Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating through Art

A collections of books, movies, music, and more by Hispanic/Latinx creators

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! The first day of Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Chile, Mexico, and Belize also celebrate independence days during the month).

As people from a country with so many communities with roots in Latin American nations, and especially as volunteers in a Latin American country, let’s celebrate the many incredible things and people that these countries and cultures have produced!

Suggestions were collected by Peace Corps volunteers in the Dominican Republic.

In collaboration with Roxanne

Books

The Land of Open Graves by Jason de Leon — Mexican-Filipino American — De Leon is an anthropologist who writes about the realities of migrant border crossings into the US via the desert, and the US policies/practices that put so many migrants in danger

A Orillas del Rio Piedra Me Sente y Llore by Paulo Coelho — Brazil — inspiring short story about a philosophy of love and the search for who/what god is; easy to read in Spanish if you’re looking to practice

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez — fictional retelling of the killing of the Mirabal Sisters

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott — this non-fiction read follows one girl’s journey through poverty in New York City

Dominicana by Angie Cruz — fiction read about a Dominican girl who is married off to a man so that she can live in the US

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros — US Chicana

El Reino de Este Mundo by Alejo Carpentier — Cuban — a fictional retelling of the Haitian revolution

Balada de Otro Tiempo by José Luis González — Puerto Rico — a wife escapes with her lover and the husband takes off after them to kill them

Historia de Yuké by Eduardo Lalo — Puerto Rico — fantastical tale about the origins/history of Puerto Rico that takes inspiration from taíno mythology

El Masacre se Pasa a Pie by Freddy Prestol Castillo — República Dominicana — historical fiction about the Parsley massacre

La Casa de los Espíritus by Isabel Allende — Chile — magical realism, family history/drama; fiction book that follows several generations of a family as they and their country go through change; it has some mystical elements in there too

100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz — about a dominican woman telling the story of her life before she moved to the USA

Movies

También la Lluvia by Iciar Bollaín — Bolivia — colonization by Colombia and privatization of water in indigenous communities

El Conde by Pablo Larraín — Chile — horror/comedy about Augusto Pinochet as a bored vampire who decides to die after 250 years

The Motorcycle Diaries by Walter Salles — details the journey of 23 year old Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara throughout South America

No se Aceptan Devoluciones by Eugenio Derbes — comedy about an irresponsible playboy who has to grow up quickly when former lover leaves him their daughter without a trace

Amores Perros by Alejandro González Iñárritu — takes place in mexico, kind of bloody but really powerful movie about poverty, violence, power etc

Music

• Break Me Down — Jessie Reyez — Colombian-Canadian — R&B/Hip-hop
• Para Siempre — Silvana Estrada — Mexico — Alt/Indie
• Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions Volume 52 — Bizzrap and Quevedo — Reggaton
• Dr. Psiquiatra — Gloria Trevi — Mexico
• Agua de la Libertad — Riestra y Los Bohiques — Puerto Rico — plena
• Cáscara de Coco — Villano Antillano — Puerto Rico
• Huracán — Esotérica Tropical — Puerto Rico
• Curandera — iLe — Puerto Rico
• El Poder de los Ancestros — Telmary — Cuba
• Baila — Esteman — Colombia
• Quítate la Ropa — La Cruz — Venezuela — Reggaeton
• El Incomprendido — Farruko
• Las Piedras Rodantes — El Tri (Mexican Rock Band)
• Generation Next— Aventura — Dominican-American — bachata

Find the full playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2MmLYwTwxrzbYbpFVZnoV5?si=0458cd6b25354f4c

Other

Creators to follow:

• @bachataworldmasters

Poetry:

• Chilean poet Pablo Neruda

Podcast:

• La Última Copa (Messi’s last World Cup)

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