Hispanic Heritage Month- Influential Figures
Updated: Oct 19, 2020
DISCLAIMER: All the highlighted people in this article fit into more than just one category, it is even possible to come up with an infinite amount of ways to categorize them. These categories are a simple way that we have thought of to better organize the following information and make it easier for you to read.
NOTE: This article is meant to be read along with our monthly podcast, which can be found here.
Musicians
Music has always been one of the cornerstones through which Latinx culture is showcased. For musicians, it is an outlet that can be used to express themselves and their ideas, push against historical narratives, and even make political statements. For listeners, music creates a world where they can feel their experiences and culture seen and appreciated. Music can have religious and spiritual purposes and can also call back foundational stories that are essential to Latinx heritage and culture. Here, we highlight some musical figures that have changed the world.
Selena
She is known as “Queen of Tejano Music”
Selena was credited for catapulting a music genre into mainstream media
Known for her bold style and bedazzled bustiers
She began in a band with her family called Selena y los Dinos at a very young age which is what began her music career
Inspired and paved the way for many of the Latinx artists we know today
Her posthumous album “dreaming of you” was the first album by a Latin artist to debut at number one on the billboard 200
Ritchie Valens
Father of the Spanish speaking rock and roll movement and Chicano rock movement
The day he died is known as the day that music died
Most known for song La Bamba
He is a self-taught musician
He died at just 17 years old
Lin Manuel Miranda
Puerto Rican composer, has written multiple Broadway shows, acted in movies and shows, and produced songs for fundraisers to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Has won a Pulitzer prize, three Tony’s, three Grammy’s, and an Emmy.
Musical In the Heights addresses gentrification and lack of resources directed towards communities of color in New York.
Benito Ocasio- Bad Bunny
Puerto Rican reggaeton artist, shot to popularity in 2016.
First Latinx urban music artist to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.
Second album YHLQMDLG became the highest-charting all Spanish album ever on the Billboard 200.
Has challenged masculinity and the gender stereotypes that are highly perpetuated in the Latinx community.
Has been critical about the lack of government aid that Puerto Rico received after the 2016 hurricane season, and is still failing to receive.
Artists
Similar to music, art has been a method of expression in the Latinx community for generations and generations. Visual art such as paintings, sculptures, prints, carvings, and even more modern digital creations have been used as expressions of the artist’s thoughts, emotions, and experiences. As an easily accessible medium to express oneself, art has always had different layers of power and representation in the Latinx community. In this section, we highlight influential artists that have continued to represent us.
Alma Lopez
Our Lady (1999) is her most famous piece
She received death threats for portraying La Virgen in the way she has, but has also been acclaimed for her interpretation of what she means in religious contexts and for representing the connections Latinx people forge with La Virgen.
Other works are murals and prints alluding to folklore, such as La Llorona, and indigenous Mexican themes.
Ester Hernandez
Internationally acclaimed artist, mostly prints, pastels, and physical installations.
Work deals with social, political, ecological, and spiritual themes.
Most renowned piece is Sun Mad (1982), which references the work of immigrants in poor conditions to produce food across the country.
Frida Kahlo
Regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement and the LGTBQ+ movement (she was openly bisexual)
Her art set many records, in 1990 first Latin American artist to sell at auction for over $1 million, and her painting Two Nudes in a Forest sold for $8 million in 2016.
She arrived at her first solo exhibition in her bed via ambulance in April 1953 in Mexico at the Galeria Arte Contemporaneo.
She wanted her year of birth to coincide with the start of the Mexican Revolution, so she shaved three years off and said she was born in 1910.
Soni Lopez Chavez
Modern artist, shares and sells her art through Instagram. Art based on the Latinx experience and pushing against stereotypes, while also embracing race and culture.
A burgeoning artist, so you can support her work at her site https://barriologan.wixsite.com/soniartist
Chafil Cheucarama
Indigenous artist known for drawing, illustrating, and carving.
Mainly does prints and acrylic paintings that show scenes of the Indigenous experience in Panama.
Son is also a renowned artist in Panama, carves tagua seeds.
*Not listed are countless artisans (weaving, ceramic works, embroidery) without outright social media presence and readily available information*
Activism
As a community, we have a long history of fighting injustices and the prejudices that are imposed among us. In present-day, the Latinx community continues to fight against inequities that are effects of historical events. Here we highlight some of the individuals who committed themselves to take leadership and took part in creating better conditions for us. They provided the foundational work we now follow the blueprint to continue to advocate for our rights.
Sylvia Rivera
Rivera was a Trans woman of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent, as well as an avid activist for LGBTQ+ community
Present at the Stonewall Inn for one of the most significant nights in LGBTQIA+ history: June 28, 1969, the night that the Stonewall Riots began.
Cofounders Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson spearheaded the Gay Liberation Front, a committee dedicated to fighting for gay rights, and S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), an organization that provided support and housing for the homeless LGBTQ+ youth of NYC.
Outspoken in her critiques of the LGBTQ+ community for their lack of support for Trans people and LGBTQ+ people of color in her time, especially considering these minority groups’ integral role in the Gay Liberation Front
Rigoberta Menchu
Human rights activist for the indigenous people of Guatemala
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Glamour Award for The Peacemaker, and the Order of the Aztec Eagle
In 1983 Menchú gained international attention with her book I, "Rigoberta Menchú", in which she tells the story of her youth and retells the torture-murders of her family members.
