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Posts Tagged: Hispanic Heritage Month
Young voices, a new vision for the future of the Latino community
One in four young people in California identifies as Latino. The average age of Latinos is 30 years old, which makes us a relatively young ethnic group compared to others.
This has several implications for society. Youth and the stable growth of the Latino community are changing the social, economic and political fabrics of communities.
In education, schools are adapting to the growing number of Hispanic students by integrating bilingual education and culturally responsive teaching methods.
As communities see growing numbers of cultural festivals, restaurants and media that cater to or are influenced by the Hispanic community, Latinos are more visible, enriching the country's cultural scene and inviting a closer appreciation of Latino cultural heritage.
On the economic front, there also has been an increase in the number of small businesses owned by Latinos. In 2023, the United States Small Business Administration reported 4.5 million small businesses, creating jobs for 2.9 million people. Latinos have become a market segment of great importance for local and national companies.
But not everything is rosy for the Latino community. According to a Statista report published in June, 15.2% of Hispanic families lived below the poverty level in the United States in 2022. This means that these families, despite having one or more jobs, cannot meet some of their basic human needs, which commonly include clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and housing.
The report notes that curbing the high cost of living is the top priority for Latinos between the ages of 18 and 29, followed by job creation and affordable health care.
The road to a Latino community that is genuinely included at all levels of our society is long and challenging. However, we are confident that the younger generations of Latinos have the tools, passion and love for our community to press forward and achieve their goal.
The UC ANR Latinx & Friends Employee Resource Group invites you to join in celebrating Latino contributions and listening to these young voices in a series of Zoom meetings that highlight the important contributions of Latinos and the challenges facing the Latino community.
Friday, Sept. 13, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Hear from UC ANR Vice President Glenda Humiston and keynote speaker Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist and leader of the California Natural Resources Conservation Service, on the impact of Latinos on agriculture, focusing on their vital role in California's agricultural sector.
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Join Brent Hales, UCANR associate vice president for research and Cooperative Extension, and keynote speaker Javier Diego Jacinto, an academic whose activism and scholarly work intersect with language, race, religion and immigration and is rooted in his Mazatec heritage from Oaxaca, Mexico. He will shed light on the profound economic impact and ongoing challenges facing Latinos in the U.S.
Wednesday Oct. 2, 1 – 2 p.m.: Mathew Sandoval, cultural historian and recipient of the 2024 “Public Scholar” award from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will give a presentation on "The True Meaning of the Day of the Dead and the Cultural Appropriation of the Ancient Mexican Celebration."
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 1 – 2:30 p.m.: Hear from Tu Tran, UC ANR associate vice president for business operations. Keynote speaker Erica Alfaro, author and motivational speaker, will speak about the role of education in empowering Latinos, highlighting accomplishments and areas for growth. In 2019, Alfaro became the first woman in her family to earn a graduate degree. Her graduation photo, showing Alfaro in cap and gown standing in a strawberry field with her farmworker parents, went viral and made headlines.
Don't miss these opportunities to celebrate and reflect on the dynamic contributions of Latinos in our community.
Register for the Zoom events at https://ucanr.edu/HHM2024events.
If you would like to download a Zoom background to show your support for Hispanic Heritage Month, visit https://espanol.ucanr.edu/Hispanic_Heritage_Month/Mes_de_la_Herencia_Hispana_2024/Recursos_Resources_720/.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations continue in October
Hispanic Heritage Month began on Sept. 15 and continues through Oct. 15.
October Hispanic Heritage Month events will be in Spanish and will take place via Facebook Live. Follow UC ANR en Español on Facebook.
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 1 – 2 p.m.:
Susana L. Matias Medrano: Healthy living
Susana L. Matias Medrano, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology at Berkeley, will lead a discussion of healthy living, including considerations around obesity and breastfeeding. Susana's research interests include maternal and child nutrition, immigrant health, food security, obesity and diabetes prevention, nutritional and behavioral interventions, and evaluation research.
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1 – 2 p.m.:
UC ANR Global Food Initiative Fellow and UC Riverside doctoral candidate Magda Argueta will discuss her research around ancient Mayan pollinating practices with stingless bees.
Thursday, Oct. 13, 1 – 2 p.m.:
Samuel Sandoval Solis: Climate change effects
For more Spanish-language Hispanic Heritage Month content, including a special Latino playlist, Latino movie recommendations and museum exhibits, visit ANR's Hispanic Heritage Month webpage. If you have questions, contact Ricardo Vela at rvela@ucanr.edu.
The purpose of the celebration is to recognize the contributions and vital presence of Hispanics and Latin Americans in the United States.
UC ANR celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15-Oct. 15
Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 through Oct.15 and Ricardo Vela, manager of UC ANR News & Information Outreach in Spanish, has planned educational activities for colleagues and friends to attend throughout the month.
Each year, UC ANR celebrates the culture and contributions of people whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Latinos comprise 40% of California's population and a growing portion of UC ANR's clientele. Our Latinx colleagues help to customize UC ANR's outreach for the Latino community, from immigrants to native-born citizens.
To start the celebration, the newly formed Latinx & Friends Affinity Group will meet for the first time on Sept. 21. To register, visit https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=38886.
