Salsa and Latin-American Culture

I am not shy about my roots, I wear them loud and proud. My mother immigrated from Brazil and Portugal, and my father’s parents are Cuban refugees who escaped the Castro Regime. When I tell people this, they often comment about how fiery my family must be. They are 100% right, growing up I was completely immersed in the cultures of my heritage. My Abuela taught me Spanish, my vovó cooked amazing Brazilian and Portuguese food, and of course at every family gathering there was dancing.

To be honest, I never even knew that what was danced at family events was considered Samba, Cha-Cha or Salsa, to me it was just my family feeling the music. No one ever took dance lessons, but they all knew what they were doing and they did it well. It was not until I got older and started seeing these styles of dance on TV that I realized they had a name to them.

Because we are talking about the styles of dance it is important to talk about the music behind it. Celia Cruz is often acclaimed to be “La Reina de Salsa” or “The Queen of Salsa”. Seeing this woman’s dress on display at the exhibit was truly humbling. She gave a voice to the Latin-American community at a time when Latino immigrants were completely powerless and silenced. Not to mention she gained massive popularity at a time where racism and sexism was at its peak in the world. Therefore, this woman is truly iconic. In addition, artists like Gloria Estefan were the first to blend Latin-American rhythms with English lyrics, ( I mean who could forget her iconic song “Conga”?), in order to cater to an American audience. At this point in history, Americans were finally engaging with Latin-American culture.

I think something that is important to note is the painting we saw of an integrated neighborhood. When there was a dramatic influx of Latin-American immigrants in the 20th century everybody went to a specific part of the country. Cubans went to Miami, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans went to New York City,  and Central Americans went to California. As Latino immigrants moved in, White people started moving out.  This is a form of segregation we do not address a lot. Studies show that segregation is a natural human tendency, humans tend to feel more comfortable with those whom they share more in common with. The artist is hoping to show that natural segregation does not have to be a thing, they want to encourage cultures to blend and mix to create a unique hybrid of cultures. This is something very interesting to think about because we often talk about how American culture is a just a hybrid of cultures of every country around the world.

Overall the museum exhibit confirmed the richness of the culture of my heritage. I think it is so wonderful that in America we can not only celebrate Latin-American culture, but we can also celebrate European, African, Asian, and all cultures beyond.