Gilchrist helps Lansing launch Hispanic Heritage Month

MONDAY, Sept. 16 — Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist helped kick off Lansing’s Hispanic Heritage Month today by noting its importance in a divisive presidential election year.

“In this moment, during an election season, when we have people for whom it seems like their whole job is to say terrible things about the Hispanic community, frankly, in Michigan, we do not have time for or accept bullying in that way,” Gilchrist said.

He spoke at a noon ceremony at City Hall at which city and state proclamations were presented.  Ballet Maria Luz, a local folklorico group, performed before an audience of more than 50 people.

The festivities, which run through Oct. 15, recognize a slew of Hispanic countries’ independence days. Today marked the 203rd anniversary of Mexico’s independence from Spain, while Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua marked theirs on Sunday.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor noted that more than 14,000 of Lansing’s 113,000 residents are of Hispanic and Latino descent, including current City Council member Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu — the city’s first Latina representative on Council.

Lopez Pehlivanoglu recalled moving to Lansing in 1984 as a child “with no other family or support system” and watching her parents find opportunities with the city of Lansing and Ingham County. Luckily, she said, “this Hispanic community embraced us very quickly.”

“We were introduced to Cristo Rey Church and the Cristo Rey Community Center. I remember being a kid and going to Old Town to buy music and rent movies and marching in favor of Cesar Chavez Avenue as a teenager. This pride and expression of culture was offered to me right here in the capital city of the state of Michigan, and I have always felt at home here,” Lopez Pehlivanoglu said.

She reminded the audience that Hispanic and Latino people “have the ability to be leaders at every level, and we are.”

“It's true that we're no strangers to our collective struggles,” she said. “We know that sometimes we have to work 10 times harder and 10 times longer than our counterparts, but we're a community that never gives up. In fact, we wear our ethnicity and our culture as a badge of honor. We help make the fabric of the City of Lansing what it is today.”

Another speaker, Ingham County Commissioner Robert Peña, said: “Being Hispanic does not make you better than anybody else, but it does not make you any less than anybody else, either. Be proud of who you are, and always remember that the respect of other people and their rights is peace."

 Gilchrist said, "The beauty of our collective culture is in its abundance.”

“We are at our best when we recognize that every person, community and culture has something to add to our collective experience. It’s important to celebrate, because the Hispanic and Latino community has made Michigan a better place,” he said.

This is not only true for the 560,000 Hispanic and Latino Michiganders, he added, “but also for all of us who do not identify” as such.

“Every interaction with a member of the community is an opportunity to grow and to add something to our own individual lives and experiences here in Michigan,” Gilchrist said. “We believe that everybody has a role to play. And the Hispanic and Latino community, the largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority group in Michigan, has a tremendous amount to continue to contribute to help Michigan grow.”

He noted that that community is “responsible for a large part of the growth of Michigan’s population over the last ten years.”

“Imagine waking up every day and thinking that your state, or your city or your country was too small to include the Hispanic and Latino community. I don’t think that Michigan is that small, and we don’t believe that Lansing is that small. We believe that there is space and room for everybody to be present and grow in Michigan.

 “There’s a story that will continue to be written about who sees themselves as a Michigander,” Gilchrist added.