Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month

A Message from AFT Executive Vice President and AFT Latino Issues Task Force Co-Chair Evelyn DeJesus:

Querida Familia/Dear Family, 

There is something powerful about knowing who you are, where you come from and what generations before you endured so that you could stand where you stand today. For me, being Latina, being Boricua de descendencia Taína, means carrying that history, culture and resilience with me everywhere I go. And this Hispanic Heritage Month, I am reminded that our heritage is more than something we celebrate. It is a source of strength we draw upon when our communities are tested.

And make no mistake: We are being tested.

More than 68 million Hispanics call the United States home, representing nearly 20.5 percent of the population. Our stories stretch across generations and borders, from Mexico to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean to Central and South America. Some of our families arrived recently; others have been here for centuries. As my friends west of the Mississippi—primarily from New Mexico, California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma—remind me, sometimes the border crossed us.

We teach America’s children, care for its patients, build its communities and strengthen its economy. We are artists, nurses, educators, public employees, entrepreneurs, union members and elected leaders. We speak English, Spanish and countless other languages. Somos parte de la historia de este país, y somos parte de su futuro.

Yet this Hispanic Heritage Month comes at a painful moment for many of our families. The dramatic expansion of immigration enforcement is tearing families apart and spreading fear through our communities. People are being detained on the streets, on public transportation, at workplaces and at courthouses. Parents worry about whether they will make it home to their children. Students worry about their families. Workers wonder whether an ordinary day on the job could suddenly be their last.

That fear has consequences. Families are keeping children home from school, postponing medical care and changing how they live their daily lives. Educators and healthcare workers are seeing the impact firsthand. And increasingly, Latinos, U.S.-born citizens and lawful residents are being caught in the immigration dragnet because of how they look, the language they speak, where they work or the neighborhood they call home.

Suspicion and fear cannot be the future we accept for our communities. That is why the AFT is helping members move from fear to preparation, and from preparation to action. The AFT immigration hub includes Know Your Rights materials, family emergency planning resources, guidance for educators and healthcare workers, and tools to help workplaces prepare for immigration enforcement. Across the country, AFT affiliates are conducting Know Your Rights trainings, strengthening institutional protocols and helping members and families prepare. Our citizenship clinics continue helping eligible members and community members take another important step toward full participation in our democracy. But protecting our communities also means exercising the political power we have.

This Hispanic Heritage Month falls just weeks before critical midterm elections. We need to organize, mobilize and vote. Talk to your family. Talk to your co-workers. Talk to your neighbors. Make sure people are registered to vote, know when and where to vote, and understand what is at stake. Because the people we elect make decisions about our schools, our healthcare, our jobs, our rights and our immigration system. They decide whether families are treated with dignity or used as political targets. We cannot allow fear to silence our communities or keep us from exercising our power at the ballot box.

So this Hispanic Heritage Month, let us celebrate differently. Celebrate our cultura by organizing and preparing ourselves to vote. Honor our ancestors and protect the next generation. Celebrate how far we have come and vote for where we want to go.

Some of us will march. Some will knock on doors or make phone calls. Some will conduct Know Your Rights trainings and help families develop emergency plans. And others will make sure their co-workers, friends, family and neighbors have a plan to vote. There is a role for every one of us. Our communities have faced difficult moments before. We have endured because we have always understood something fundamental: Our greatest strength is each other. Our heritage is power. Our solidarity is power. Our voice is power.

And our vote will be our superpower. ¡Nosotros somos poderosos y poderosas! ¡Basta con el miedo, es tiempo de organizarnos, movilizarnos y votar!

¡Y soy Boricua pa’ que tú lo sepas!