Tag Archives: values

Hispanic Heritage Shines Brightly, Even Under Threat

Our Lady of Guadalupe Means Both Vibrant Celebrations and the Need for Protection of Our Communities

Leslie Gracia
October 8, 2025

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. This reflection comes from DePaul University student Leslie Gracia.

Leslie Gracia

In my experience, living in America means witnessing month-long ethnic and cultural celebrations throughout the year. As someone of Hispanic descent, I love how, from mid-September to mid-October, I see Mexican restaurants, bakeries, and street vendors selling cut-up fresh fruit, elotes, and Mexican flags.

There are street murals in vibrant shades of red, green, and orange. They display images like Our Lady of Guadalupe, a mom praying her rosary for her child who hasn’t arrived home before midnight, Frida Kahlo with monarch butterfly wings, Indigenous Mexican people, and so many other beautiful images.

Seeing Hispanic people connect through our ethnicities makes it feel like we are at home, especially in Chicago. And yet they also make me feel like I am walking down the streets of Etzatlán, Jalisco, a town I visit in Mexico because I have family there.

Our Lady of Guadalupe plays a significant role in the Catholic Mexican community, as she appeared on the outskirts of what is now considered Mexico City, up on a hill called Tepeyac in the year 1531. When I visit Etzatlán on December 12, her appearance day anniversary in Mexico, we gather at night in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is near the plaza. We pray the rosary, sing her Las Mañanitas, and offer her roses that are blessed by the local priest.

We eat traditional holiday foods like tamales with atole, a warm, thick corn drink flavored with guava or nuts. A view of a big, knitted figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, almost like a mural, adorns the wall of the sanctuary. Above us in the sky, a knitted star pattern is draped from the sanctuary to another building, creating a woven ceiling. Then we move towards the plaza for the last event of the night, the castillo.

The castillo gets lit from the bottom, and the fire and beautiful bright lights escalate to the top of the structure. When the fire reaches her figure, red and white light explosions and loud whistling noises emerge from the castillo itself. It feels magical. Towards the end, our Lady of Guadalupe’s white crown begins to burn, hence the name castillo. Then it flies up into the sky. Kids run after it, not caring about the possibility of getting burned. They just want to have it.

Our Lady of Guadalupe plays an important role for immigrants. Many pray to her for protection when crossing the border. The same goes for anyone who feels unsafe, especially right now, with ICE raids targeting communities and places of employment, but mostly just anyone who looks Hispanic. No Hispanic person is safe after the Supreme Court ruled that ICE can now racially profile anyone who looks Hispanic or is speaking in their native tongue – that is, because of our Hispanic Heritage!

While Our Lady of Guadalupe has always been invoked for safety, right now I feel like everyone is coming together to pray to her and ask for protection. Hispanic Heritage Month is usually a time for celebrating as a community. We forget the racism we encounter every day and throw street parties, unapologetically and loudly playing our Spanish music. But this year it has turned into a month of fear and hiding, of staying alert so that fewer families get separated. Our community bonds remain strong.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

Image source: Wikimedia Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike International 4.0. license. Image cropped for this post and adapted into the featured image graphic.

Hispanic Heritage Promotes Democracy and Dignity

My Responsibility is to Help Build a Future Where We All Have a Share in the Decisions That Shape Our Destiny

Jonathan Alcantara
October 6, 2025

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. The following is Part 2 of a two-part reflection by Jonathan Alcantara of Marquette University. (Read Part 1.)

Jonathan Alcantara

In addition to undeniable economic and cultural contributions, the Latino community also participates powerfully in the democratic process. In particular, young Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic of voters, and our voices will shape the future elections. However, targeted voter suppression tactics like disinformation and misinformation, lack of access to absentee ballots, limited early voting, and bans on students using their school IDs at the polls continue to create barriers for young Latino voters.

So, over the past two years, I’ve served as a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow, working with other students and young adults in Wisconsin and across the country to foster a safe environment for civic engagement and support voter registration on our campuses. All of the meaningful conversations I’ve had with my peers on campus and with community leaders show and remind me that our democracy is stronger when we all participate and a lot weaker when we’re separated and pushed out.

Despite the inequalities, political tensions, and fearmongering, our lucha and resilience still define us. Across the nation this month, Latino communities are finding ways to gather and celebrate their heritage while navigating their fears. In cities like Chicago, Madison, and Appleton, Wisconsin, festivals celebrate with live music, dances, and traditional food. They also have workshops and representatives talking about healthcare, business inclusion, and professional leadership.

