Latine Legacy Month takes place from September 15 to October 15. The month includes the celebration of independence days of various Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile. The month serves as a special occasion to celebrate the rich culture, contributions, and profound history of the Latine community.

For Latine Legacy Month this year, The Phillipian reached out to some Latine-identifying Andover students and faculty to ask about their thoughts on the month of celebration and their experiences with being Latine at Andover.

What does this month mean to you and what are you doing yourself to celebrate?

John Sanchez ’23

I think this month is like, it's about reflection. And just thinking back on how my Latino identity impacts me… I hear out where I'm from. I'm from Clifton, New Jersey, which happens to be a very predominant Latinx community. It's a very vibrant there. There's a huge presence of Peruvians. I'm Peruvian, so I feel very welcomed at Clifton, and I I do here too because I always try to carve out a space to represent my proven identity. Like in my dorm, I have my Peruvian flag. So it's like it's something I celebrate every day. And also just I have food from home. And I also like being the code of Alianza. Like I have that space to celebrate it, thankfully. And then also just like sharing some like cultural traditions with the dorm.

Hector Membreno-Canales, Arts Instructor

I know that Phillips Academy isn't the only place celebrating this holiday. We have the great privilege of being just a couple miles away from communities that are predominantly Latinx: Lawrence, Haverhill, but also the greater Boston area. I myself was born in Honduras, and one of the largest communities of Honduran Americans in the United States is actually in Boston. So I'll likely be spending my time looking for these pop-up events in the area to go and be with community in Boston and Lawrence. I know that there is an upcoming Hispanic Heritage celebration weekend… There's no shortage of opportunities to get involved beyond our campus, so that's how I'll be celebrating.

Josh Espinoza ’25

I don't really celebrate it. But now that I'm here and I have a space where I can celebrate it…wherever there is the opportunity to speak about my culture, or represent it, I will. But in the past, I've never really thought about it. I wasn't aware of it. But now that I'm here with so many groups of people, I realized the importance of celebrating where I come from. So to me, it just reminds me of who I am, what I'm here for, and what I need to do on campus.

Angie Ceballos Cardona ’25

This month means celebrating my history and future. I have taken this month to really reflect on what it means to be Latinx in the spaces I am in daily such as such as Andover and my sports team.

What has Andover done in the past for the Latine Legacy Month? What is Andover doing this year for the Latine Legacy Month?

Ben Perez ’23

I don't think the school has done a lot from what I've seen or recall. I think it's mostly Alianza Latina who's in charge of that. Maybe they hold something in Commons, but I don't think it was anything huge like… programming or anything like that…which... I would appreciate to see a lot more, just because [even though] there is [a Latine] community at Andover… I feel like, it's not as represented as it should be. It’s not as seen as other affinity groups on campus, and they get mixed into other groups as well.

Hector Membreno-Canales, Arts Instructor

The first thing I'll mention is that Andover has responded to changes in language. One example is Hispanic Heritage Month, [which] is the national holiday prescribed by the federal government. But… after a couple of years of being here, I realized that the students of Alianza Latina didn't like Hispanic because Hispanic is only inclusive of the countries that speak Spanish. But in Latin America, there are other countries that don't speak Spanish. [The] more inclusive term was then Latino, but Latino fall short because [of] the gender binding, so then students preferred Latinx. But this year, students say [that] Latinx centers the conversation on English speakers, so now we're celebrating “Latine-with-an-E” Heritage Month… That’s… one thing where I've seen students really kind of lead or direct the discussion and leadership within CAMD, within the school, with the administration sort of follow[ing] students’ lead.

A couple of other things: the OWHL has done an excellent job of supporting Alianza and the holiday by doing displays of books by Latine authors […] Additionally […] Paresky Commons have done things like making menus that are celebrating [Latine] culture. I mean, I'm sitting here eating frijoles and a Cuban sandwich…so there's a couple of ways.
[Also], we're bringing a renowned poet José Olivarez. There are some posters that are in CAMD right now, but he'll come for ASM and… talk about his own story as a first-generation [Latine] person… He wrote a book called Citizen Illegal, [which] talks a bit about… what it's like to be in this country as an immigrant, as an undocumented person. And Andover is honoring those stories by really putting their money where their mouth is…not just saying we value this, but bringing these voices to our community to be heard, to share. You really can tell what Andover cares about by what they give space to so.

Are you involved with the Latine community on campus? How do you hope to contribute?

John Sanchez ’23

I am one of the co-heads for Alianza Latina We do have a lot of events planned for this month. We screened a movie… Selena, which is about this… popstar or music superstar from the 90s by the same name Selena. We have… a school wide dance. It's open to everyone. It's…a really nice… combination of events just to… give space for our identity, [which is] sometimes …very hard to find… represented at Andover, especially not just in the midst of courses, but also trying to find representation… amongst the staff, or even just having spaces within our dorms… So… we give that space to ourselves, and we sometimes open it up to everyone on campus too.

