and I’ve always used it, but it has changed. Instead of shaping the words like knives now, I think they’re flowers or bridges.” — Sandra Cisneros

• “No particular race is the enemy. Ignorance is the enemy.” —George Lopez
• “You cannot reap what you have not sown. How are we going to reap love in our community, if we only sow hate?” — Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez
• “My mother gave me one piece of advice that stuck with me. She said ‘don’t forget where you came from.’” — Eva Longoria
• “They are afraid of us because we are not afraid of them.” — Berta Cáceres
• “I believe that fortitude is key. More than anything, be consistent. Go at it. Go at it. Go at it. When you succeed, don’t forget the responsibility of making somebody else succeed with you.”— Antonia Novello

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The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

Jackie Garcia, a licensed therapist from the Inland Empire, is helping the Latino community every day on her social media page. She hopes to remove the stigma of seeking mental help. 

“That was really the purpose,” Garcia said. “Like, how can I utilize this space so we can collectively heal together?”

That space is called TherapyLux, founded by Garcia in 2020. 

“We were going through a pandemic and I wanted to also utilize my voice and provide a platform where, you know, the Latinx and the Latinos felt seen,” Garcia said. 

Garcia’s videos are about understanding cycles of generational trauma in the Latino community. 

“Many truths can coexist at the same time,” Garcia said. “Our parents did the best they could with the resources that they had, and sometimes they didn’t meet our emotional needs.” 

While much of social media is a highlight reel, Garcia takes a different approach. 

“I think what has worked has been like when I share about my life and my own struggles and how not only am I a therapist, but I’m also a therapist who goes to therapy,” Garcia said. 

Garcia has been going to therapy since she was 14 years old. She was born in Orange County and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, until the age of 12. 

“And those 12 years as a family, we faced many, many adversities together,” Garcia said.

The struggle only continued when her family moved back to Southern California and tried to adjust to their new life in Moreno Valley. 

“I was in middle school and all of my behaviors and symptoms started showing,” Garcia said. “My dad was the brave one who said, ‘I think we can’t do it alone — we may have to seek professional help,’” Garcia said.

Garcia said that her father started “breaking the cycle” — one that is not easily broken. 

“I went no-contact with my parents and I was running away from that home,” Garcia said. “To find out this year, this year I was like, ‘Dad, I need you — Dad, I need you.’”

Those who have tried know that healing can be a rollercoaster. After years of therapy, Garcia has decided to pay it forward by becoming a therapist herself. 

She wants others in the Latino community — her primary clientele — to understand that “when you work on yourself and you implement change, your whole environment tends to change with you.”

“It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK to not have it figured out. It’s OK to cry,” Garcia said. “And you can go to therapy even if you just want to get to know yourself and to know your self-discovery journey. It doesn’t have to be a crisis, right?” 

Garcia is grateful to her parents for starting her own healing journey, one that she believes she will always be on.

“I love them and they’re rooting for me right now,” Garcia said. “Love you, mom. Love you, dad. Gracias.” 

Richard Cabral co-owns Tepito Coffee and Tea House in Pasadena. The shop is located in Vroman’s Bookstore on Colorado Boulevard. 

Cabral’s look alone tells his story, but he’s writing his future his own way. 

“My family has been involved in gangs since the 1970s, and I, too, would be involved in gangs,” Cabral said. “At age 13, I started my incarceration.”

In and out of prisons at age 25, Cabral’s sentence could have solidified his family’s legacy. 

“I was arrested for attempted murder for shooting another gang member in East Los Angeles and facing 35 years to life,” Cabral said. “I got five years in prison and ended up at the organization Homeboy Industries.”

Homeboy Industries is where Cabral said he met his true father figure and founder of Homeboy Industries, Greg Boyle. Boyle shared the importance of Homeboy Industries in one word: “humildad,” or “humility.”

“There it is. You have to start with humility before anything,” Cabral said to Boyle. “I love you, pops.”

Before co-owning Tepito Coffee and Tea House, Cabral worked as a baker at Homeboy Industries, where a Hollywood casting agent spotted him about 10 years ago.

“That’s where my first TV show, “Southland,” came — that was my first acting gig,” Cabral said. “That would change the trajectory of my life.”

Cabral’s IMDB profile boasts dozens of his credits, one of the more recent being his work on Peacock’s “Twisted Metal.” However, Cabral doesn’t think his story is unique, and believes “there are millions of my stories in America.”

Cabral was born and raised in East LA in what he calls a broken community and home. He said Homeboy Industries taught him to accept the things he could not change. 

“There’s these circumstances where as a child you have no choice but to know life is gonna be hard, right?” Cabral said. “And understanding that sometimes it wasn’t my fault — it wasn’t my fault my mom was an alcoholic, it wasn’t my fault that my dad left me, right?”

Cabral found power in accepting what he called “hard truths” and is now the master of his own story. 

“It doesn’t matter where my life started, it matters where my life ends, and I get to determine how I dictate this story now,” Cabral said.

Cabral’s mission with Tepito Coffee is personal. He said his whole philosophy changed when he had his first pour-over, and that he had “been drinking coffee wrong all this time.”

“I felt that if anybody should be making coffee in our community, at this high-end, gentrified level, it should be the ones from this community. It’s very simple,” Cabral said. “I’m proud of where my people come from. I know the beauty of my people. I felt that that was missing right here.”

While Cabral still has his American dream in Hollywood, his taste buds remain authentically Angeleno. 

“I couldn’t have done this without the people and specifically the people of Los Angeles,” Cabral said. 

With their talent and leadership, these Californians encompass the richness of Hispanic culture and inspire others to follow their dreams and achieve similar success.

You can watch their amazing stories in our “Celebrating Hispanic Heritage” special in the player above. You can also read and watch more inspiring and remarkable stories of Hispanic success in the Celebrating Hispanic Heritage section of our website.

Alejandra Campoverdi’s memoir, “First Gen,” is about the pressure and guilt that comes from being first generation. 

“First generation can be first-generation American, first-generation college student, first generation to break a cycle of poverty,” Campoverdi said. “It means you are the first to cross a threshold and that could be physical, societal or emotional.”

