SMC’s Latinx/e Heritage Month
Latinx/e Heritage Month (LHM) is here! Starting this week, Santa Monica College (SMC) is holding various events to support, celebrate and embrace Latinx/e Heritage Month. The Latinx/e Heritage Month events and activities begin this Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 and end on Oct. 17, 2024.
All of the Latinx/e Heritage Month events are free and will be held on the main campus. Each event has multiple sponsors. The sponsors include various programs and departments like the Pride Center, Latino Center/Adelante, Student Equity Center, Dream Program, Ethnic Studies Program, EOPS/CARE, the Black Collegians/UMOJA and more.
Maria Martinez, the Latino Center and Adelante program leader, said she is looking forward to this event. She also said, “I’m genuinely proud to share our Latinx culture with the large campus community. Especially in these difficult times, to share our food, our music, our traditions and our Cultura [Culture] with the entire campus makes me very happy in the small part that I contributed to that.”
Karol Lara, a nail technician and SMC student, said, “I’m just excited we get to be recognized even if it’s once a year. I have seen a lot of events that are happening surrounding Latino Heritage. Even the library. I know the public library has an event that brings books about Latino authors. It’s cool. I think it’s a great way to acknowledge that Latino are part of this country.” Lara also said she might join one of these events if they fall on a Wednesday.
Some of the events taking place at school:
Sept. 19: Latinx/e Heritage Month Kick-Off hosted by Maria Martinez, the Latino Center and Adelante program leader. The SMC community can culturally immerse themselves and enjoy watching Yamila Guerra, a performer with 25 years of experience as an actress, singer, and dancer of Cuban music.
Sept. 25: Julio Salgado talking about his experiences and influences behind his art that he has been making for the past 15 years. Afterward, there is a poster-making workshop that anyone in the SMC community can participate in. This event is held at the Student Services Center Orientation Hall on the first floor at 12 p.m.
Sept. 26: Latinx/e mixer with students, staff and faculty. Connect, build meaningful, supportive relationships within the community, and meet new people.
Oct. 10: Tajin Takeover offers a Tajin tasting with different flavors and creative ways to spice food for the SMC community. This event is held at the Core Performance Center at 10 a.m.
If interested in more events of the Latinx/e Heritage Month or want to know about a specific detail of an event like what time, date and where each event is located, the link is available here.