We have just celebrated an entire month of activities related to Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15. Across the United States, companies hold fun, educational, and informative talks, presentations, and events for their employees and the general public.
This is the time when the attention of the country is directed to the positive roles and achievements of Latin Americans. Apart from this month, the media and the general public seem to be fixed on the opposite. Whether it is the protection of the border or undocumented immigrants, and locally, the disaster we are going through in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence due to fires caused by gas explosions, we rarely hear or read stories dealing with our successes.
That’s why we think the International Book Fair that just ended this past Sunday 21, came to fill that gap. Dedicated to the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico, its people and its customs, the book recounts the successes that Puerto Ricans have had in this country, has not only opened its doors to them, which is their country, but to millions of Latin Americans without exception.
“Rio Grande de Loíza! … Big river. Big cry. The greatest of all our island cries, if it were not bigger than that of me, it goes through the eyes of the soul for my enslaved people,” says Julia de Burgos, who received a posthumous tribute, in one of her most famous poems already showing her ideals for the island.
Among the honorees on opening night, we were pleased to see that among them, Ethel Cruz, Carlos Espéndez and Jorge Arce stood out. What can we say about Jorge! We cannot remember how long we have known each other, but certainly remember that we had a chance meeting, precisely in San Juan, while we were filming a video about the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Puerto Rico. Today, we are older, but he has not lost a bit of his musical energy.
All this success has not been by chance or luck. The truth is that during the last 50 years, we have achieved and advanced like never seen before and in our opinion, it is because this country has opened its doors to the opportunities for that progress.
Our colleges and universities continue to graduate Spanish-speaking students every year who then move on to lead large corporations and occupy high-level positions in commerce and industry, as well as politics while being examples for our young people.
We will keep that image of success in mind while we deal with negativity. Our contributions should not be marked only one month throughout the year.
Long live the Hispanidad and Long Live America!
