National Latinx Heritage Month is a time where we can all get together to celebrate our unique backgrounds. However, NLHM wasn’t always a month-long celebration. Starting in 1968, Lyndon Johnson’s administration started Hispanic Heritage Week, a time to commemorate the history, culture, and contributions of Latinx people in the US.

Heritage week started on September 15^th, the independence days of Central America’s northern triangle countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, in addition to Mexico and Chile’s independence days that take place on September 16^th and 18^th.

In 1988, Hispanic Heritage Week was expanded into the month-long celebration it is today. In the mid-2000s, many organizations changed National Hispanic Heritage Month to National Latinx Heritage Month in order to encapsulate the diversity of our communities.

National Latinx Heritage Month has become synonymous with celebrating and educating others about the Latinx/é, Afro-Latinx/é, Chicanx/é and Hispanic communities’ rich traditions while embracing diversity, multiculturalism, transnationalism, and the intersectionality of our identities. 

El Centro looks forward to celebrating with you all this month!