(PNS reporting from BROOKLYN) Hispanic Heritage Month is ending, and without the corporate-approved celebration as a focus, local members of the Hispanic/Latino community here aren’t really sure how they can go on being local members of the local Hispanic/Latino community here.
“What now?” lamented Brooklyn native and prolific bloguera Marielena Gutierrez (photo)
“Should I tell people to call me Mary Ellen for the remaining 11 months of the year? It’s not like they ever pronounce it right anyway,” she wrote on her PobrePickle blog.
Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15, ends today.
Like Gutierrez, many Latinos have been left baffled. Without the cheerful “Happy Hispanic Heritage Month” banner which hung near the mens’ room of the Bushwick Library, people simply don’t know what to do.
“I went to the C Town for some Gilda crackers and they took down all the piñatas and novelty sombreros. What’s next? The two-for-one pinto bean display? I don’t know who I am anymore,” local man Alejandro Navarro told PNS.
In its wake, Hispanic Heritage Month has left more questions than answers. “Am I still Hispanic? How do I know if I’m Hispanic or Latino? Wait, maybe I’m Lebanese?” asked one ethnically-ambiguous Brooklyn man.
Patrons at popular Peruvian restaurant Flor de Mayo agreed that while overall nothing has changed about the establishment, the flan just doesn’t taste as sweet. “The cebiche just seems shallow and meaningless,” stated one patron.
[Editor’s Notes: POCHO readers report that PobrePickle.net is offline. We’re looking into the circumstances. And yes, we’ve run versions of this story before, but we’ve refreshed today’s iteration for your pleasure using only non-GMO recycled electrons. De nada.]