Fostering content around holidays
Lesser-known Latinx celebrations offer public media an engagement opportunity
Hispanic Heritage Month and Dia de los Muertos are done, but your chance to connect with Latine listeners and viewers isn’t over. 🙅🏽 In fact, there are many chances to keep bonding.
Holidays offer your content and listening a wonderful focal point. 🎉 During Hispanic Heritage Month this past month, public media outlets spotlighted the occasion through featured stories, events, and social media posts. Dia de los Muertos’ colorful altars, offerings and festivities (as well as attention from films like Coco) have boosted interest. 💀 However, celebrating and understanding Hispanic culture extends year-round.
There are many more occasions to engage with and create content that shares the diversity of Latin American heritage. 🥂 Is your public media organization trying to figure out ways to engage Latine audiences? One means of doing it may be connecting with such times of interest.
Public media could consider covering the following relevant but under-the-radar Hispanic holidays. From playful celebration of childhood on Día de los Niños or raucous Cinco de Mayo parties, rich cultural traditions manifest in some dates I’ll share with you. 👇🏾
What are meaningful yet less in the multicultural mainstream observances in the Latinx community deserving of public awareness as well as your coverage? 💡 Here are a few leads.
Las Posadas is a nine-day Christmas celebration in Mexico and other Latin American countries as well as some of the U.S. Southwest. 🎄 It takes place on each of the nine nights leading up to Christmas Eve (December 16-24). Las Posadas is intended to reenact Mary and Joseph's search for lodging. Children often carry candles wrapped in colored paper lanterns. There are piñatas filled with fruit and candy that are broken open as part of the festivities.
While there are strong Catholic implications here, the ritual originally was intended to blend Spanish and indigenous Aztec winter solstice traditions. Las Posadas is likely something for organizations to spotlight over the holidays.
Related, in many Latin American countries, the Christmas Eve celebration Nochebuena is celebrated on December 24. It is a major family event and celebration — as it was in mine — that can be bigger than Christmas Day. 🎁 It involves several traditions and customs. The centerpiece of Nochebuena is the Christmas Eve dinner, which typically features dishes like tamales and pozole. After dinner, families attend midnight mass services together at their local church. I expect you may have residents who recognize it as well.
Dia de los Reyes, or Three Kings' Day, is observed on January 6. 👑 The holiday marks the culmination of the 12 Days of Christmas and signals the end of the Christmas season for many. It commemorates the arrival of the Magi with gift-giving and family gatherings. Similar to other dates, there are religious implications. Also, there is a lot here about tradition and family to some that is just as crucial to participants.
Known as Mardi Gras in French and Carnaval in Spanish and Portuguese, this holiday involves costumes, music, dancing, parties and other celebrations. 🥳 Major Carnaval celebrations take place in places like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Barranquilla, Colombia which have elaborate parades. The days leading up to Lent are meant as a final chance to enjoy parties and rich foods before the austerity and sacrifice of the Lenten season, thus Carnaval.
Día de las Américas, or Day of the Americas, is an annual celebration observed on April 14 in many Latin American and Caribbean countries. It honors and recognizes the diverse cultural identities, heritage and contributions of the various regions that comprise the Americas. 🎊 It was first celebrated in 1931 at the First Inter-American Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a way to promote pan-American unity and cooperation.
Children's Day, also known as Día de los Niños, is recognized on April 30 in many Spanish-speaking countries. 🧒🏽 It is a day to honor and celebrate children with special activities and gifts. With its proximity to Día de las Madres (Mother's Day), this makes late April a content and engagement opportunity focused on family.
Cinco de Mayo (May 5) recognizes the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when a small Mexican squad defeated the feared French imperial forces. 💥 From a military history standpoint, the Battle of Puebla is fascinating; if you’re curious, historian John Hart marvelously recounted the fight in my 2007 interview with him. However, Cinco de Mayo is not widely celebrated in Mexico. It is popular in the United States and could be an opportunity for content and engagement.
If your station covers sports, the Saturday closest to Cinco de Mayo is a big date for boxing, mainly because Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez books fights in May and September (around the date below). 🥊 He also puts together epic entrances steeped in culture as part of these matches. Boxing is still a major sport across Latin America, with Alvarez being its top draw.
Día de la Independencia or Independence Day is a major Mexican public holiday celebrated annually on September 16. It commemorates the start of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810 that eventually led to Mexico's independence from Spanish rule. ✌🏽 Also, September 15 is the anniversary of independence for several Latin American countries, such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Which did I miss, but shouldn’t have? 🤔 Click comment below.
Covering these holidays can help public media provide a more comprehensive view of Latine culture and traditions beyond the well-known ones like Dia de los Muertos and Hispanic Heritage Month. 📅 It’s also strategically wise to not be limited by the major dates.
As we reflect back on Hispanic Heritage Month, let us also look ahead to spreading knowledge of Latine holidays and events that take place in the coming months. 🤗 The themes of family, belief and history offer avenues to learn about and connect with the vibrant Latinx cultures that make up our communities. Shedding light on these celebrations allows for deeper bonds. 🟢
Cafecito: stories to discuss ☕
The University of Utah’s KUER and PBS Utah have announced plans to turn a recent radio acquisition into an outlet serving Spanish-speaking listeners in the state. 📻
As part of its “changing face of Maine" series, Maine Public explores the growing Latinx population in the state and highlights their contributions to the state's culture and economy. 🔊
New Hampshire Public Radio highlights the stories of Latines engaging in outdoor activities in the region. ⛰️
More on last OIGO: The Conversation focuses on the complexities of Spanish and assimilated communities. 😻
The El Timpano story of teaching Latinx immigrants about disinformation has made the rounds, and it’s a good read about community engagement. ☑️
El radar: try this 📡
Keep examining Latinos in local politics. WJFF aired a panel of local Latino/a leaders in a program that is deceptively simple, yet impactful. 🗳️ Sitting leaders down to talk about the ins and outs of diversity and area politics can, in fact, be quite illuminating.
Examine cruising laws. 🚗 KQED covered the repeal of laws intended to curtail lowriders and cruising, and I’m curious if your state has enacted similar laws? These laws have long been called out as racial profiling, and I’d assume other states are considering their end.
Find Tejano roots. 🤠 Tejano music was popularized by the rise of Selena, but the genre remains an enduring one years after her death. Boise State Public Radio profiled a local musician with bonds to Texas and the sound. Are there Tejano artists near you?
Watch for immigration law challenges. KERA notes the passage of new Texas legislation criminalizing undocumented border crossing, including felony charges for those who cross repeatedly. 👮🏼 Changes are expected to challenge federal enforcement. Is your state house having similar debates on the lead up to an election year?
See about Latinos with advanced degrees. 🏫 Pew Research has just forwarded some data on the 2.5 million Hispanics with masters degrees and higher.
The next OIGO is here Nov. 17. Only a few editions left until the holiday season is here and OIGO goes one a short break. So, if you’ve got a project you’re proud of, a question you’re pondering, or want to be featured, hit reply and let’s talk. 👂🏾 I want to elevate you.
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