A proclamation acknowledging Hispanic Heritage Month, which every year falls between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, was only added to a Redwood City Council agenda after a tip came in from the public, Mayor Diane Howard said.
Referring to an article published in Península 360 Press that accused city officials of ignoring Hispanic Heritage Month, Mayor Howard called the oversight “an honest mistake” and described efforts to improve citywide awareness. In addition to creating a calendar that will track important cultural markers like Yom Kippur and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Howard is in talks with Veronica Escamez, founder of Casa Círculo Cultural, about collaborating on a new event for 2022’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.
“It’s certainly something we should have been aware of,” said Howard. “But out of lemons come lemonade.”
During the Sept. 27 City Council meeting, Howard introduced the proclamation as a way to acknowledge “the rich culture and history of Hispanic and Latino Americans in Redwood City and across our nation.” She promised to honor Hispanic Heritage Month every year.
Reading from the official document, she invoked civil rights activist Dolores Huerta’s quoting, “We are needed. We have to be engaged and get ourselves elected to school boards and city councils. Sí se puede!”
Also in attendance was María de los Remedios Gómez Arnau, Cónsul General of San Francisco’s Consulado General de México, who spoke briefly, thanking Redwood City for its proclamation and calling for the strengthening of ties between the City and Mexico.
Not everyone felt the proclamation was sufficient. Longtime resident and local activist Arturo Samayoa wrote in an email: “I think the City Council should not be reminded or asked to take the initiative. I am a bit disappointed because there are two Latino City Council members that did not think about creating a Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation, they and the rest of the Council Members missed the opportunity, in a city that has about 40 percent Latino constituents.”
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed nationally and recognizes the contributions and achievements of the Latinx population to the community. The dates are significant because many Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, and Mexico, celebrate their independence and other national holidays during this period.
According to the Pew Research Center, the Latinx population in the country has grown to more than 62 million people, roughly 50 percent since 2010. The Latinx community makes up more than 39 percent of the population and has become the largest ethnic group in California.
Locally, the Hispanic community has grown by nearly a third since 1990 and now comprises more than 35 percent of the population of Redwood City, according to 2020 census data. In North Fair Oaks, colloquially known as “Little Michoacán,” 70 percent of residents are Latino. The community of expats from Aguililla—one of Redwood City’s Sister Cities in Michoacán—is the largest in the world.
The proclamation is not the only way the city has acknowledged its diverse Latinx population.
Redwood City is host to several events celebrating Hispanic Heritage year-round, Howard said.
Events like Fiestas Patrias and the Salsa Festival, both canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns, are some of the city’s most well-attended. In addition to educational displays featuring books and art about Hispanic heritage, the Redwood City Public Library typically hosts author readings throughout the month. Within Casa Círculo, preparation has already begun for the annual Día de los Muertos celebration, during which Redwood City’s Courthouse Square is transformed into a colorful display of skulls, flowers, traditional foods and altars.
In recent years, annual events celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and the ongoing work of activists and local organizations have brought greater visibility and representation for the Hispanic community. But the city’s relationship with the Latinx community hasn’t always been a healthy one.
Samayoa said he immediately felt at home when he arrived in Redwood City in the early 90s after emigrating from El Salvador during the Civil War ten years prior. The 61-year-old said he even bought his first house in the Redwood Village neighborhood, a well-established community with single-family homes that date back to the 1940s. The community offered an abundance of quinceañeras and other festivities every weekend, he said.
But Samayoa began to notice that Redwood City Police rarely responded to the gunfire that could sometimes be heard in the neighborhood.
“At night, I felt like I was back home,” he told the SFGate in 1996. “It sounded like a war zone.”
In response to what Samayoa said he perceived as deliberate neglect from law enforcement, the along with longtime resident Salvador Sandoval and a handful of their neighbors founded the group Latino Focus to mobilize the community into action. Using guerilla marketing techniques, members created neighborhood associations, organized protests and press conferences, and in 1994, helped elect Redwood City’s first Latino police chief, Carlos Bolanos, now San Mateo County Sheriff.
Over the coming years, efforts led by Latino Focus took on more than just the police force. Samayoa described some former city council members, pointing specifically to then-Councilmember Matt Leipzig, as “a little bit racist” and “very anti-Latino communities.”
