Hispanic Heritage Month is Coming!
By David Triana
Each year, the period of 15 September to 15 October is celebrated throughout our nation as “Hispanic Heritage Month”. A period we use to recognize the contributions that individuals of Hispanic descent have made to our nation since its beginning. Hispanics have had a profound and positive influence on our country through their strong commitment to family, faith, hard work, and service. In our September edition, we will profile some of those individuals.
Our Hispanic community in the United States is going through hard times due to the politics of the present, but, I know we will come out stronger because of that. More importantly, there is no doubt, based on our current population (over 58 million), the current birth rates and expected population in 2050 (103 million), we will surely have a say in what the future holds for the United States of America.
I have no doubt that the impact we have as a whole will be a positive one.
We live in an area of the United States that is not yet considered one that Hispanics make a big difference in, I say this in comparison to places like Miami, Tampa, or even larger cities like Houston, Dallas, and/or Los Angeles to name a few.
Just the same, I thoroughly believe that we ARE MAKING a positive difference in this area proudly displaying our love for the United States first, but also not shy to show pride in our varied ethnicity, our culture, our music, etc.
Those Hispanics who recently arrived to this area need only to speak to persons who have been here for longer than 10 years to understand that what they see now in entertainment, businesses, and other areas of our community, was not as prevalent a decade ago.
Conexión Media Group (CMG), along with others leaders in different fields or community projects, have been at the vanguard of making many of these things happen, especially in the media and culture aspects of it. I take this opportunity to acknowledge many who have been leading and are still leading the way in helping with the Hispanic growth, in a positive way, of this area: Jose Garcia (founder/leader of the NWF Boricuas Ausentes and the Latin Salsa Festival), entrepreneur Mario Jimenez, DJ/Promoter Vasco Milord, Grace McCaffery, Maria Mata and Raul Escobedo (Ritmo Latino Cristiano / AM 980/106.9 FM), David Collado of Pensacola, Erika Rojas, Maria Ortiz, Rudy Saez, Tallahassee, and Estela Elias, Irma Horlacher and the current leadership of United for a Good Cause Inc. (www.unitedforagoodcause.org).
I know there are others out there who in the last few years are also making a wonderful difference in our area and to them a huge thank you for doing so.
Thanks also to all the Hispanic business owners who have worked tirelessly to create their companies and who are currently still out there working countless hours making a difference to their employees and our community.
We invite everyone to support all the HHM related activities that will take place in our area of coverage. CMG is a proud sponsor of the Hispanic Fest 2018 and we also will organize two other events this year, some info on them follows:
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH KICK-OFF FIESTA: Friday, 14 September from 6:00pm – 8:30pm, Brooks-Beale Center in Fort Walton Beach. FREE Latin FOOD, FUN Entertainment, door prizes and great networking! Event is for Greater FWB Chamber of Commerce membership and by invitation guests. We invite latin menu caterers and restaurants to participate and businesses interested in donating door prizes. Contact us at 850.368-3505 or [email protected]
UNITY Gala: Saturday, October 13, 8pm – ??. A dinner and live music dancing event. We will also have a silent auction, fashion show, and Conexión Media Group will present the UNITY Awards. Special guests for the event will be David Medina and Gisela Rodriguez, the founders of the Giselle Marie Foundation (www.gisellemariefoundation.com) and Team Jayuya and this event will help raise funds towards their project to support the people of Jayuya Puerto Rico affected by last year’s hurricane. This event will be open to the public via a $20 donation and will be held in a reception hall in Fort Walton Beach (to be announced later). Business sponsorships are welcomed. Contact us @ 850.368.3505 or [email protected]