Campoverdi shared her story with students at Scripps College in Claremont — a story of being raised in Los Angeles by a single mother who immigrated from Mexico, being on welfare, attending the University of Southern California and landing a job at the White House under former President Barack Obama. 

“I did go to USC and later to Harvard and worked for President Obama in the White House before running for Congress myself — but when I say it quickly like that, it sounds so smooth and linear,” Campoverdi said. “And that’s the point of the book, that all the spaces in between those bullet points are where the real story is.”

This story is about dealing with anxiety, guilt and at times “Imposter Syndrome” — leaving those who are first generation to ask themselves how they “fit in” in new spaces and with their families and friends in their home life. Campoverdi said there are also more pressing issues. 

“While Imposter Syndrome really is a thing, let’s also center the financial trauma and the loneliness that these students feel because that’s how we can best support them,” Campoverdi said. 

Campoverdi’s message resonated with students at Scripps College. 

“I’m the eldest daughter, so there was a lot of pressure for me to kind of be the best because in that I opened opportunities for my younger siblings,” student Angeles Soriano said. 

Another student, Reyna Manriquex, touched on showing emotion while being first generation and the stigma surrounding mental health within the Latino community. 

“Growing up, my mom would never allow me to cry or even say how I feel because she would be like, ‘No, you came here — you have to keep pushing, this is all you could do,’” Manriquex said. “But I feel like really nice, like Alejandra being able to talk about it because I feel like we don’t really talk about it.”

Manriquex said that mental health is “very important in the Latino community,” especially because a lot of Latino parents “don’t get it, they say it’s all in your head, but it’s not.”

To better cope with first-generation status, Campoverdi said individuals should remember that their differences from the rest of society are actually “superpowers” that should be emphasized.  

“Because I know when I was at the White House, I eventually worked as the deputy director of Hispanic Media,” Campoverdi said. “And when I was at those tables where I came from, the fact that we had been on Medicaid when I was a child and we were working on healthcare at the time, and my understanding of how to culturally relate to my community, that helped me bring more to the table, that helped me be a more effective contributor.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

Nico Robledo III is training for the Olympic trials later this fall. He said he is most looking forward to “that first bell, the ring, and for me to perform and for me to perform for my people back here in the harbor area, in Wilmington and Southern California and hopefully come back as a champion.”

Robledo III’s father, Nico Robledo Jr., also trained at the Fabela Chavez Center and now coaches his son.

“I’m really proud of him because of his hard work, dedication he puts into the sport,” Robledo Jr. said. 

The boxing club was founded by the late Fabela Chavez, a boxer who sought to create a space for the community that trained athletes in an alternative to other sports. 

Eduardo “Eddie” Rodriguez — who has been running the boxing club for over 30 years — echoed this sentiment.

“Let’s try them in boxing, another type of discipline, which is workout, exercise and take your anger and aggression out on a bag instead of taking it out on the street,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez said he was about 12 or 13 years of age when he began training there, himself. 

Dozens of teenagers from as far as Long Beach are members of the Fabela Boxing Center. But for the Robledos, the Fabela Boxing Center is more than just a place to train. 

Robledo III became emotional when speaking about his mother Sabrina, whom he lost to COVID-19 in 2020. 

“You know, just me seeing her and how she was hopeless and the pain that she was in, it’s nothing compared to what I’m doing,” Robledo III said. “The loss of my mother really pauses me and motivates me to go harder in everything I do — not just boxing, but life in general.”

Robledo Jr. also contracted the illness and was in a coma for months following Sabrina’s passing. Boxing was there to heal him. 

“In my head, I just felt like a bell ring and it’s time to fight — but instead of fighting in the ring, you’re fighting for life,” Robledo III said. “You’re fighting for your parent, your father, and someone that’s been there for you since day one.”

Today, each fight — win or lose — celebrates another milestone for the Robledos in a space welcoming more young men and women to do the same every day. 

Rodriguez hopes that the Fabela Boxing Center will “just keep it going with the community and be available for the community, for the kids to come.”

The historic South Central gem is the culinary home of Chef Gilberto Cetina, who opened Holbox in 2016. 

Cetina received all of his culinary training within El Mercado. His parents opened Chichen Itza — a restaurant dedicated to an authentic Yucatan menu — in 2001. Cetina wanted to broaden his horizons. 

“I would always be playing around with, like, seafood specials and fish things because seafood is something that I’ve always loved,” Cetina said. 

Holbox was originally going to be a simple ceviche bar, but Cetina felt inspired by the space. 

“We added a wood-burning grill, a charcoal grill, and we added entrees, a whole grilled fish,” Cetina said. “We added the grilled octopus, the fish tacos, the grilled fish tacos.”

Cetina did not want to stray too far from his Yucatan roots, but he did want to give customers a more diverse taste of his Mexican heritage. 

“There’s a whole world out there in coastal Mexican cooking that we decided we wanted to explore,” Cetina said. “So now, the menu at Holbox is really a representation of all different coastal regions of Mexico, but interpreted with the ingredients that we have here in Southern California.”

Holbox has a seasonal menu. Its offerings are dependent upon whichever fish are swimming along the California and Baja California coast. 

“There’s a great network of small, family-run fishing boats with co-ops of drivers and producers and farmers with a lot of aquaculture in the Channel Islands,” Cetina said. 

The restaurant received its name from a small island off of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, where Cetina spent much of his childhood and made his “flavor memories.”

“All these memories of going to Grandma’s house and eating pochetto or going out with family members to local restaurants or hitting up the local markets,” Cetina said. “That history that I have with Yucatan is really what I try to pull from to make the food here at Holbox, to take inspiration from those flavors.”

Cetina thinks that Holbox’s food is unique because it is “rooted in my upbringing, in my Mexican-ness.”

This Mexican-ness is showcased in the LA Times 2023 Best Restaurant Award and numerous Michelin rankings. Cetina’s priority, however, is doing Mexican cuisine justice. 

“It is one of the great foods of the world, and I think exploring it as a Mexican, for me, is super important,” Cetina said. “I don’t think I could convey the same passion through my food that I do if I was doing any other kind of food, because this is who I am.”

