Forget Cinco de Mayo.
The real patriotic celebration for Mexico is Sept. 15 – the beginning of its push for independence – and it was marked in high form at Fort Lewis College on Monday.
Fiesta on the Mesa, celebrating its own 10th anniversary, featured dancing, live music and a big Mexican dinner. At least 2,000 people participated, including a number of families from the area.
“This is one of the few events where town and gown meet really well,” said Shirena Trujillo, the coordinator for El Centro de Muchos Colores, which organizes the event. “For some of these kids, it’s their first visit to the campus, and we want to make them comfortable here.”
While many of the parades and celebrations in Mexico actually take place Sept. 16, the revolution actually began on the night of Sept. 15, 1810, when the Rev. Miguel Hidalgo asked his congregation to join him in throwing off the yoke of Spain. It would be 11 years before freedom was earned, but Mexicans celebrate when the revolution began, just as the U.S. does.
The event marked the debut of the newly formed Ballet Folklórico de Durango, which is a merger of sorts between El Centro and the Durango Education Center. Dancers performed after only two rehearsals, Trujillo said.
But it was Control: Los Reyes de la Cumbia – a group originally from the town of Control in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and now based in Houston – that had the audience dancing.
El Centro serves students of Hispanic and multicultural heritage at the college.
“It’s a big mix of people,” said Tina Zuniga from Los Lunas, New Mexico, who has participated in the center’s activities since she started at FLC three years ago. “One-third are native speakers, one-third are learning Spanish, and one-third have learned to speak. We have a lot of traditions, but we make it a home away from home, make it feel like a family.”
That can be important on a campus where fewer than 10 percent of the students hail from a Hispanic heritage.
“There were times I was the only Mexican in my classes,” said Manuel Chavarria, who comes from Chihuahua, Mexico, and is studying exercise science. “Especially when I was a freshman, El Centro helped, gave me a place to belong.”
The event also launched the college’s Hispanic Heritage Month, which will include several activities between now and Oct. 15, including a talk – or charla – with Chicano author Danny Chacón and a screening of the PBS film “Latino Americans.”
“We want students to walk away with two educational outcomes,” Trujillo said. “What is Sept. 15 in Mexican history and what does it kick off here.”
Oh, and Cinco de Mayo? It celebrates Mexico’s unlikely victory against occupying French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
abutler@durangoherald.com
If you go
El Centro de Muchos Colores is located on the bottom level of the Student Union across from the Fort Lewis College Bookstore. Visit www.fortlewis.edu/elcentro to learn more. Upcoming events to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month include:
Charla with Chicano author Danny Chacón from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday in El Centro.
Public reading by Chacón of his book Hotel Juarez, 5:30 p.m. Monday in Noble Hall, Room 130.
Screening of the PBS film “Latino Americans,” 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 1 at El Centro, with a discussion afterword with professor Diego Ubiera.
Real History of the Americas, all day Oct. 13 in the FLC Ballroom, on the upper floor of the Student Union.
