National Hispanic Heritage Month
Community Member Interviews
Q& A with Mónica Martínez
Q: Tell us about where in Mexico your family came from and what it was like for you growing up in Rhinebeck.
A: My family is from Oaxaca, Mexico. We came to the United States when I was two years old, and I grew up in Rhinebeck. I remember going to the haunted house they used to do at the fire station in town and being terrified. I felt so brave after going through, even if I covered my eyes the whole time! I also remember going to the Dutchess County Fair at least three times during fair week. Or going to the annual Sinterklaas parade, where I was mesmerized by the lights and colors in the parade at night. Rhinebeck has been where I’ve seen my brothers grow up, where I have made friends, where I have worked, and where I always return.
Q: Are there any traditions related to Mexican culture that you grew up with and/or maintain in your current life?
A: One of my favorite traditions is usually during the fall and winter seasons. Apart from speaking Spanish and trying to maintain it as an integral part of my Mexican culture, the traditions like Día de los Muertos, Los Reyes Magos, and celebrating Nochebuena on Christmas Eve keep me attached to my culture. And I can’t forget my mom’s homecooked meals! While I have not mastered her recipes yet, I’m working on it slowly but surely. Making meals that remind us of our town in Oaxaca is a way my family likes to keep the traditions alive. Fortunately, the family-owned Mexican grocery store in town has all the spices and traditional food from Mexico, so it makes maintaining our traditions possible.
Q: How often do you speak Spanish in your daily life? Have you spent time in any Spanish-speaking countries?
A: I speak Spanish basically every day. It’s how I communicate with my parents and family, since Spanish is their first language. When my grandmother comes to visit from Mexico it’s the only way I can communicate with her, so it’s important for me to keep up my Spanish. I haven’t been fortunate enough to travel since I am a DACA recipient and can’t leave the country just yet, but I try to find comfort in being able to communicate with my family members.
Q: Do you listen to any music in Spanish?
A: All the time! Spanish music is the only kind of music I’ve been listening to. I love dancing and listening to bachata, cumbia, banda, norteñas, and reggaetón. Anything in Spanish practically. It reminds me of home since my parents are always playing music on their speaker. On the weekends when we’re cleaning and organizing the house, in the shower, when someone is having their own little party, or on rainy days when my dad’s home working – there’s always music playing somewhere.
Q: What are some of your hobbies and leisure pursuits?
I really enjoy watching new shows and movies in my free time, as well as doing small things for self-care. However, recently I’ve been trying to expand and diversify my book collection. It started while I was at Smith College, but I started collecting books by Latine authors and my library has since grown tremendously. During the craziness of college, I struggled to find time to read for fun, but now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I want to read them all. It’s quite funny, but I’ve always wanted to write a memoir so even if it’s writing that’s only for me that will never be published, I’m enjoying writing again.
Feel free to share anything else you'd like to about you/your family and the significance of Hispanic Heritage Month to you.
I believe that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is important to acknowledge not only the community but all the diversity within the Latine community. While I do not identify as “Hispanic” because I believe it has roots in colonialization, I do identify as Latina and Oaxaqueña more than anything, which takes influence from my family and our origins. Hispanic Heritage Month is not just about acknowledging our culture and traditions but the beautiful diversity there is including indigenous and AfroLatine communities as well, and I strongly advocate for that and what this month means to me.
Q& A with Leonard Nevarez
Q: What's your family's background? Where did you grow up?
A: I’m from a family of mixed Mexican-Anglo heritage. Ethnically, I identify with my father’s side more because his family were very involved in my childhood. He was born and raised in East Los Angeles to parents that taught him Spanish before English. In high school, he joined the Army R.O.T.C. to pay for college and medical school, and I grew up in a military family who moved to places like San Antonio, northern Virginia, and Belgium.
But over different periods of my life, California has been my historic and sentimental home — from coastal towns (Monterey) and agricultural communities (Gonzales) in the north, to Santa Barbara and Riverside in the south, and especially Los Angeles, the city where I have extended Nevarez family.
Q: Are there any traditions related to Hispanic culture that you grew up with and/or maintain in your current life?
A: Food! Because of my grandmother and my mother, her eager student in the kitchen, I can make refried beans and enchiladas from scratch, and I know that tortillas taste best when heated directly over a gas flame. Christmas was always a special feast when family prepared tamales the day before, although requests for tamales later in the year would just be met by my grandmother’s simple “tamale pie” (cornbread-chili casserole). To this day, whenever I visit my parents on the west coast, my father and I eat chorizo and eggs as many mornings as possible.
It was never a regular pastime in my family, but I would also count fútbol (soccer) as my Hispanic tradition. My son John and I always root for the Mexican national team, and while I’m dazzled by the Lionel Messi-Inter Miami show, my favorite MLS teams are from Los Angeles, the Galaxy and LAFC, where Mexican stars like Chicharito (Javier Hernández) and Carlos Vela have stoked massive fan support in the community.
Q: Do you speak Spanish? Have you spent time in any Spanish-speaking countries?
A: Sadly, my Spanish is not great. I was doing well in middle school and high school classes before our move to Belgium required a quick shift to learning French.
I’ve only been to Mexico twice in my life. I would love to learn more about the country, but with abuelos (grandparents) born in Texas and Arizona, my sense of Mexican nationality has been oriented around the communities of chicanos and tejanos in the American southwest.
Q: How long have you lived in Rhinebeck, and what do you enjoy about living in this community?
A: Andrea Pyros and I have lived in Rhinebeck since 2004. We love the charms of village life, where our kids can walk to school and get a pizza slice. Through their school and recreational activities, we have made many friends and felt nourished by the strong sense of community and civic respect.
Q: What do you teach at Vassar? What is your specific area of research?
A: I teach sociology and urban studies at Vassar College, where my classes address contemporary changes in work, organizations, and cities. I’m an urban sociologist by training and have done research recently on this region — feel free to ask about the “Brooklynization of the Hudson Valley.”
Q: What are some of your hobbies and leisure pursuits?
A: I’m a nut for music: listening to it, reading about it, hearing new sounds, going to concerts, buying and selling used LPs, and playing with others. The louder the better!
Q: Anything else you'd like to about Hispanic Heritage Month and/or yourself and your family?
A: Living in New York for almost 25 years has reminded me there are so many ways of being Hispanic/Latino in this country. Only two years ago, I visited Puerto Rico for the first time — a major source of latinidad on the east coast that I rarely encountered in California. I love this opportunity to celebrate Hispanic/Latino diversity across the Americas as well as the broader multicultural diversity in which we shine and contribute.