While everyone’s getting hyped for spooky season by snapping up Halloween costumes and pumpkin-scented everything, Jessica Alba is busy crafting plans for her family’s ofrenda.

With Día de Muertos coming up Nov. 1 and 2, “We celebrate everyone who’s passed,” the actress explained of the tradition in an exclusive interview with E! News’ Francesca Amiker. “I also have a wall in my house with all of our family members, our ancestors.”

Among the photos hanging in the Los Angeles-area home she shares with husband Cash Warren, 44, and their kids Honor, 15, Haven, 12, and Hayes, 5: Great-grandfather Daniel Martinez, who had grown frustrated by having to send his darker-skinned children to Mexican schools “while those with light skin and blonde or red hair were allowed to attend schools with white students,” Alba outlined in a 2016 PopSugar essay, and decided to open his own East Barrio School for Latinos in Claremont, Calif.

Photos: Jessica Alba Through the Years

Then there’s her grandfather José Alba, who practiced traditional Mexican dance and became a classical guitarist and her grandmother Isabel Martinez who deftly earned her GED, helped support the family while her husband was in school and “raised generations of family in their home,” shared the 42-year-old. “She’s my icon of resourcefulness, determination, and drive. Basically, she’s the ultimate boss.”

And, yes, if Alba’s being, um, honest, she knows she owes a piece of her billion-dollar brand to all the bosses who came before her.

“I stand on the shoulders of giants who sacrificed so much for me to be here,” The Honest Company cofounder, who largely grew up in her grandmother’s California home, told E! News. “And it’s an honor that I get to be here and live out this reality because my grandparents sacrificed so much for my father and his siblings and then for me to be here.”

It’s particularly meaningful when she considers the “wild racism” they had to contend with (as a kid, her grandfather couldn’t swim in a public pool without first showing a certificate of vaccination). “So for them to come out head high and pushing through,” said Alba, it makes everything that she’s been able to accomplish feel that much more poignant.

So, yes, while she’ll be enjoying her share of pan dulce cookies this Hispanic Heritage Month (both the conchas and menudo were on the menu at her family’s Sunday dinners), “Celebrating our culture and our family is an everyday thing,” Alba explained, “because that’s who we are. We’re always surrounded by our culture and our community and the family and the traditions.”

For the actress, that means never missing a moment to highlight Latinx entrepreneurs and other small businesses (among her faves: La Monarca Bakery, apparel brand Viva La Bonita and Chicago gift shop Colores Mexicanos). It’s a mission that led to Honest’s recent collaboration with bilingual board book brand Lil’ Libros, their sugar skull-adorned diapers just one of many offerings on display at BabyList‘s new experiential shopping space in L.A.

“I would say the ethics and values I embedded in Honest—that family being there for people no matter what, especially when they’re down—that’s very Mexican or how I grew up Mexican,” Alba explained, adding she’s “very proud” to have grown her brand in that vision.

That mindset is also something she’s working to instill in her children, Alba sharing how she’s impressed upon them, “You always help out your neighbor, you always try and put yourself in their shoes.”

And she never misses an opportunity to remind her crew of the hard work that went into affording their fancy kicks.

“I have been fortunate enough that I’ve been able to actually bring a kid along on business trips,” Alba explained. “I actually like my kids to see me working and I want them to see what it’s like.” And while that might mean, say, a trip to Paris filled with top-notch room service, sightseeing and watching the French Open, she noted, “sometimes they’ll sit in the corner and I’m doing a boring meeting.”

The goal, she continued, is “getting them outside of that everyday routine and having them see your life isn’t free. There’s a cost. There’s things that we have to do as parents in order for you to have what you have.”

Because Alba was brought up in the same neighborhood where her great-grandfather opened a school that proudly taught Mexican history—both an hour east and a world away from where she and Warren are raising their brood.

“I didn’t grow up with this,” she acknowledged, referencing the red carpet events, vacations and Beyoncé concerts her kids get to enjoy. “I had to create this for myself and my husband had to create this for himself. And I think it’s good for your kids to connect with what that means. Because our kids are living a very different life than how we grew up.”

Thankfully, the rich history remains.

For voice over actor Angelines Santana, it’s all the same — she loves her job dubbing over voices in films and television shows.

“I started acting was 3-and-a-half. Then I started to do radio when I was 7, and dubbing I started to do when I was 12 years old,” Santana said. “When they asked us to come and sit down and learn the craft, to me it was unbelievable. Like, what do you mean? That you can put your voice into this? A famous actress. I want to do that.”

Santana was hooked. 

Growing up in Mexico City, she began to grow a name for herself in the dubbing world for playing the lead roles in major films translated for Spanish-speaking audiences.

Soon, Santana decided it was time to bring her talents to Los Angeles, where she works to this day.

“In Los Angeles, it was a whole world of dubbing already going on, so to me was like coming back home,” Santana explained. “Then I started to work, right away. And two days after I moved to Los Angeles, I was already working in a dubbing studio because they knew of me.”

The move to Southern California would lead to roles such as Dr. Ellie Sattler in “Jurassic Park,” Jenny from “Forrest Gump.”

She is currently playing Helen Mirren’s lead role in the show “1923.”

Back in the day, it was a career that rarely earned her any notoriety, but that has certainly changed in the social media era.

“Nobody supposed to know that you dubbed X, Y, or Z. No. Until social media that all the fans were like, we know who’s dubbing what,” Santana explained. “It’s very impressive how before we were very anonymous and now with social media, we can connect with the world. We can connect with all Latin America because our work comes to every country that speaks Spanish.”

As she continues her work, Santana appreciates the opportunities she’s received throughout her career to entertain audiences around the world.

“I’m very happy and I’m very proud to be a Latina and being able to work in this country, this amazing country that has embraced us Latinos with so much warmth and love,” she said. “I’m very proud to be part of this Latino community.”

According to Arizona State University Regents Professor Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez, the term gives identity to people who do not feel Mexican or American.

Guerrero, known as “Zarco,” is originally from Mesa, southeast of Phoenix, and says that since he was a child his father and grandfather instilled in him a love for his Mexican culture, art and traditions. However, his identity expanded as he grew older.

