Celebrate Latinx Heritage Month

SCW joins in the nationwide celebration of Latinx Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) which begins today. This is a time to honor the contributions of the remarkably diverse Latinx people and their struggle for liberation both here in the US and in their countries of origin. The celebration begins in the middle of the month to coincide with the national independence days of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica (all celebrated on September 15), Mexico on September 16, Chile on September 18 and Belize on September 21. 

Sadly, during this time of rising racism against and targeting of Latinx people, it's challenging to celebrate. Here in Central New York, ICE conducted a major attack on Latinx people as they raided a factory producing nutrition bars. After lying to the owners about the reason for coming in, dozens of ICE agents with support from local sheriffs, let the white workers leave and herded the Latinx workers into a large space. Approximately 70 workers were detained with little attention to their actual legal status, five of them had illegally re-entered the US after having been deported. ICE has taken extreme measures to deny them legal representation, contact with family members and any semblance of due process rights. Read more about this assault on our community.

Despite such attacks, we have much to celebrate with our Latinx neighbors. Our culture and communities have been deeply enriched by their contributions. SCW embraces the term “Latinx” to support those seeking to delegitimize patriarchy and support inclusion of non-binary, gender non-conforming and gender-expansive people. “Latinx” also centers the lives of indigenous, Brazilian and other non-Spanish speaking people in this celebration.

¡Juntes si se puede! (Together we can do it!)

Andy Mager
for SCW

PS: Support LatinX and other immigrant communities with our broad selection of related products.

Check out our Spanish language products.