Dolores Huerta
Amazing Chicana activist, played a major part in the Farm Workers' Movement and helped Cesar Chavez in negations but Huerta's work is never highlighted as important in comparison to Chavez.
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama.
Has established her own foundation.
César Chávez
He was an American labor leader, community organizer, businessman, and Latino American civil rights activist.
He dedicated his life to improving treatment, pay, and working conditions for farmworkers.
As a labor leader, Chavez employed nonviolent means to bring attention to the plight of farmworkers such as marches, boycotts, and several hunger strikes
He also brought national awareness to the dangers of pesticides to workers' health.
Politicians
Systems of political power in the U.S. were created by and for white men, however, having figures in these positions who are Latinos (and more) allow for institutional change and they become a form of resistance. Many of the figures we listed below are an inspiration to many of us as they have paved the way for more representation in politics and everywhere else in life.
Sonia Sotomayor
First Latina and third woman on the Supreme Court, appointed by Barrack Obama in 2009.
Raised in the Bronx housing projects, came out of a low-income family, and was appointed to the federal district courts before the age of 40.
Has brought to the forefront of conversation juvenile diabetes.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)
Youngest-ever elected Congresswomen and she’s Puerto Rican
Strong grassroots campaigns
Part of the Standing Rock pipeline protest, visits Flint, Michigan,
Protests Trump administration’s family separation policy
Shuts down double standards via her strong social media presence
Benito Juárez
Mexico’s only indigenous president who served five presidential terms, from 1858 to 1872
His native language was Zapotec and he did not learn Spanish until he was thirteen years old when he realized that in order to succeed, he needed to learn the language.
He fought against foreign occupation, pursued reforms that helped establish a democratic federal republic, modernized Mexico, and most importantly, he secured rights for indigenous people.
He is remembered as a strong and diligent hero in Mexican culture because of his political success and ability to lead the country through rough times.
Athletes
Sports have existed for centuries dating as far back as 3000 BC. Within the athletic field, there have been many influential individuals that have changed the face of sports. Sports give Latinx people a stage to represent their talents. Latinx representation within the athletic field is just as important as having representation in other fields such as politics. Here are a few influential athletes that have left an impact on their sport.
Laurie Hernandez
She is a U.S Olympic gymnast of Puerto Rican descent. She grew up in New Jersey and began competing in gymnastics in 2012.
At the age of 16, she won a gold and silver medal during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
She was also the winner of Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars.
In 2019, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame which honors individuals from New Jersey that have made contributions to society
Monica Puig
She was the first Puerto Rican in history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics representing Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico was honored and many celebrated that Puig won the gold medal in the Olympics.
Puerto Rico has acquired 9 Olympic medals in total and Monica Puig won the 9th medal.
She is also a Central American and Caribbean champion and Pan American silver medalist.
Roberto Clemente
He was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player and the first Afro-Latinx player in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
His activism paved the way for Latinx players in the MLB.
He raised awareness about natural disasters in Nicaragua but unfortunately passed away in an airplane crash attempting to ship relief supplies.
He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, a year after his death. He became the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be enshrined.
Writers
Gloria Anzaldúa
Chicana writer/ scholar, a pioneer in Chicana cultural theory, feminist theory, and queer theory
Known for Borderlands: La Frontera: The New Mestiza, in which she wrote on her life growing up on the Mexico–Texas border and incorporated her lifelong experiences of social and cultural marginalization into her work
Developed theories about the marginal, in-between, and mixed cultures that develop along borders
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
Mexican poet, philosopher, and nun of New Spain
Spoke fluently in Latin and Nahuatl (largely frowned upon at the time)
Considered a proto-feminist (held many feminist ideals and paved the way for modern feminism)
Was a renown, self-taught intellectual - unheard of for women at the time - which garnered attention when she served as a lady-in-waiting for the Vicereine of New Spain
Chose to become a nun to further her studies
Known as the "The Tenth Muse" and "The Phoenix of Mexico", for she was a flame that rose from the ashes of "religious authoritarianism"
Esmeralda Santiago
Puerto Rican author and former actress
Known for her novel América's Dream
She has earned a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Trinity College, from Pace University, and from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.
Julia Alvarez
Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist
Known for her works novels How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies
Received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and received the Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature award and the Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets
Sandra Cisneros
Chicana writer
Known for The House on Mango Street and Caramelo
Her work tells of the cultural hybridity and economic inequality many children of immigrants experience
Recipient of the American Book Award and the MacArthur Genius Grant
Luis Alberto Urrea
Mexican author
Known for his works Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life and The Hummingbird's Daughter
Received numerous awards: American Book Award 1999, Latino Literature Hall of Fame 2000, Edgar Award 2010, Lannan Literary Award 2004
Junot Diaz
Dominican-American writer
Creative Writing professor at MIT
Fiction editor at Boston Review
Co-founder of Voices of Our Nation Workshop, which “nurtures writers of color”
Author of critically acclaimed Drown, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and This Is How You Lose Her
Yesika Salgado
Internationally recognized Salvadoran poet and body-positive activist
The writer of the column Suelta for Remezcla
Two-time National Poetry Slam Finalist
Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Univision, CNN, NPR, TEDx, and many other digital platforms
Recipient of the 2020 International Latino Book Award in Poetry
Author of best-sellers Corazon, Tesoro, & Hermosa
Co-founder of the poetry collective Chingona Fire
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