How the term ‘Chicano’ came to be

The term “Chicano” was born in the mid-1960s as a symbol of civil, labor and cultural rights for Mexican Americans in response to social oppression.

“The phenomenon of Cesar Chavez, the labor leader, came out, in that social movement the word “Chicano” came out,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero commented that he became more interested in issues related to social justice and equality during his time in high school.

On the other hand, Professor Vélez-Ibáñez indicated that there was a period when the Chicano movement suffered from social inequality.

“In the schools, they demanded that we only speak English. And for every Spanish word in elementary school, they would hit us with a baseball bat,” he said.

It has been of great importance for Guerrero to learn more about his Mexican culture.

“I wanted to go to Mexico and feel that pride I already felt, but I wanted to go to Mexico to learn more,” he added.

Contra Tiempo focuses on dance and music from ancestral traditions in order to stay grounded with their roots. The ancestral roots pertaining to salsa and Afro-Cuban traditional dances. 

Ana Maria Alvarez, the group’s founding director who is Cuban-American, emphasizes that it is important Contra Tiempo demonstrates transparency of their Latin roots and history, 

“Our work is really about building a future of more love and justice through the use of our ancestral technologies, of our dance forms and music forms, the forms that are rooted in our histories and where we come from, specifically Afro Latin ancestral technologies so salsa and Afro Cuban,” Alvarez said.

Jasmine Stanley, who has been with the group for five years, acknowledges that “Azucar” is the story Cruz created about the exploitation of harvesting sugar cane. By creating a dance to the iconic song, Contra Tiempo spreads the awareness of healing and moving forward by adding their own narrative through movements of dance. 

“It’s been rooted in indigenous genocide and in the enslavement of Africans. And again, there’s this way we shy away from that, (right). There is also this incredible anti Blackness inside of Latinidad.” Alvarez reflects on the complex and painful history of the Afro Latino Community for a proactive stance in addressing these issues to create a more equitable and inclusive future. 

In honor of Hispanic Heritage month, Contra Tiempo uses, “The power of her voice, the power of claiming space. Her grito, “azucar” became really like a battle cry for belonging and for empowerment.” Alvarez exemplifies the enduring legacy of Latino culture and its profound influence on Art and activism and the ongoing struggle for social justice in the world today.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

The fifteenth day of September marks the merry and marvelous start of Hispanic Heritage Month, a lively launch that coincides with Mexican Independence Day.

Around Southern California, the ebullient festivities, foods, films, and good times are plentiful, with pop-up art shows, cultural festivals, special screenings, and more offering go-out opportunities through Oct. 15.

What’s happening in your neighborhood, at your favorite museum, or the restaurant you visit almost weekly? Check your local gems out before making for…

DTLA, where the kick-off to Hispanic Heritage Day will take place on Sept. 15. “El Grito” gladness will be in the air, starting at Los Angeles City Hall, where a civic ceremony will take place, followed by live music at Gloria Molina Grand Park.

The Latino Heritage Month Parade and Festival is a glad-hearted gathering that will bring the party to Pasadena on Sept. 16. The parade starts at N. Los Robles Avenue and Buckeye Street with a conclusion at City Hall, where the fiesta will take place. Find several fun library activities, throughout the month, on this Pasadena-focused page, too.

The Pacific Wheel, at Pacific Park at Santa Monica Pier, will shimmer with symbols and hues that honor the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15 and 16, beginning around sundown. Can’t make it to the ocean? Check out the webcam.

A Place Called Home… will greet the first weekend of Hispanic Heritage Month with theater, community, and a Sept. 16 block party. “El Centro Del Sur Latinx Theater Festival 2023: Tu Hogar” is festively unfurling through Sept. 17, with a host of local theater companies playing a part.

Sep 14, 2023

Things to do this weekend: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month Sep 1, 2023

What is Hispanic Heritage Month and why is it celebrated?

Classical California KUSC Kids Discovery Day presented by Classical California KUSC, will visit Plaza De La Raza on Oct. 1 for a day of learning, instruments, and “Guitar Discovery” helmed by McCabe’s Guitar Shop. The music-focused festivity, held in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, is free.

MainPlace Mall, where the Hispanic Heritage Celebration will kick up its heels on Sept. 23. Flamenco dancers will call upon the Santa Ana shopping center, as well as folklorico performers, while giveaways, crafting fun, and more merriment fill the sweet-of-spirit schedule.

The Bowers Museum, that Santa Ana treasure, which is putting “a twist” on Hispanic Heritage Month. “Professional musician and teaching artist Martin Espino” will offer “… his sonic vision of the Chicano experience” at the historical institution on Sept. 16. “ELECTRA AZTECA Live!” begins at noon.

La Monarcha Bakery & Cafe, a delicious favorite that features several spots around town (think Highland Park, South Pasadena, and beyond), always pays tasty homage to Hispanic Heritage Month, but what treats will you choose? The colorful Mexican flag conchas are popular choices.

“Coco” is traveling into the ethereal world, with charm, joy, and an amazing alebrije named Pepita, starting on Sept. 15 at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. A fan event on the beloved animated film’s opening day will feature performances by Mariachi Divas and Ballet Folklórico de los Ángeles.

Ovation Hollywood, which is just across Hollywood Boulevard from the El Cap, will offer live music every Friday afternoon during Hispanic Heritage Month. Just head to the shopping destination’s central courtyard at 4 p.m. to see and move to a host of performers, all for free.

El Pueblo de Los Angeles, the celebratory spot for “Fiestas Patrias Olvera” on Sept. 17. Tunes and entertainment are at the heart of the free party, as is health education and plenty of places to purchase food. “International Braceros Day” happens at El Pueblo on Sept. 16.

Hola México Film Festival, a cinematic gem that will return for its 15th outing on Sept. 29. The multi-day movie celebration begins in Hollywood with a showing of “Sobreviviendo Mis XV”; other locations, including the Regal Cinemas Live LA, will be featured.

Still, there are a number of financial disparities between Hispanic and Latino Americans and their white peers, especially Latina women. Hispanic women earn a median annual salary of $39,511, compared with a median of $55,330 among white women and $61,740 for white men, according to Labor Department data. 

