Thread: Each Mexican State to Be Showcased at Independence Day Parad

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... california

Each Mexican State to Be Showcased at Independence Day Parade in Santa Ana
By Jennifer Delson
Times Staff Writer

September 16, 2006

Groups representing every state in Mexico will parade through the streets of Santa Ana today to celebrate Mexican Independence Day.

The parade, which attracted more than 50,000 spectators last year, is a trip from the jungles of Chiapas to the fair of San Marcos" in Aguascalientes state, said Socorro Sarmiento, a representative of the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana. "It is a way to know Mexico without going all the way there."

The Santa Ana parade is more than just generically Mexican; it reflects the nuances of each of the 31 Mexican states plus its federal district, which includes Mexico City.

A group from Mexico City has re-created a flowered boat typical of those that take passengers around the canals of Xochimilco.

The Aguascalientes state delegation raised money through raffles of Tupperware and a painting of the Last Supper to bring the state dance company. Dancers will wear typical lace-embroidered dresses with scenes from the annual San Marcos fair.

Immigrants from Michoacan will present dancers dressed in corn husks and others wearing intricately decorated 4-foot-high masks.

Natives of Oaxaca have organized a theatrical presentation that includes a man dressed as Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca popularly regarded as the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico.

Because Juarez worked as a shepherd as a child, the Oaxaca float also includes a child dressed as Juarez tending live sheep.

The event "makes me feel incredibly proud to be from Oaxaca and be able to carry on history," said Guillermina Reyes, who heads the Orange County Oaxacan Federation.

The parade begins at 4 p.m. at Main and 15th streets and ends a few blocks from downtown Santa Ana.

Also in Santa Ana, the separately organized Mexican Independence Day festival, which last year drew 210,000 people, will run today and Sunday on Broadway between French and 4th streets.

The call for Mexican independence was first uttered by Father Miguel Hidalgo on Sept. 16, 1810. He rang the church bell to gather his congregation, then called for independence and the exile or arrest of all Spaniards in Mexico.


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jennifer.delson@latimes.com

http://www.orovillemr.com/news/bayarea/ci_4349232

Article Launched: 09/16/2006 05:57:25 AM PDT

Mexican Independence Day unites local Latinos
By Lupita Figueiredo, CORRESPONDENT



OAKLAND — What was originally scheduled as a crime prevention meeting in the Fruitvale district turned into a colorful festivity Thursday night as about 350 people gathered to celebrate Mexican Independence Day.
The event, organized by neighborhood services coordinators from the Oakland Police Department and by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County, commemorated Mexico's independence from Spain on Sept. 16, 1810, as well as "El Grito," a historic event in which a priest called upon the town's people to rebel and fight against the ruling country.

Event organizers said although Mexican immigrants sometimes are criticized for holding on to their cultural roots and not assimilating to their new home country, celebrating such historical events gives them a sense of unity.

"This is what we need for our children. We want them to know that they come from a culture that is rich in history, and that they should be proud of being Mexicans," said Ana Martinez, an event organizer. Martinez, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, was born and raised in Oakland.

"I believe that you can be proud of your heritage and at the same time accept a new culture," Martinez said.

The gathering of about 350 people, many of whom were just passing by on their way home,

stuck around for what turnedinto a fiesta on a small street named after City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, between International Boulevard and the Fruitvale Transit Village.

A representative from the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco led the "El Grito" ceremony and people responded with a traditional "Viva Mexico!" and added "Viva Oakland!"

Mariachi Colima, Tierra Del Sol Band and Carlos Moreno Folkloric Ballet performed popular songs and dances.

The fiesta was organized in less than two weeks. "Because we only had a $200 budget, we asked the merchants for help," said Rafael Campos, another organizer and an immigrant from Durango, Mexico. "Restaurant and store owners helped us without hesitation."

Campos said they received food, prizes and cash donations, and some of the performers did not charge for the entertainment.

"I have been here for 27 years. The last time I went to Mexico was eight years ago when my mother died," said an undocumented worker. The man later sang, applauded and danced under an impromptu stage decorated with American and Mexican flags.

Police Officers Sean Festag, Eric Milino and Lt. Ricardo Orozco, among others from the Oakland Police Department, and community worker Maria Sanchez from the Unity Council, were recognized for their service to Fruitvale residents.

Meanwhile, around 50 business people and community leaders held a similar event at a restaurant in the Fruitvale Transit Village. Many of them had gone to the plaza and returned for a second "El Grito" ceremony, on a smaller scale.

"All this reaches back to our roots so that we can all connect," said Henry Rosales, executive director for the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation.

As part of the "Fiestas" celebrating Mexican Independence Day, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has organized a "Mariachi Magic" festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in the Fruitvale Transit Village.

Mexicn Independence Day is being celebrated in Miami as there are numerous Mexican flags up for that occassion to please 61,000 Mexicans. This has got to stop. They do not do this for the end of the U.S.S.R. or other countries independence day. This is not Mexico so wake up and smell the coffee and keep your celebration to yourselves.

Look at all those assimilated "Americans" celebrating "independence"?! If they are independent, they why are they here?? Oh, your country is a cesspool of corruption and you can't survive there......I see.

Gofer, maybe the independence they refer to is theirs from that corrupt country of Mexico.