National Hispanic Heritage Month

From Sep 15, 2025 – Oct 15, 2025 is National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States. Here, it is especially important to honor Hispanic culture, achievements, and history in the United States. 

In California, many Hispanic figures are crucially important to the state’s history: whether through shaping the labor movement in the 1930s-1960s, the cities’ rich culture, or the state’s political legislation, Hispanic people have shaped the state and the country in great amounts. We also want to acknowledge that language is always evolving, while this commemorative month is officially recognized as Hispanic Heritage Month, many people also refer to it as Latinx Heritage Month or Latine Heritage Month, reflecting the diversity and inclusivity within our communities

Here at TeenSource, as the month comes to a close, we wanted to recognize Hispanic figures ranging from different parts of history. 

1. Jovita Idar (1885-1946)

Idar was a Mexican-American journalist, activist, and suffragist who fought for Mexican-American and immigrant rights during her life. Not only was she a talented and groundbreaking journalist, writing about and encouraging women’s suffrage in La Crónica, she also took massive steps for Mexican women in the United States by founding and becoming the first president of La Liga Feminil Mexicaista (the League of Mexican Women), an organization that under her supervision, provided education for Mexican-American students when it was very limited. 

Due to her outspoken nature, authorities such as the Texas Rangers and the US Army disliked her, as shown as how they tried censoring her by attempting to shut down the newspaper she worked at at the time called El Progreso. Although the newspaper eventually succumbed to the pressure, her famous confrontation against them by forcibly not letting them into the office, only shows her pure fight for feminism, Mexican-Americans, and political activism.

2. Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) and Dolores Huerta (1930-)

As a first generation Mexican-American, Cesar Chavez made ways not only in his community, but the nation’s labor movement. After losing their farm due to the Great Depression, the Chavez family became migrant farm workers, exposing Chavez to the injustices of farm workers during this time period. Huerta was born in New Mexico exposed early to the labor movement through her father, who worked as a beet farmer to a state legislature in 1938 who was described as a “fiery union leader.” 

The two met in 1955, later creating the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), successfully establishing the first farm workers union in the United States. Together, they successfully led the Delano Grape Strike, which raised wages; brang better working conditions; and passed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA), which brought. 

Outside of the labor movement, Chavez established a burial program, a credit union for workers, health clinics, daycares, and job-training programs to remedy the economic injustices of poverty and discrimination in the United States. Huerta continued to fight within the UFW, through leading boycotts and propositions, but also was active in the women’s liberation movement, advocating for women’s political leadership and championed issues for women in the workspace such as childcare and protection from sexual harassment.

3. Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002)

Rivera was a Puerto Rican-Venezuelan-American transgender activist who spent her life in New York City, fighting for gay and transgender liberation. Identifying herself as a drag queen for most of her life, she later came out as a transgender woman. In 1962, she was taken in by local drag queens after being shunned by her family, who eventually raised her and christened her with the name of “Sylvia Rivera.” During this time, she became close to Marsha P. Johnson, who was in a similar situation as herself, and they both got more involved in the gay liberation movement together in 1970.

Together, they co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a program that offered services and advocacy for homeless queer youth and fought for the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York, that prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation. Most famously, Rivera was present at the Stonewall uprising, being an active member in the fight for gay and transgender liberation all her life.

4. Joan Baez

Baez is most notable for being a Mexican-American folk singer-songwriter and activist. Born in 1941, she was extremely active during the counterculture era of the sixties, in which she mixed genres of folk rock, pop, country, and gospel music, writing protest music such as songs "We Shall Overcome," "Oh, Freedom," and "A Song for David". She continues to write today, such as her song “Nasty Man,” released in 2017, fighting against political corruption. Even outside of her music, Baez made waves in the United States in civil rights, migrant workers’ rights, human rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. In the 1970s, she was crucial to creating the US’s branch of Amnesty International. Additionally, she sang at the March on Washington and co-founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in 1964, focusing on pacifist protest.

Conclusion

As the month comes to a close, it is important to respect and celebrate Hispanic culture, history, and figures, especially considering how much they have shaped the country today. The country would be completely different without the impact of what Hispanic Americans did, which is why today, their actions should be celebrated as we make way for the future.