Additionally, while Latino and Hispanic families have seen their wealth grow by an average of 7% each year over roughly the same time period, according to the Fed’s latest Survey of Consumer Finances, they still have far less than white households.

Hispanic households of any race have a median net worth of around $31,700, compared with $187,300 among white, non-Hispanic households, the most recent Census Bureau data reveals.

The gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic wealth won’t close overnight. But Latina women are moving in the right direction: 52% of Hispanic and Latina investors say they feel more knowledgeable about their investments and retirement planning than they did five years ago according to J.P. Morgan Wealth Management’s 2023 Diverse Investor Study.

Strides in Latina investing

Women broadly feel more confident in their investing decisions than they did five years ago. And what’s more, they’re staying consistent even through some market turbulence — overall, 83% of women are investing the same amount or more in their brokerage accounts compared with last year. That number is around 81% for Hispanic and Latina investors, the survey found.

The financial fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic may have inspired some women to take more steps to protect their families from financial turmoil in the future, Veronica Navarro, head of communications at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, tells CNBC Make It.

Plus, a rise in resources like social media educators and educational initiatives from banks and firms like J.P. Morgan have helped increase financial literacy in historically underserved communities, she says.

“We’re doing better, but not good enough, not where we need to be,” she says.

The idea of generational wealth is about more than just passing down assets, but knowledge too. Navarro, who is Hispanic herself, says in her experience, investing in the stock market was always seen as a huge risk. Her mother, like many others, understood the importance of saving money, but not the power of investing to help grow your money and support your long-term goals.

Getting more Latinas investing can help improve financial literacy in the community because not only are the individual investors learning and seeing the impact of having money invested, but they take those lessons home to their kids or older relatives to help them learn as well. Navarro highlights the fact that families — especially white ones — with long lines of generational wealth grow up talking about investing “around the dinner table.”

Since that’s not the case for many Hispanic and Latino folks, financial institutions and advisors need to “know how to approach this community, how to talk to this community, what type of products you need to serve this community because they are different — not all investors are the same,” Navarro says.

What sets Latina investors apart

Compared with men, women investors are more likely to report investing to help support their families. This is even more true for Latina and Black women investors, the survey found. 

Building wealth to pass down to future generations was cited as a motivation for why 68% of Latina and 61% of all women investors got started. Further, 70% of Latina investors say they do so to help support their family and friends, compared with just 56% of all women who say the same.

“Why do we invest? We did see that Latinos do because we want to support the family,” Navarro says.

Hispanic households are less likely than white ones to have a variety of different assets including homes, stocks and retirement accounts, according to Census Bureau data. It’s encouraging to see a growing number of Latino investors beginning to build their own portfolios, but there’s still room for improvement.

Fearing that they don’t have enough money to get started is one of the primary reasons people aren’t investing, Navarro says. But she wants to dispel that myth and encourage everyone, especially Latina women, to invest what they can, even if it’s not a lot of money.

“Investing is not [just] for the rich,” Navarro says.

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Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated Veronica Navarro’s first name.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

Cheetos Flamin’ Hot, or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos as they’re colloquially called, have transcended grocery store aisles and become a cultural icon for Latinos, even spawning entire TikTok characters.

“There are so many U.S. Hispanic consumers that love this type of flavor palate that there was no way they could go wrong with these types of products,” said Marina Filippelli, the CEO of Orci, a multi-segment advertising and marketing agency in Los Angeles.

Filippelli doesn’t work on the Frito-Lay brand’s marketing, but she’s spent enough time — more than 25 years — in the multicultural marketing industry to know what U.S. Hispanic consumers like to eat. And spicy snacks are one of those things.

“U.S. Hispanics really over-index in spicy snacks, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos as well as Takis and all of the other smaller brands,” Filippelli said. “[Flamin’ Hot Cheetos] seem to have a very strong foothold, and I think they just really understand the power of their brand.”

What makes them so popular?

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos entered the U.S. market in the early 1990s, and it’s precisely the timing of their arrival that helped make them so popular among U.S. Latinos.

“You know, it wasn’t easy to just go to the regular convenience store or the regular supermarket and pick up something like that. At the time, in the 90s, we mainly had the basic potato chip flavors and maybe tortilla chips — and maybe Doritos with cheese,” according to Filippelli.

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were the first spicy snack to be mass-marketed to Americans. And it was the spicy, chili powder profile that attracted Latinos, especially those of Mexican descent.

“Mostly Mexican-American, but a lot of U.S. Hispanics come from countries where they’re used to a different palate,” Filippelli explained. “They’re used to different flavors, particularly in Mexico. Obviously, [they have] a lot of spicy flavors in the food, and so there was an opportunity to really get in the space and take hold because there really wasn’t anything [similar] that was coming to the U.S. at that time.”

At the same time the spicy snack entered the American market, the U.S. was seeing a boom in its Mexican population. From 1990 to 2000, the population of foreign-born Mexicans more than doubled to 9.2 million people, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Today, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is part of the $262.2-billion-a-year savory snacks industry in the United States. Information on Flamin’ Hot is difficult to find, but in a 2022 interview with Eater, Frito-Lay said the spicy snack segment had grown 12% in the last four years. The company also said over 50% of Americans had tried Flamin’ Hot Cheetos at some point. We reached out to Frito-Lay for comment on this story but did not hear back.

“[Frito-Lay has] incorporated Hot Cheetos — and the brand — and then the product itself into different areas of consumer’s lifestyles,” said Filippelli. One way it has done that is with the dust.

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Hot Cheetos dust

If you’ve talked to anyone who has eaten Hot Cheetos recently, one dead giveaway would be their fingers. The chips are known to leave a stubborn red dye on the fingers of the person eating them.

The grainy red dust quite literally leaves a mark, and it’s something entrepreneurs, namely those in the food business, have capitalized on. There are Hot Cheeto corn dogs, Hot Cheeto elote, Hot Cheeto sushi and even Hot Cheeto cookies. One Southern California restaurateur didn’t think twice before incorporating Hot Cheetos into his Mediterranean-Mexican fusion restaurant in Downey, Calif.

