Michelle Feynman
On Friday, Oct. 17, the Upper School came together to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with speeches, performances and cultural booths organized by the Latines Unides affinity group. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, coinciding with the independence days of several Latin American countries.
The assembly began with remarks from senior Danny Lara and juniors Uriel Resendiz and Santi Soto, who discussed how Hispanic and Latino communities are being affected by the ongoing ICE raids in Los Angeles and across the country. “These issues are not new,” said Soto at the assembly, “They’re part of a long history of discrimination that keeps repeating itself in new forms.”
“We heard a really nuanced and honest sharing of what some of those impacts have been from students themselves,” noted Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Michaela Mares-Tamayo, “It was tied into the importance of affirming culture and the contributions that come from this community in particular.”
Afterwards, seniors Alejandro Kohn Rabassa and Atticus van Gundy shared stories about their grandmothers, highlighting the role of generational resilience in Hispanic culture.
Their presentations were followed by senior Anastasia Arrieta, who performed the song “Mexico Lindo y Querido” with her father accompanying her on guitar.
“We asked [Ana’s father] and Ana to be the main performance instead of an outside group because we wanted to hone in on Latino students at Poly,” explained Resendiz.
“It’s good to show people at Poly that this kind of music and culture isn’t just something that older generations practice,” said senior Sofia Flores-Castro. “We have this talent so close to our community, we just don’t have many chances to recognize and share it.”
At the end of the assembly, students poured out into McWilliams courtyard, where they sampled food from booths representing different Hispanic countries. The represented countries included El Salvador, giving out quesadilla salvadoreña, and Cuba, with arroz con frijoles, among others.
“I hope that the assembly next year continues to find that balance of the celebration and the education in it,” shared Mares-Tamayo, “we cannot control the world outside of campus, but we can certainly live our values here and find that space where we value people more than a narrative that’s pushed in the grander climate.”