“UC ANR is giving us this fantastic opportunity to share our stories of struggle, success and dreams within a safe space,” Vela said. “This space is open to all of us who are Latinx/Hispanic or of Latinx/Hispanic descent, allies and friends to discuss the many cultural identities.”
The September events will be held via Zoom for UC ANR colleagues:
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 12-1 p.m. Jose Pablo Ortiz-Partida will discuss the results of an environmental justice study he conducted in the San Joaquin Valley. Ortiz-Partida is a senior water and climate scientist for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Events scheduled for October will be conducted in Spanish and open to the public on Facebook Live:
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 1-2 p.m. – Susana Matias, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at Berkeley, will discuss healthy living, obesity and breastfeeding.
Extending UC ANR information in Spanish
As in previous years, UC ANR organized Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month events to celebrate and recognize the contributions of Latinos to the United States. This year, three Zoom forums were held to raise awareness of the struggles of the Latino community in the U.S., their contributions and their future. In addition, three other forums offered the Latino community research-based information in Spanish on youth development, gardening and nutrition. The results were nothing short of amazing.
First, we conducted a survey among News and Information Outreach in Spanish followers on social media. We learned that besides COVID-19, other topics of interest were nutrition, gardening (food sustainability), children's education, finances and employment. After that, we contacted advisors and volunteers of the UC Master Gardener, Nutrition and 4-H Youth Development statewide programs to work together and be our guest speakers at the forums celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
These sessions were held on Oct. 6, 13 and 15 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Right after the forums ended, we emailed an exit survey. The results revealed that 99% of the attendees responded positively to the session, speaker and topic, and 98% said they were interested in participating in other forums on the same topic or other topics. Only 1% of participants indicated that the topic could be treated differently, and 1% reported no interest in attending another forum.
When asked how they learned about the forums, 90% of attendees said they heard about them through our social networks, while 7% said they found out through a friend, and the remaining 3% did not remember how they heard about the sessions.
Among the attendees, 70% did not know about the relationship between UC ANR, the University of California, and UC Cooperative Extension. About 20% said they had vague knowledge about ANR, but did not know about Cooperative Extension. The other 10% said they knew about ANR and had previously participated in classes offered by UCCE, 4-H and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC.
Based on these results, we believe it is crucial to continue approaching the Spanish-speaking community in this way. Therefore, we will start a monthly online workshop introducing the different programs of UC ANR and UCCE.
We also emailed an exit survey to members of ANR and UC who participated in forums on stereotypes, discrimination against Latinos, and migrant Mexican indigenous communities. Only 0.1% of the attendees were not satisfied with the topics or with the invited speakers. While 1.9% indicated that the speaker was fine, but the issue may have been handled differently, 98% of attendees said they were satisfied with the topics and speakers and would return for similar events.
On average, 75 people attended out of the 155 who registered for each session. Signing up for Zoom may have created a barrier to participation. In the future, we will broadcast on Facebook Live, using the platform that many of the people who registered already use.
To see the recordings of the Zoom forums, click on the title below:
Sept. 15 - One size doesn't fit all
Sept. 22 - Indigenous migrant communities – “The forgotten ones in the age of COVID-19”
Sept. 29 - Meet the Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 Honorees
Oct. 6 - Ser mejores padres, cómo hacer de su hijo un líder
Oct. 13 - Cómo tener un huerto casero exitoso
Oct. 15 - El poder de una comida nutritiva
This story was first published in Notas de Nuestra Comunidad. To receive the newsletter, subscribe at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/kBFzwZz/Comunidad.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations continue through October 15
UC ANR continues to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) through Oct. 15, with a series of public Zoom events to create awareness of Latinos' struggles and celebrate their contributions to the U.S. and the world.
Under the slogan “Celebrating Together Hispanic Heritage Month,” we have partnered with volunteers from UC Master Gardeners, 4-H Youth advisors, and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC educators to bring these programs to the Latino community. We have three Zoom forums with topics that we learned are important to Spanish-speaking Latinos.
October 6 Zoom Community Forum in Spanish
“Be Better Parents, How to Make Your Kid a Leader”
Guest Speaker: Claudia Diaz, 4-H youth development advisor
Recording at https://youtu.be/kDk8yF50nnU
October 13 Zoom Community Forum in Spanish
“How to Have a Successful Vegetable Garden”
Guest Speakers: UC Master Gardener volunteers from UCCE Sonoma County
October 15 Zoom Community Forum in Spanish
“The Power of a Nutritional Meal”
Guest Speaker: Susana Matias Medrano, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in nutritional science and toxicology, UC Berkeley
To register, visit https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=35503 or email ucnews.spanish@ucr.edu.
More information at https://ucanr.edu/sites/Spanish/Hispanic_Heritage_Month/Mes_de_la_Herencia_Hispana_2021/Calendario_de_charlas_por_Zoom_999.
For Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month this year, UC ANR is recognizing three Latino professionals who serve their communities while upholding UC ANR's public values of academic excellence, honesty, integrity, and community service. This year the honorees are:
Leticia Christian is a CalFresh Healthy Living, UC educator in Alameda County. As a physician in her native Cuba, she helped people stay healthy and here in California as a nutrition educator she strives to do the same.
Gersain Lopez loves nature and at his job, his passion, commitment and hard work have made him a favorite ag technician at Desert Research and Extension Center.
Liliana Vega is a 4-H youth advisor for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Vega is an avid advocate for the Latinx community and social justice.