“The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos [idea] came about from my daughter, Fatima,” Ali Elreda, the owner of Fatima’s Grill, said. “One day she just said, ‘Why don’t you try throwing some Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on something?’ It took some time. It took a lot of bags of tortillas to be thrown away because we didn’t really perfect it the way we wanted to perfect it.”

But once they perfected it, it was a hit. The result? A Flamin’ Hot Cheetos burrito loaded with carne asada, sour cream, cilantro and nacho cheese.

“We have people that fly in from Chicago,” Elreda said. “We have people that come in from London, from Canada. People take the drive from Fresno. We think that it’s not just from Instagram and whatnot, but our TikTok presence is just insane. You know, with 1.1 million followers. We live in a generation now where we eat, sleep and drink off of our phone and people want to be like this, do this and eat like that.”

One customer named Monica said she drove two hours because her daughter saw the restaurant’s food on social media.

“Growing up, that’s what we had, Hot Cheetos,” said Monica. “That was a thing. We had a lot of Mexican food, spicy salsa. We might as well have permanent red fingers.”

Because of the success of the burrito, Elreda decided to incorporate Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on birria tacos, burgers and basically any item customers want the spicy red snack on. The restaurant offers the Cheetos in ground form, but it also has menu items, like the burrito, where the Cheetos maintain their original shape.

The ‘Hot Cheeto’ girl

While it may not be a surprise Flamin’ Hot Cheetos has taken off in the food space, what may be surprising is how it’s given rise to social media content creators. The recognizable yellow-orange-red bag can be seen playing a leading role in popular TikToks.

“I was like, ‘I have to include Hot Cheetos in there because people are going to relate so much,'” said Marlene Mendez, a content creator who goes by @MarleneDizzle on social media. Mendez is referring to one of the first skits she posted on Twitter in 2020.

In the video, Mendez is holding a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, playing the role of a high school student who is FaceTiming with her friend, played by Adam Martinez, a content creator who goes by @AdamRayOkay. The two students are gossiping about a foul smell in the classroom before they notice another student looking at them. Mendez’s character asks the student, “What the [expletive] are you looking at?” visibly upset. At no point does Mendez stop eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. This, according to Mendez, embodies the “Hot Cheetos girl” persona many Latinos went to school with.

“You would always see someone eating Hot Cheetos, at like, at seven in the morning,” Mendez said. “I think it’s also the way she would act, the way she would talk, the how she would dress up — her hair and everything. So in my videos, I would crunch up my hair because that’s what I used to do in high school, too.”

“She’s spunky, she’s sassy, she says funny things — but she’s also smart and she’s got her stuff together,” said Filippelli. “The ‘Hot Cheeto girl’ is a bit of a stereotype, right? But I think a lot of a lot of women content creators are trying to make it their own.”

It’s a stereotype Mendez thinks she can lean into because she was the Hot Cheeto girl at her school growing up.

“I would eat Hot Cheetos for breakfast and people would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, Well, it’s like 7 or 8 a.m.’ And I’m like, okay, but I haven’t eaten breakfast. I’m eating breakfast.”

It’s a character that has resonated with Mendez’s viewers. So much so, it effectively made her social media famous, helping launch the full-time career Mendez now has as a content creator.

“Everybody loved her. I think Hot Cheetos were the first chips that we — I mean, I grew up with Hot Cheetos. That was my first bag of chips, I think. I don’t remember trying any other bag of chips, like Fritos or Lay’s.”

Perhaps it’s these larger-than-grocery-aisle icons that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos has inspired that has made the brand a culturally significant one for many Latinos.

“I think it’s really interesting that when you look at how [Flamin’ Hot Cheetos] is branding themselves today, how they’re doing their marketing today, they really have understood their consumer group and where people are. So while they are using big-brand, known names like a Bad Bunny to appeal to U.S. Hispanics, you can get you get the sense that they’re also really encouraging their own consumers to speak for them.”

This story was originally published on June 16, 2023.

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In just two generations, the number of bilingual people in the U.S. doubled to an estimated 23% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. and Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center.

So it’s no surprise that the next generation of U.S. Hispanics is being influenced by the changing linguistic landscape.

Among Gen Z-ers ages 16-25, a whopping 70% report using Spanglish.

What is Spanglish?

Spanglish is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a mix of both Spanish and English.

It’s informal by nature and is usually reserved for conversing with family and friends. It’s a practice of mixing words from both languages to create a sort of fusion language.

Third and higher generations are more likely to utilize it.

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What are some examples of Spanglish?

Stringing words together from both languages to form sentences, interchanging a word from Spanish when the speaker has forgotten what the word is in English, creating new words inspired by the word’s origin language, spelling words in Spanish so that they sound how they would be pronounced in English… these are all examples of Spanglish.

• “Pero like, how can you do that?” Translation: “But like, how can you do that?”

• “Ahí te watcho.” Correct Spanish: “Ahí te veo.” In this example, “watcho” is a word that was created in Spanglish that is a combination of the English word “watch” as in “see” and the Spanish adjective ending in ‘o.’
• “Parquear” – English/Spanish combination of the words “park” as in to park a car and “estacionar.”
• “Airdropear” – Words created in English like “Airdrop” have been adapted to “airdropear.”

When was Spanglish created?

Spanglish isn’t something Pitbull or Selena Quintanilla created. The hybrid language’s origins date back to the 19th century after the Mexican-American war culminated in large swaths of Mexico becoming part of the United States.

We have early written and oral versions of Spanglish that show up in places like Los Angeles, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston.

Dominican Spanglish is found in New York and Cubonics (Spanglish spoken by Cuban Americans) in Miami.

Where is Spanglish prevalent?

Where Spanglish has seen the most growth is the internet with Instagram and TikTok becoming goldmines for Spanglish content.

Creators like Jenny Lorenzo, LeJuan James and Jonathan Chavez have racked up hundreds of thousands of followers by tapping into Latin culture and weaving Spanglish into their content.

Latin music has exploded in the U.S. with artists like Bad Bunny reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Artist chart last year despite primarily recording his songs in Spanish.

Audiences that resonate with the bicultural experience are connecting with artists that are using Spanglish in their music.

