CHCI Gets a Head Start
On Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
Alex Meneses Miyashita     [Photo]

Hundreds of thousands of Hispanics, including elected officials, community leaders and celebrities, are gearing up around the country to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Getting a head start on the official Sept. 15-Oct. 15 celebration, the non-partisan Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute will stage three major events in the nation’s capital. First will be its annual issues summit Sept. 12-13, followed the second day by its traditional Comedy Night and, on Sept. 14, its 28th annual gala.

With the unifying theme “Leadership for America’s Future,” they are expected to gather nearly 4,000 guests and raise more than $3 million, according to institute president Esther Aguilera. The profits will allow it to support its programs "to develop the next generation of leaders," she says. CHCI sponsors dozens of events and internships for high school and college students every year.

Actress Rita Moreno, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and businessman Alonzo Cantú will be honored at the gala. That event alone is expected to draw 2,500 guests at $500 a head.

The institute's two-day public policy conference, with registration at $150, is expected to draw 800 participants. It will address 14 issues, with each session moderated by a Congressional Hispanic Caucus member, of particular importance to the nation’s 44 million Latino residents. Included are such perennials as education, health care, immigration and Social Security. For the first time, sessions on foster care and banking will be held.

Comedy Central star Carlos Mencía will be among four comedians performing on Comedy Night.

The recently developed Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, chaired by Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), will also stage its own fundraising inaugural dinner Sept. 28. CHLI executive director Octavio Hinojosa projects that the event will gather some 500 national Hispanic leaders. Tickets are going at $250. The institute was created in January 2004.

Mario López, executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, the GOP counterpart to the all-Democrat Congressional Hispanic Caucus, says that although its members have not announced particular events, they expect to be active throughout the month.

As of now, the White House has made no announcement of hosting any functions.

Shifting from politics to the arts, the Smithsonian Institution will hosting more than 50 programs in the capital including Latino film, music and art exhibits. They will range from traditional mariachi performances to screenings of documentaries such as Afroargentinos, which explores race relations in Argentina.

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, founded by actors Jimmy Smits, Sonia Braga, Esaí Morales, and lawyer Félix Sánchez, will host its ninth annual gala Sept. 13. At $1,250, its tickets are the month’s most expensive.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation's 2005 Awards will recognize outstanding Hispanics in the arts, education, sports, leadership and vision at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 24.

This is the first time the event will be held past Hispanic Heritage Month’s traditional dates, as proclaimed annually by the President. Organizers cite scheduling conflicts of its award recipients. The foundation will also honor six outstanding Latino high school students from across the country.

The media will be represented by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, with its Noche de Triunfos gala Sept. 15 honoring accomplishments by Hispanic journalists, while recognizing outstanding coverage of the community and best efforts within the industry to diversify newsrooms. Tickets are $150 for members, $250 for non-members.

Several areas which have seen an explosion of the Latino population will join in the national celebration, particularly in the South and Midwest. Des Moines, Iowa, for example, will hold its third annual daylong Latino festival.

In Los Angeles, with its first Hispanic mayor in more than a century, a highlight will be the Mexican Independence Day Parade in East Los Angeles. It is expected to draw some 200,000 spectators.

This will be the third year Florida holds a Hispanic Heritage Month essay writing contest for K-12 students. Three winners will receive a full scholarship to any four-year college or university in the state.

Observed annually since 1989, Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with the independence anniversaries of seven Latin American countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on Sept. 15, Mexico on Sept. 16 and Chile on Sept. 18 - as well as Día de la Raza (Columbus Day) Oct. 12.

(Alex Meneses Miyashita is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. He may be contacted by email at alex@hispaniclink.org)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
09/11/05
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