Happy Birthday, Mexico: Celebrating Independence Day
On September 16, 1810, Mexico declared her Independence from Spain. Hidalgo, a priest from Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, gave out El Grito, the cry for freedom and the war began. The Spanish conquest of Mexico began in 1521, and after almost 300 years of occupation, the country followed the United States independence model to set itself […]
Viva Mexico! Happy Independence Day!
September 16 is Mexican Independence Day. All this past week every city, town and village I’ve traveled through — from Mexico City to Tenancingo de Degollado to Morelia, Patzcuaro and Tzintzuntzan — is preparing for the celebration. Right now, in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, the zocalo is filled with families waiting for the mayor to speechify. On […]
Viva Mexico! Viva la Independencia! September 16 Independence Day
On September 16 each year, Mexican Independence Day, the president of Mexico stands on the balcony above the entrance to the National Palace in Mexico City facing the huge Zocalo filled with people. He recreates Father Miguel Hidalgo’s famous shout Viva Mexico! Viva la Independencia! that Hidalgo made from the church in the town of Dolores […]
Masterpiece of Mexican Cuisine and Symbol of Independence: Chile en Nogada
It’s a Chile en Nogada kind of day here in Puebla, Mexico, where it was first prepared by Augustinian nuns, so they say, to honor the birthday of General Augustin Iturbide on August 28, 1821, who orchestrated Mexico’s independence from Spain on the same date. I ate one Chile en Nogada today here at El Mural […]
Shop Mexico: The Artisan Sisters Week 12 — In Honor of El Grito de Dolores, Two Majolica Plates
First, a beautiful, hand-painted and lead-free plate from the village of Dolores in the State of Guanajuato. Home of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the Roman Catholic priest who first cried the El Grito de Dolores, the town is now famous for its brightly colored, hand-painted ceramics. Hidalgo’s famous cry for Mexican independence from Spain is […]
El Grito and Mexico’s Independence Day: Viva Mexico!
I just finished reading Diversity Inc.’s short timeline associated with Hispanic Heritage Month. It begins with the “discovery” of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon) in 1492. Is it a coincidence that Hispanic Heritage Month overlaps with Mexican Independence Day? And what about the definitions of “Hispanic” and “Latino/a”? Are there new insights about […]