by Agueda Pacheco Flores
You can’t tell Francisca Garcia’s story without telling the story of her family and her community.
“My mother was, in my view, a giant, a force to be reckoned with,” said her daughter Luna Garcia, between laughs as she recalled her mother. “If she decided something, no matter how outlandish, she made it happen.”
Continue reading Remembering Francisca Garcia: A Pillar of the South End Latino Communityby Mark Van Streefkerk
Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month (NHHM), a celebration of Latin American people, histories, and cultures. The monthlong observance starts in the middle of the month to commemorate the Sept. 15 anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Independence days for Mexico and Chile are Sept. 16 and 18, respectively.
Seattle and surrounding areas have a number of festivals, author events, live entertainment, and other observances to honor our diverse Latine communities. From SeaMar’s Fiestas Patrias celebrations to the Seattle Latino Film Festival to El Centro de la Raza’s 50th Anniversary, there are many ways to celebrate.
Explore Latine music through a Spotify playlist curated by the Seattle Theater Group, STG Selecciones Vol. 1, featuring artists from around the world as well as bands from the Pacific Northwest like Tres Leches, Mala Suerte, Acapulco Lips, Sávila, and Wild Wild Mexico.
For a NHHM kids reading list, author events, and activities, check out the King County Library System’s recent South End Scoop, and the Seattle Public Library’s book list for young readers.
Read on for a guide to local NHHM celebrations!
Continue reading Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month at These Eventsby Agueda Pacheco Flores
The Highline School District kicks off its academic year with a new superintendent, Ivan Duran — the first Latino ever to hold the position.
Continue reading Highline School District Gets First Latino Superintendentby Agueda Pacheco Flores
Latinos in south King County now have more spaces to find educational resources, labor programs, and community.
The Latino Civic Alliance and Casa Latina nonprofits each have new locations south of Seattle. Both cited the move in part due to the growing Latino communities that are being priced out of Seattle.
Continue reading Latino Organizations Find New Homes in Burien, Federal Wayby Fiona Dang
Founded in 2018, the dance company EL SUEÑO centers the experiences of BIPOC communities as powerful narratives worthy of being seen and celebrated. Founder Alicia Mullikin has sought to cultivate an inclusive space in the dance world that recognizes ancestral lineage and Latin American culture. EL SUEÑO seeks to dispel the myth of the American Dream as a self-made accomplishment and recognizes it as a collective effort, tied to the past.
Continue reading Dance Company EL SUEÑO Pays Homage to Ancestry and Latin American Cultureby Emma Lower
“I love to bake … but I didn’t open the business to be a baker,” says Lara de la Rosa, the 23-year-old head pastry chef at the vegan Lazy Cow Bakery in Fremont.
Instead, de la Rosa is a theorist putting her vision of a worker-owned, woman- and Latinx-centered world into practice. Lazy Cow doubles as a mutual-aid organization and Latinx cultural center called La Casa del Xoloitzcuintle. Perhaps it’s the vegan raspberry almond croissant she has already offered me, or the red roses on her kitchen table, her anecdotal humor and light laugh, but she has the distinct aesthetic of being fully alive.
Continue reading Lara De La Rosa Is Reimagining Entrepreneurship at Lazy Cow Bakeryby Agueda Pacheco Flores
When COVID-19 started to circulate within Washington State, Monica*, 45, was in the same boat as everyone else — scared of getting sick.
“We knew if we got sick we wouldn’t work, but then we stopped working anyways,” she says.
Continue reading UW’s Latino Center for Health Recommends Policy Overhaul to Benefit Latinosby Sally James
Now is not the time to feel safe in regard to the threat of COVID-19, especially for Latino communities, warns physician Leo Morales, the leader of the Latino Center for Health at the University of Washington (UW). The group just released a policy statement based on vaccination numbers from around the state.
“The greatest risk we face now is to be complacent … We cannot rest until we have reached all unvaccinated and under-vaccinated Latinos in our state,” said Morales in a press statement about the policy brief.
Health disparities that lead to a higher risk of hospitalization and death for Latino people, in comparison to white people, will likely continue, even as boosters and new shots for children ages 5 to 11 become available across the state.
Continue reading Washington Latino Communities Still Lag in Vaccinations, Warns Researcherby Agueda Pacheco Flores
Silvia Giannattasio-Lugo remembers when the young girls would come into the office she works at to participate in leadership programs. She loved to see how they genuinely connected with each other. She especially loved open-mic nights, when young girls came together to celebrate with each other.
“I didn’t get to see a lot of that growing up,” she says. “It was lonely for me growing up not always having a community there to celebrate with me.”
Today, Giannattasio-Lugo is the director of development and communication at Young Women Empowered (Y-WE), a nonprofit based in Beacon Hill. Y-WE connects young women with leadership and skills programs, such as their community garden or summer camps. She’s a pillar in the organization’s fundraising operations, where she helps sustain relationships between sponsors and Y-WE.
“It’s hard for anyone to understand policy or big words and everything that’s being thrown at you, so I liked communications because it bridged that, it made things accessible,” she says in an interview with the Emerald.
Continue reading Beacon Hill Community Leader Brings Young Women the Opportunities She Didn’t Haveby Kathya Alexander
The Seattle Latino Film Festival (SLFF) opened for in-person viewing on Friday, Oct. 8, and continues through Sunday, Oct. 17.
The festivities began last Friday at the Seattle Asian Art Museum with an opening night gala and after party reception. Dennis Mencia, a Honduran American actor known for playing Mateo Villanueva on CW’s Jane the Virgin, was MC for the event. The gala showcased the Uruguayan comedy, The Broken Glass Theory, one of the festival’s 106 in-person and online films supporting the magic of filmmaking as part of Hispanic culture globally.
The in-person showcase continued at The Beacon Cinema in Columbia City on Saturday with an American film called Coast, directed by Jessica Hester and Derek Schweickart. Also shown was the Venezuelan film, Opposite Direction, and an LGBTQ film called Liz In September. The director, Fina Torres, known for Fox Searchlight’s Woman on Top with Penélope Cruz, was present for the Q&A after the screening.
Continue reading Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the Seattle Latino Film Festival