However, many events have scaled back and have even been postponed because of the possibility of immigration raids, but one thing’s for certain, seguimos unidos y en solidaridad, no matter the obstacles. Our culture is still alive not only in the happy moments but also in times when we must pivot, adapt, and continue showing up for one another through advocacy.

What ties all of this together is the set of values that go with the Latino community. We strongly believe in familia, dignidad, and oportunidad, which are values that anyone, regardless of their background and what they look like, can recognize as important. My Catholic faith reminds me that these are more than just cultural values; they are moral truths: that every person is made in the Imago Dei and deserves respect, freedom, and the chance to grow and thrive, no exceptions. In our faith, we say, cada persona es hijo de Dios, every person is a child of God. And that truth calls us to treat every person with the same dignity and respect.

Looking ahead, I see a hopeful future where our cultura is not only honored by others but fully integrated into the story of this country. A future where Latino students, like me, succeed in college without the barriers that are currently holding us back, where workers earn livable wages that match their contributions to our country, where families can live without the fear of leaving their house for five minutes, and where our voices are fully recognized in the public.

This vision is attainable, and this is why Hispanic Heritage Month matters. Is it about honoring culture? Yes. But it’s also about defending human dignity, expanding and growing economic opportunity, and strengthening our democracy. For me, Hispanic Heritage Month is both personal and shared. This month calls me to remember the resilience of those who came before me and to act with the knowledge of my responsibility for those who will come after me.

This month, I celebrate my heritage not only by remembering the past but by helping build a future where every family, Latino or not, can live, work, and thrive con fe, esperanza y orgullo, no exceptions.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

Hispanic Heritage Gives New Life to Our Culture and Economy

This Month Reminds us of the Responsibility to Bring Culture, Faith, Community, and Resilience to Justice Work

Jonathan Alcantara
October 1, 2025

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. The following is Part 1 of two-part reflection by Jonathan Alcantara of Marquette University. (Read Part 2.)

Jonathan Alcantara

Hispanic Heritage Month is not just a time for us to honor our cultura with music, food, faith, and festivals. It is also a reminder of the responsibility to carry the values of our culture, our faith, our community, and our resilience into the work of justice especially in times like these. To me, this time of the year is a celebración of who we are, where we come from, and the challenges we face to help positively shape where we are going in the future.

Growing up in the metro Atlanta area, I saw my Latino heritage recognized not only during celebrations but in the everyday actions of our determination. Our family gatherings were filled with stories, delicious authentic comida mexicana, laughter that makes our stomach hurt, and the occasional chisme, but through all this there were also unmistakable examples of our families’ hard work and sacrifice.

Those experiences continue to guide and shape me as a first-generation Mexican American college student. As a student studying finance at Marquette University, a Jesuit community that emphasizes service, community, and justice, I remind myself every day that my Mexican and Latino heritage is more than just a set of traditions passed down to each generation but it’s the light, the source that pushes and strengthens us to lead with purpose, to advocate for justice, and to build stronger communities and a more just nation.

As I sit and reflect on this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, I cannot ignore las injusticias that MY Latino community has and is currently facing in 2025. The federal government has intensified immigration enforcements to drastic measures. The recent Supreme Court ruling has opened the door to racial profiling and aggressive deportations.

As a result, the fear that Latino communities and neighborhoods that has existed for years has deepened even further. Since January, families have lived in constant anxiety and worry about raids, deportations, and having their families separated. These actions not only harm families and individuals but break trust in public institutions and weaken the connections that unite and make our community strong and resilient.

Despite this, the impact and strength of our economic contributions speak for themselves. The 2025 Latino GPD in the U.S. has recently surpassed $4 trillion, making our community one of the most powerful and largest economies in the world. Latinos have some of the highest labor participation rates, strong entrepreneurship, and growing levels of higher education. Still the inequalities continue through unfair wage gaps sometimes even with a college degree. Latina women, specifically, experience some of the most significant gaps, earning less than both white women and Latino men, while Latino men’s earnings fall short of his peers despite having equal qualifications.

Whether we are Latino, Black, Asian, or White, we all deserve to be paid fairly for our work. It matters just as much that many families, not just Latinos, rely on programs like SNAP and Head Start which are being threatened by recent federal legislature like the summer reconciliation bill, and political playbooks like Project 2025. In reality, Latinos contribute to face unfair barriers while significantly contributing to the U.S. economy. Now more than ever, there needs to be change.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L). Read Part 2 of this reflection.