Sept. 15 marked the start of National Latinx/Latiné Heritage Month, which goes through Oct. 15. Here at CSU, there are several events happening to celebrate our Latiné community hosted by El Centro, our Latiné cultural center that serves as an inclusive hub for our Latiné students.
If you’ve been keeping track, you may have noticed a shift in identity language for Latiné communities over the years, and reviewing this trajectory might be helpful. There are many identifiers that have been and are used to define the Latiné community, including Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx, Chicano/a, and now, more and more, Latiné.
Hispanic was an original term used to encompass people of Spanish decent, although focused largely on those with Latin American decent. Because of this distinction, Latino/a became more widely used. Within the U.S., there emerged a shift to using Latinx to be more gender inclusive, but many critiqued the English pronunciation of the “X” as anglicizing the moniker. Most recently, people have begun to use the term “Latiné” to embrace a Spanish pronunciation. Chicano/a/x has been used by different groups throughout, but oftentimes connotes a political association.
It’s important to note that regardless of the language we use in higher education, we must respect and refer to people using the identity language they prefer, so if someone refers to themselves as Hispanic or Chicana, we should also use that language in reference to them.
Below are the upcoming events hosted by El Centro and an event hosted by the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology (MIP). Please join us to celebrate Latinx/Latiné Heritage Month!
Latinx/Latiné Heritage Month events
- 9/19: Keynote: Kim Guerra
- 9/29: Outdoor movie: Encanto
- 10/3: Latinx/é Heritage MIP keynote and community panel
- 10/9: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- 10/12: Borderlands keynote: Cleopatra Tatabele