Tensions peaked in 1999 when Leipzig was quoted describing North Fair Oaks, a primarily Spanish-speaking neighborhood, as “another country.”
“He made some comments that he was afraid to go to that side of Redwood City,” said Samayoa.
In response, Latino Focus held press conferences, spoke with the media, and made their frustrations known to the city. Through this work, Samayoa said, Latino Focus was instrumental in giving the Hispanic community a voice.
“Coming from oppressed countries with dictatorships, we were not used to speaking up to authorities,” he said. “Latino Focus helped to change that mentality.”
‘More Latino Representation’
The seven-member City Council has two Latinx representatives, Lissette Espinoza-Garnica and Alicia Aguirre of Districts 3 and 7, respectively. Still, only seven of the 91 seats on City Boards, Commissions, and Committees are held by members of the Hispanic community, and representation remains a major issue for groups like Latino Focus.
“We are working on getting more Latino representation in community boards or in elected positions,” said Juan Carlos Prado, another founding member of Latino Focus. “Elected officials need to be a reflection of the community they represent. And we feel that Latino issues and concerns are not being voiced or not being addressed in a way that is fair and equitable.”
For longtime Peninsula resident and community leader, Connie Guerrero, growing Latinx representation in local leadership is also a way to celebrate and share the many cultures in Redwood City.
“Some people think that the Hispanics that are in Redwood City, or in San Mateo County, are all Mexicans,” she said. “But in fact, there's a diverse community of Latinx that come from many different countries.”
While the majority of Redwood City’s Hispanic population has roots in Mexico’s western states of Michoacán and Jalisco, the city is also home to people from Central and South America. With residents from countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Chile, North Fair Oaks is one of the most culturally diverse places in San Mateo County.
Councilmember Espinoza-Garnica, Redwood City’s first non-binary Chicanx on the Council, sees Hispanic Heritage Month as not just a four-week celebration but an opportunity for the community to come together.
“In this country, Latinx heritage, like any other heritage month, can just be seen as a [time] to consume,” said the 25-year-old.
“I don't want it to be just a time where we talk about which events we should go to,” they added. “It’s a start, but I hope that no one’s fooled into thinking that it ends after 30 days…I hope that people also consider what kind of actions they can take to be in solidarity.”
After lying dormant for nearly two decades, Samayoa and Latino Focus are hoping to mobilize the Hispanic community to get involved in the upcoming redistricting of Redwood City.
“Even though I hung up my tennis shoes for a while, some of the community members revived the group,” he said. “The fight is still going.”
Following in their footsteps, other nonprofits have since popped up in Redwood City, many with similar goals and missions.
The longstanding organization Generations United provides educational, health, and emergency support to community members, and recently opened the doors to their new Academic Enrichment Center. Since 2010, Redwood City Together has increased community engagement and facilitated new projects and partnerships with the city. And over the last 13 years, Casa Círculo Cultural has grown from a small theater group into a local landmark. Almost entirely volunteer-run, Casa Círculo offers nightly classes in everything from sewing to Ballet Folklórico, teaching hundreds of kids and adults every month.
“For years and years, our community has been doing jobs that nobody wants to do,” said founder Veronica Escamez. She believes that art can be a way for new generations of Hispanic people to forge their own paths by learning “how to be leaders and help their community”—and to keep their culture alive.
“I am a believer that if you know your identity from when you are very little, you are a better person,” said Escamez.
And to those who may feel the city isn’t doing enough to honor the Latinx community, the mayor is open to feedback.
“If they have any suggestions, please bring them forward,” she said. “We celebrate the city’s Hispanic heritage all year round with the honoring of different people. We’re making a concerted effort to represent all nationalities, and we’ve done wonderful outreach to this community in that regard.
“I like to think that we’re celebrating all year round.”
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Leah Worthington is the lead reporter at the Redwood City Pulse, a local news site dedicated to providing accurate and timely news to the Redwood City community. Leah can be reached at lworthington@rwcpulse.com, on Twitter, and by phone at 650-888-3794. To read more stories about Redwood City, subscribe to our daily Express newsletter on rwcpulse.com.
