Por mi raza, hablara el espíritu.
Through my race, the spirit will speak.
(Vasconcelos, 1921)
Historical and contemporary presence of Latinxs in the United States has dispersed and enriching multicultural legacy that continues to evolve and evoke inquiry on the cultural group’s well-being and longevity (Pereira & Torres Fernandez, 2016). Current demographics situate Latinxs to account for approximately 17% or more than 55 million of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). Estimates also indicate that in 2050, Latinxs will be 30% of the U.S. population and other minority groups (persons of Black/African, Asian, and Pacific Islander, Latinx/Hispanic, and Indigenous heritage) will be the majority, surpassing Caucasians/Whites. Considering the continuous growth of Latinxs in the U.S., there is no doubt that the future of this country promotes a promising social justice future grounded in concientización, educación, y liderazgo—consciousness, education and leadership.
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the brothers of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., recognize the numerous culturally responsive contributions that Latinxs have profoundly and positively instilled throughout the United States. In specific, the Latinx social justice contributions throughout historic and modern movements have taught us to fight for humanity, preserve identity and uplift our indigenous cultural values to become strong leaders in our communities. Whether Afro-Latinx, Indigenous, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or South and Central American, our diverse identities have comprehensively advanced our achievements in all multicultural arenas. As we continue to grow, our realities and experiences should remain at the forefront of how we approach our personal and professional lives. Thus, moving towards a social justice consciousness, how can we continue to engage with our Latinx identity and cultural authenticity to promote equitable opportunities for all?
For Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., our contributions to advance Latinxs in the U.S. fosters consciousness, education, and leadership that are underpinned by social justice frameworks of empowerment. In doing so, concientización—consciousness, allows our brothers to develop critical awareness, insight, and understanding of the self in relation to historic and current oppressive forces. In doing so, educación—education, mitigates the power of marginalization by recognizing intersectional differences (race, class, socio-economic status, gender, ability and disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, undocumented, family systems, etc.) in social and community praxis. And, through liderazgo—leadership, our members experientially integrate their culturally responsive knowledge, skills and abilities to advance identity, philanthropy, scholarship, community, service, human rights, advocacy, socio-political contexts and organizational structures such as the armed forces and educational institutions.
In acknowledgment of our nexus to Mesoamerican Indigenous Worldviews and current Latinx diaspora of cultural enrichment in the U.S., Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., invites all stakeholders to uplift, honor and preserve all cultural traditions. Most importantly, let us not forget the social justice contributions we have enacted to live meaningful lives. And, as delineated in the tenets of Latinx Psychology, the future of our identity remains grounded in our indigenous roots, healing practices, activism and developing our full potentials (Ramirez, 1998, 2004):
1. The person is an open system: deriving knowledge from others to achieve harmony
2. The spiritual world holds key to destiny, personal identity, and life mission: a strong sense of spirituality helps protect against injustices in all marginalized communities
3. Community identity and responsibility to the group are of central importance in development: maintain close ties to family, friends and community to collectively grow towards stability and wellness
4. The foundations of good adjustment to life (mental health) are liberation, justice, freedom, and empowerment: honor all current realities to exercise equality for all
5. Total development of abilities and skills is achieved through self-challenge: resisting and enduring the fight towards equality promotes full potential and capacity
6. The search for self-knowledge, individual identity, and life meaning is a primary goal: to develop identity is to recognize your roots of indigeneity through socialization and education
7. Duality of origin and life in the universe and education within the family play a central role in personality development: education is key to development of personality and free will
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, allow yourself to reflect and imagine a future of empowerment. !Si se puede! ¡Querer es poder! ¡En la union esta la fuerza!
Also, please use the following hashtags to identify how you are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
#Lambdas #HHM #HispanicHeritageMonth #LambdasHHM #CelebrandoNuestraHerenciaConcientizacionEducacionYLiderazgo #LeadersOfTheLatinoGreekMovement #TodxsSomosLatinxs
Should you have any questions, concerns or issues regarding social justice issues in mental health, please do not hesitate to use me a resource. Please contact me at your earliest convenience at .