Food, Family and Fiesta at the 1st Hispanic Heritage Celebration in Baltimore

The three main pillars of Hispanic culture: Food, Family and Fiesta, were the order of the day at the 1st Hispanic Heritage Celebration this Tuesday, September 15th, 2009, at the corner of Pratt and Broadway in Baltimore.

This was a historic celebration, not only because it is the first of its kind, but also because it was the first time that the Governor and Baltimore City Commissions on Hispanic Affairs worked in tandem with community organizations to celebrate Hispanic culture in the city. Mayor Sheila Dixon, who attended the event, read proclamations from both the Governor and Mayor Offices, declaring September 15th as the Official Start of Hispanic Heritage Celebrations in the city.

In her speech, Dixon thanked the community for their contributions to make Baltimore a better city. “Baltimore is a city built on the strong family and cultural foundations of its ethnic communities,” she said. “I am excited to see the Hispanic community join together to celebrate the rich diversity of our Latin American neighbors.”

The Latino community of the surrounding area showed up in droves. Besides enjoying free entertainment and activities with more than a hint of “sabor Latino”, they enjoyed traditional mariachi favorites courtesy of Mensajeros del Sur, cheered on talented young dancers from Education Based Latino Outreach (EBLO), played a nice round of Dominoes and enjoy representations of our rich cultural diversity and visual arts heritage in a showcase of photography by EBLO kids and paintings by local artists.

For those with not just fun, but food on the mind, there was a dearth of free dishes and drinks courtesy of local Latino restaurants including Carolina Tex Mex, El Salvadoreño, El Recodo, Tortillería Sinaloa, El Trovador, Taquería Jalisco and Arcos.

The Mexican Consul General for W, Anibal Gómez Toledo, was in hand to perform the traditional “Cry of Dolores” in solidarity with Mexican audience members. Other notable attendees included City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Council members Rikki Spector and Jack Young of District 5 and District 12, respectively, and María Y. Welch, President of Respira Medical, Inc. and former Chair of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Governor Martin O’Malley, who was not able to attend the festivities, extended an official statement highlighting the fact that “diversity is truly our greatest strength and in many ways, Maryland’s fast-growing and vibrant Hispanic community is strengthening our entire State.”

The four-hour celebration was an opportunity for Hispanics in the area –who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean— to celebrate their culture and traditions, and for non-Hispanics to learn and enjoy the culture. Most importantly, for everyone, this was a very rare occasion to honor the contributions of Hispanics have made to Baltimore City and to the larger society as well. Hopefully, this will be the first of many, many more to come.

All text and Images © 2009 Elianne Ramos. All Rights Reserved.