In an interview with NBC LX, Becky G spoke about how she took her “pocha” Spanish and her Inglewood, California English and turned it into a wildly successful career.

A pocha is slang often used as a derogatory word for a Mexican-American with a limited Spanish vocabulary that speaks with a clear Americanized accent.

Rather than be shamed by other Latinos for a lack of Spanish proficiency, Becky G straddles the line of the two languages and has made Spanglish her own.

“I have dreams in Spanglish, I think in Spanglish. It’s a literal lifestyle,” she said.

Her single, “Sin Pijama,” was the second-most-viewed music video in 2018.

“We’re not doing the crossover, we are the crossover,” she said.

Becky G says the second and third generations identify with their Latinidad while also embracing their American culture growing up in the U.S.

“Nowadays you don’t have to choose.”

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The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

It starts in the corn fields of Michoacan, Mexico, as José Hernández looks up into the sky in wonder, and it ends two hours later with him 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.

“Tell me something,” his cousin tells him. “Who better than a migrant? Somebody who knows what it’s like to dive into the unknown. Who better than that?”

Biopics with outsized heroes can lay it on thick, but “A Million Miles” manages to keep its hero’s feet firmly on earth before his space shot, largely thanks to star Michael Peña as Hernández and Rosa Salazar as his wife. They keep their characters’ humanity even as the soundtrack and visuals blast off. He may be an astronaut, but someone still needs to take out the trash.

Screenwriters Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez and Alejandra Márquez Abella — who base their story on Hernández’s memoir — tell a linear story of a gifted young man who is helped along the way by a teacher, his parents and his extended family. He is rejected so many times from NASA that he keeps all their letters in a folder.

Everyone sacrifices for Hernández to eventually become a mission specialist: His parents stop moving from field to field and lose their home, his wife delays her dreams of opening a restaurant and Hernández himself misses the birth of a child and spends endless hours away preparing. As an engineer, he is mistaken for a janitor at his first day at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“A Million Miles” is wisely more about one man’s obsession and nicely touches on topics like racism, assimilation, deferred dreams, family guilt and dedication. “Tenacity is a superpower,” he is told and that’s a pretty great lesson amid all these superhero flicks.

In many ways, the movie is an outsized twin to another biopic this year — “Flamin’ Hot,” the story of how a struggling but tenacious Mexican American janitor came up with the hit snack Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. “A Million Miles” even has a scene with a bowl of Doritos.

Alejandra Márquez Abella directs with assurance and there are some truly elegant touches, like when a box of paperwork dissolves to become a box of field crops or when the camera captures Hernández as a boy in the family car and then seamlessly shows him all grown up in a car following.

But the director also threatens to lay it on thick, like adding the image of a Monarch butterfly floating in the space shuttle — a symbol from the film’s first frames but one that feels labored by the time zero-gravity has been reached. We’ve already had a shot of farmworkers gazing up in their field as his shuttle streaks heaven-ward.

Better are the scenes in which Hernández tries to make himself typical NASA material, like trading in his Impala for something more suburban, eating sandwiches at work — not enchiladas — and giving up blasting Mexican music for Rick Astley. “I think you’re trying to forget who you are,” he is told.

There is a scene later with no dialogue that soars because we’ve watched Hernández persist for so long: Seeing him drive through the NASA headquarters front gate with a Los Tigres del Norte song blaring from his truck and a smile on his lips.

Peña almost underplays his hero — a smart move and nicely done — but Salazar threatens to steal the film completely as a strong, loving, stressed-out mother and wife. “We grew up watching our people make sacrifices. It’s on us now,” she says.

Toward the end, he shows up at her restaurant in one of those coveted blue astronaut coveralls for the first time after being chosen to fly to space and is promptly sent to the kitchen. They are a dishwasher down, after all, and he needs to put in a shift, NASA or not. That perfectly captures this sweet, loving and worthwhile portrait of a family’s grit.

“A Million Miles Away,” an Amazon Prime Video release, is rated PG for “thematic elements and language.” Running time: 120 minutes. Three stars out of four.

The physician grew up in the Ramona Gardens housing project in Boyle Heights.

“It’s a neighborhood that is known for lots of negative influences, lots of gang violence and substance abuse, poverty.” said Rodriguez.

That environment took the lives of both Rodriguez’s sister and cousin.

“They are the unfortunate realities of many people who grow up in a similar environment,” said Rodriguez. “Thinking about the different types of paths that are laid out in front of you, I knew that for me, I didn’t want to follow along that path.”

Rodriguez created his path, graduating as valedictorian at Wilson High School, then went to Standford University and graduated from medical school at UCLA.

Rodriguez is the first in his family to attend college, an achievement he says he owes to his parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of the American dream.

“My dad, he came to this country in his early 20s in search of what America promised. Opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “Even though he didn’t have a formal education, he made sure that he instilled in his kids the importance of an education. Knowing that if you’re in the United States and you work hard, you go through school, get an education, then that just opens up the doors.”

Rodriguez is now paying it forward, leading Kaiser’s Hippocrates Circle Program which inspires underrepresented youth, many of them Hispanic Americans like himself, to become doctors.

“It’s really fulfilling to be able to be part of this program for me to see them and see them not just as kids who have a dream, but to see them and say, I understand that dream,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I see these kids, I see myself in them.”

Rodriguez tells his students anything is possible, something his parents told him, a young kid from the projects who dared to dream big.

“It is a point of pride when you think about just that type of resilience, perseverance, that desire to dream, to, to try to get better than what you were born into,” said Rodriguez.

Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than other races, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Per the association, the disease is also more often diagnosed in its later stages among Latinos, due in part to a lack of access to health care. 

The bilingual campaign aims to help Hispanics recognize the difference between typical signs of aging and symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

“I encourage those loved ones that are usually the first to notice when something may be off about their loved one,” said Yarissa Reyes, the director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Alzheimer’s Association. “We want to be able to make sure that they recognize the early warning signs, and that they can open up a conversation with their loved ones and possibly with their medical providers as well.”

The campaign — titled “Some Things Come with Age” — launched last week ahead of the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15. It also includes online bilingual resources such as a list of detection signs, like memory loss that disrupts daily life, difficulty completing familiar tasks, losing the ability to retrace steps and other warnings.

