Latino Chicagoans Kick Off Independence Celebrations With Flag-Waving Caravans
The Chicago Reporter
Posted September 17, 2021
It may come as a surprise to people in other parts of the country that the Midwest, being so far from the coasts and so far from the Rio Bravo, has a robust Latino population. But here, it’s a well-known fact that Chicago has been a city of migrants for more than a century and that the Spanish- and bilingual-speaking demographic is growing to the point of comprising one third of the population.
As the calendar marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM)—yes I know; the word Hispanic is a misnomer to many, especially due to this next fact—it’s worth noting that it aligns with the independence of various Latin American nations. Independence from whom or what? From its former colonial power, Spain.
This month, on the 15th, Guatemala celebrated its 200th anniversary from Spanish rule and was joined by the rest of Central America, while Mexico’s War of Independence started about a decade earlier, on September 16, 1810.
In a Chicago context, the city’s most prominent Latino groups celebrate their heritage through annual parades, neighborhood festivals, and other community gatherings. The oldest parade among local Latinos is the Mexican parade in South Chicago, which goes back more than 80 years. And apparently, there was an even older Mexican parade that would take place downtown, but now can only be found in newspaper archives.
The Guatemalan parade took place this Sunday along Montrose Ave. in the North Side. The first guatemalteca elected official in Illinois, Delia Ramirez, shared these words with her constituents: “Our Pueblo is struggling to survive and many have risked all they have and even their lives to migrate to this country. The resilience of our people leaves me in awe and reminded of the work and responsibility I, along with my colleagues, have to fight for them here and there.”