Victoria Ortiz ’23

I… like having those open door meetings [with Alianza, which] also helps bring this type of conversation [about Latinx Legacy Month] to a broader audience because I don't think many people stop and take the time to think about the difference between Hispanic and Latin[e] or what different forms of dance look like in different countries and things like that… I think that's a really good way to bring friends and be like, “hey, this is my culture.” It's kind of like a show and tell, [as] if we were in elementary or middle school but in a fancy, high school way, where it's like, “this is my culture, appreciate it, learn about it.” And obviously, everyone who goes [to open door meetings], is willing to engage in and indulge in that… so I always really enjoy [the dances and the open door meetings].

Angie Ceballos Cardona ’25

I am on the board of Alianza and as a team we are working really hard to give this month all the appreciation it deserves. Personally, I hope to put a lot of work in alongside the board to make this month so special to all the Latine students here at Andover just as it was to me last year.

What can Andover—both the institution and the student body—do to make this month more special and help strengthen the presence of the Latine community here?

Josh Espinoza ’25

Maybe it could be… a celebration… funded by the school, that way we could have more resources. Or it could be like a workshop, just talking about different cultures where people can explore…giv[ing] students a space to talk about the places they come from. [If it is] school organized… people will not only like take it more seriously, but [it would] also be interesting.

Ben Perez ’23

I feel like the Spanish department has been trying to do a lot in that aspect. I feel like in general, in the US, the [Latine] community is kind of overlooked, so… that microcosm kind of… takes a role [at] Andover. I feel like people need to just embrace their culture more… and also… to the kids who are [Latine], don't try to like assimilate to be white. Like me, during the winter, I get really pale... so I could [assimilate], but someone who is Afro-Latino or Latina or Latinx couldn't. You just have to be able to bring [your identity] forward, and I try to bring [mine] forward as much as possible [through] the way that I dress, music… But sometimes it comes to a point where… you don't want to be just known that [way], like “Oh that Bad Bunny kid.” I don't want to be [just] that… It's like if "El Jefe" by El Alfa starts playing, everyone looks at me like, “oh that's your song, bro.” But it's… only my song if I say it's my song.

Hector Membreno-Canales, Arts Instructor

We celebrate these cultures because we value the diversity these communities bring to our Andover campus. But it's not simply enough to just learn one year and then that be like, Oh, now I know it all. These things like language and cultures and understandings are constantly evolving. So we really should be in continual discussion with each other, which is why this year, Latine feels authentic. Whereas last year Latinx felt authentic, and maybe in years past, Hispanic felt authentic, and who knows what next year will feel like but you know, the idea is to keep growing our diversity tent to include more folks.

What should people at Andover know about the history of this month or how to talk about it?

Brigitte Leschhorn, English Instructor

Because I grew up in [Panama], I saw different types of what it means to be Central American, [what it means to be] Panamanian, what it means to be Latin[e]. And so I think [the question of whether we should use “Hispanic” or “Latine”] has a very complicated answer… A lot of times I feel like, especially during this month when we should be allowed to talk about it, nobody wants to hear it. Everyone just wants to hear “who are your heroes,” and they want to dismiss the parts of us that we’re wrestling with. We're still deeply wrestling with the colonialism and imperialism that has decimated our regions… that has caused that major exodus of immigration. So all of these things touch… And just even with what happened from Florida to Massachusetts recently…a lot of things are in the forefront of my mind… It's not that I don't want to celebrate our history; it's that our history is really complicated. And can we at least get some time to talk about it? To me, that's what this month should be about: a time to unpack that. Give us some time to unpack ourselves.

Angie Ceballos Cardona ’25

It’s important to know that it is okay to not be informed and that questions should be asked. There is no specific approach to Latinx Legacy Month but to recognize the latine voices around you because they are a part of Andover life.

Josh Espinoza ’25

If people are curious to learn more about somebody's culture, I think it should be a safe space to talk about anything… I don't think it's rude to ask somebody about their culture… It's okay if you want to learn more about who I am where I'm from. That's perfectly fine… Andover is already a space where I can express myself, but I also feel like we should be able to have open conversations about different cultures and how they're represented on campus.

John Sanchez ’23

I think I really want to emphasize that it's not heritage. Tt is about legacy. I think that's what it's about… I think [when] people view Latin[e] people… they have a certain image that comes to their mind… That has to be confronted… We're not just a monolith… We all don't have just brown skin. We don't all have like baggy clothing, chains just wrapped around our neck all the time, [and] even though I [do], we all don't speak Spanish…There are so many more things are just confined to a stereotype... Really, it's not just something that's interpersonal. It's something that's structuralized….I’m thinking of…trying to make that effort to prioritize perspectives that come from Latin[e] people and within that diaspora, like you could have indigenous Latin[e] people, black Latin[e] people, Indigenous Afro-Latin[e] people… There's, there's a whole spectrum. It's not just brown. That makes it very much simplistic, and really just erases the whole legacy of everything.

Hector Membreno-Canales, Arts Instructor

I would just say that these are holidays. We celebrate them because some of these voices historically have not been heard. So I would use this as an opportunity if you're unfamiliar with these communities, to use it as an opportunity to go to events and ask some questions. And to just you know, be a member of our very diverse community.