The goal is to help families recognize these signs and provide medical access that can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. 

“Alzheimer’s disease in the Hispanic community tends to be diagnosed at the later stages,” Reyes said. “And usually, it’s a combination of different factors, but we know that there are barriers to accessing care. And we also know that the Hispanic community in particular tends to wait until there’s an emergency or something’s really wrong before they seek a diagnosis. And with this campaign, we’re hoping to change that mindset.”

Come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and enjoy a mocha, latte or cafecito with Lynette Romero, Belen de Leon, Robin Winston, Adrian Arambulo, from NBC4’s Today in LA morning newscast and Sandra O’Neill, Grecia Carrillo and Marcos Mora from Noticiero Telemundo 52 a las 5 a.m. y 6 a.m.

The release of four new stamps featuring colorful piñatas coincides with a monthlong recognition of Hispanic heritage in the U.S. and the start of an annual festival in New Mexico where the handmade party favorites are cracked open hourly and children can learn the art of pasting together their own creations.

Piñatas are synonymous with parties, although their history is layered and can be traced to 16th century trade routes between Latin America and Asia and the efforts of Spanish missionaries to convert Indigenous communities to Christianity. It was through dance, music and the arts — including the making of piñatas — that biblical stories were spread throughout the New World.

Piñatas became a key part of celebrating Las Posadas — the festivities held each December in Mexico and other Latin American countries to mark the birth of Christ. The religious origins are evident in the classic piñata designs of the seven-point star and the burro, or donkey, said Cesáreo Moreno, chief curator at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

“Those early missionaries really were creative in the ways in which they wanted to teach the biblical stories to the Indigenous people,” Moreno said. “Nativity scenes, piñatas, posadas — all those things really worked well. They worked so well that they became a part of the popular culture of Mexico.”

And they still are part of the Mexican and larger Hispanic communities, whether it’s in Chicago, San Antonio or Los Angeles, he said.

“Culture has no borders. Wherever community gathers, they have their culture with them. They bring it with them and so the piñata is no different,” he said.

Piñatas imported from Mexico line parts of Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. In Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, people have turned their kitchen tables and garages into makeshift piñata factories, turning out custom shapes for birthday parties and special events.

Inside Casa de Piñatas in Albuquerque, giant characters hang from the ceiling and crowd the walls. For more than half his life, shop owner Francisco Rodríguez has been bringing to life super heroes, dinosaurs, sea creatures and other animals with strips of old newspaper and a simple paste of flour and water.

Some customers come from El Paso, Texas, and others from as far away as Michigan.

Rodríguez stared out the window, watching traffic zip by as he waited for his work to dry. With residue still on his apron and the fans blowing, he contemplated the future of the industry, hoping the next generation will take an interest in the craft.

He said many older piñata artists have retired or closed up their shops and he’s concerned the materials needed — like newspapers — will be harder to get as more things go digital.

It’s likely piñatas will keep evolving as they have over the centuries. No longer are they made from clay ollas — used for hauling water or storing food — that would make a loud pop when cracked. Gone are the shards that would litter the ground as children scrambled for the tangerines, pieces of sugar cane and candy that poured out.

The stamps were inspired by the childhood memories of graphic designer Victor Meléndez, who grew up in Mexico City and remembers spending days with cousins and other relatives making piñatas to celebrate Las Posadas. His mother also would make piñatas for birthdays.

“That’s a dear, dear memory of just fun and happiness,” he told The Associated Press as he took a break from painting a mural in Seattle. “And I wanted to show a little bit of that and pay homage to some of those traditions.”

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Meléndez’s artwork also is influenced by the colors of homes in Mexico — bright pinks and deep blues, yellows and oranges.

Getting chosen by the U.S. Postal Service to design the stamps was certainly a dream project for Meléndez, who is known for his murals and design work for Starbucks. He’s been a longtime fan of stamp work, having collected what he described as a ton of little bits of paper just because he likes the art.

Meléndez hopes the new stamps will ignite conversations and encourage people to learn about other cultures. They might discover they have more in common, he said.

“In the end, I feel that there must be a connection and there must be some sort of mutual understanding,” he said. “That eventually leads to better relations and more people being happy without fighting.”

Here are five things to know about Hispanic Heritage Month, its history and why we celebrate it in the middle of September.

What is Hispanic Heritage Month?

It’s a national celebration to honor the history, culture and influence of past generations who came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The observance started in 1968 under President Lyndon Johnson’s administration as a one-week celebration called Hispanic Heritage Week. Years later, President Ronald Reagan proposed extending this celebration into a month-long event. It was enacted into law on Aug. 17, 1988, officially designating the 30-day period starting on Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Why Does Hispanic Heritage Month begin on Sept. 15?

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. The celebration starts mid-month because Sept. 15 marks the independence anniversary of five countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

It is followed by Mexico’s Independence Day on Sept. 16 and Chile’s on Sept. 18. Another important date that falls within this 30-day period is Día de la Raza, or Columbus Day, which is celebrated on Oct. 12.

What does Hispanic mean?

While many people use Latino(a) and Hispanic interchangeably, these two words mean different things. A Hispanic person is someone who comes from, or is a descendant of a Spanish-speaking country. Latino(a) is used when referring to someone who comes from Latin America, or is a descendant from any Latin American country.

A person can be both Hispanic and Latino(a), but not all Latinos are Hispanic. Brazilians, for example, are Latinos, but their native language is not Spanish. Conversely, not all Hispanics are Latino(a). Spaniards are considered Hispanic, but not Latinos, since they are part of the European Union. 

Hispanic countries are: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Latin American countries are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadaloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

How many Hispanics are there in the U.S.?

The Pew Research Center says the U.S. Hispanic population is the nation’s second-fastest-growing ethnic group after Asians. The Hispanic population in the U.S. reached a record 62.1 million in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics account for 18.7% of the total U.S. population.

How to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month?

People use this celebration to show the importance of Hispanics in the U.S. by donating to Hispanic charities, eating food from any of the countries that are being celebrated, learning from their cultures and honoring influential Hispanics who have made an impact on society.