Courtney Luciana photo
Paulina Lopez displays the fashion of her native Guatemala.
Foods, fashions and music from Latin America were on display as were calls for “indigenous resistance” as New Haven celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month on Blatchley Avenue.
Fifty Fair Haveners showed up for the event Sunday evening. Ice The Beef’s Latino Caucus and the Young Communist League (YCL), Black and Brown United in Action and Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA), and the Citywide Youth Coalition, Inc. organized the event to raise awareness about the history behind Columbus Day.
John Lugo, founder of ULA, curated the celebration. It included shared dishes of food, a fashion demonstration, and voting on a proposed new name for the Christopher Columbus Family Academy, outside of which the event took place.
Sunday evening’s event took place hours before New Haven’s first Italian Heritage Day in New Haven, which the city recently decided to use instead of “Columbus Day.”
Ice The Beef Latino Caucus President Manuel Camacho (second from right in photo), who has been organizing voting registration stations for Fair Haveners to vote said that the city should pay attention to the finalized rename.
“The name is coming from the community so the city should pay attention,” Camacho said. “Today is about coming to represent your heritage and to be proud about where you come from.”
Camacho’s mother, Natasha Neron (pictured on the far right), attended Christopher Columbus Family Academy herself as a child. She said the commemoration represented equality, unity, and respect.
“Today we’re talking about the Latino heritage,whether it’s Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, and everyone in the Latino community,” Neron said. “We’re hoping that everyone comes as a unity and understands the movement of renaming the school, and it’s another reminder to vote. I think it’s important that everyone in the community unites and makes this decision together.”
Before the vote on a new school name name, several Mexican, Ecuador, Guatemala, and El Salvador dishes were passed around by attendees who volunteered to bring free, home cooked meals.
Tlacoyos, a popular Mexican snack, made out of a corn dough tortilla filled with beans and topped with cheese, were a popular choice.
Down the buffet-style line, Tatiana Catota passed out Ecuadorian stuffed potato patties called llapingachos with a side of pork.
Close to Catota was her daughter, Melanie, wearing a traditional Ecuadorian outfit. Melanie, 10, moved to the U.S. at 5 years old and said she was proud to represent her culture.
“I feel good dressing up today,” Catota said. “I would like to go back one day, because that’s where my extended family lives.”
Paulina Lopez’s (pictured in the first image) bright colored threads reflected her Guatemalan culture. A mini-fashion show was performed amid posters that read, “Stop genocide, racism, and imperialism. Stop the Celebration” and “Indigenous Resistance” serving as the backdrops of the runway.
Jessica Flores (left in photo) was the lead singer at Movimento Cultural Afro-Continental (MCAC)’s Bomba performance. The Puerto Rican energetic beats drew in the crowd into connection and art of the heritage. Flores, a third-generation Bomba performer, attended Christopher Columbus Family Academy as a child. She said education should be more open to the idea of teaching the history of Hispanic heritage.
“When I was younger I remember I wanted to learn more about my heritage and where I’m from. Learning more about the Hispanic heritage is important because in this part of Fair Haven there’s a lot of Hispanics. I had to move back to Puerto Rico for 4 years once I turned 18 to learn more about my heritage, family, and Bomba.”
Kevin Diaz, founder and director of MCAC (right in photo), said the music is so powerful because the lead drummer follows the dancers instead of the other way around.
Natasha Velez from MCAC.
“We’re here to present, preserve, and promote our Afro-Puerto Rican/Caribbean heritage. We focus more on the Afro with the drumming and the dancing. We’re bringing clarity to history today and a sense of connection. The Latino community is not here to take advantage of the government. They come to work hard, and they want the American dream like anyone else.”
Catherine “CJ” John, organizer of Black and Brown United in Action and Unidad Latina en Acción, said that coming from Trinidad and Tobago she was never taught in school that Christopher Columbus discovered America but the he rediscovered it.
“We’re here today because we believe that this is the time now to really change a lot of systematic racism that has been around for too long,” John said. “You look at areas like Newhallville, Fair Haven, the Hill, and you’re seeing more alcohol stores than after-school programs. More than you see people owning houses. More than you see people working jobs where they can afford to live. All of that is the equivalent as being on a slave ship with Christopher Columbus.”
Lugo writing out the selections.
The celebration came to a close with participants casting their votes for renaming Christopher Columbus Family Academy. Lugo wrote down each option on a large piece of notepad paper, and the final vote was based on how loud the crowd cheered for each name once read out loud.
The crowd cheering for the renaming of Christopher Columbus Family Academy.
The winning proposed new name? “ULA.” or Unidad Latina en Acción. The crowd roared as Lugo read it aloud.
Nelson Catota was the one who had appointed that name in the selection.
“I chose that name because it showed strength, and it represents the people who fought to make these changes for us,” Catota said.
Lugo said although the renaming of the school was only symbolic, he is thinking about potentially sending a petition to the city that will push to build on the vote.
“I think the important thing about changing the name of the school is because having the school named after Christopher Columbus is idolizing someone who committed genocide against our communities,” Lugo said. “Millions of people died. So this is the time to start changing everything in honor of those who really suffered the consequences of the colonization. It’s important for the city to choose a name that really represents the diverse demographics of this area.”
Sounds like a fun, festive event.
Fair Haven is a melting pot of the more recently immigrated Latin American/Caribbean families alongside the several generations ago immigrated Italian, Portuguese, Irish and Polish and African and other immigrant ethnic families that made Fair Haven their home. New Haven's Little Italy and Little Latin America/Afro-Caribbean neighborhood communities are more similar than they are different, and all add a richly diverse and vibrant culture of traditions, foods and festivals that all of the area can benefit from by enjoying together.