As holidays go, National Hispanic Heritage Month is somewhat unusual.
Its timing, at least. It runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. That's because several Central American countries celebrate their independence beginning on Sept. 15. Besides, the dates aren't as important as the celebration. Or, as Vanessa Ruiz, a former Phoenix TV news anchor, says, "I always say, I'm Latina 365 days of the year, not just 30."
Of course, anyone with Hispanic heritage faces a vastly different America than they did even a couple of years ago. The pride is still there, but so is the threat of mass deportations, as well as bigotry (which isn't exactly new).
'If I can do it, anyone can do it'
Which got us thinking. Is it any different for well-known Hispanic people living in the Valley? Are they at all insulated
from what's going on? In this week's Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, we answer the question: What is it like to be famous and Hispanic in Arizona?
It's a tricky question, granted. But it turned up some really compelling answers from Ruiz, who now owns BearFruit, a boutique consulting firm, and Armando Hernandez, the celebrated chef and owner, with his wife, Nadia Holguin, of Chiwas Hospitality Group, which includes restaurants like Tacos Chiwas and Main Burgers.
"I do think that just being perceived as successful as a whole and looking the way that I look," Hernandez said, "I tell people like, 'If I can do it, anyone can do it.' I'm not special. I just believe that, given the opportunity, there's a lot of us that could do amazing things out here."
It's well worth a listen.
Listen to the episode
The best way to listen is to subscribe to Valley 101 in your favorite podcast app, but you can also stream the full episode below.
Note: Valley 101 is intended to be heard, but we offer an AI transcript of the episode script. There may be slight deviations from the podcast audio.
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Catch up on previous Valley 101 episodes here
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Subscribe to the weekly Watchlist newsletter.
This episode was produced by Amanda Luberto and Tori Weiss. You can reach Amanda at amanda.luberto@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @amandaluberto. Reach Tori at tkweiss@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What's it like to be famous and Hispanic in Arizona?
