Why one month is not enough for my heritage

I am Latina 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My identity doesn’t fit in a 30-day window designated by the government.

It’s not something I can discard when convenient, or don on special occasions. It is who I am. It is an identity that fills me with pride, creates a kinship with those who share my heritage and opens me up to hostility from those who see Latinos as an alien threat.

There are nearly 54 million of us living in the United States, almost one in five people in the country. Two-thirds of Latinos were born here; about 70 percent speak English fluently.

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