“Today in Latino History” Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic heritage month is being celebrated from September 15 through October 15, 2021, across the country. In recognition, U.S. Mexico Foundation, Arizona State University (ASU) and Google have partnered on a project to highlight the significant contributions that the culture has brought to the United States. It will celebrate the Latino community’s diversity and the work of remarkable Hispanic artists, singers, writers, explorers, scientists, and more throughout history.

Rodrigo Cervantes, a journalist, and a researcher, and Julio Cisneros, a professor at Walter Cronkite school of journalism at ASU, helped conceive the project. They will join VOICE Talks host Megan Grace on September 30 to share details about the development of “Today in Latino History.”

Hey Google, What Happened This Day in Latino History?

Now, thanks to the “Today in Latino History” action, anyone can ask their Google Assistant what happened and receive new content each day. To ensure children and families from various backgrounds can participate and learn, the action will be available in both Spanish and English.

Rodrigo Cervantes explains action, available through Google Assistant, as an opportunity to learn about the culture year-round. “Every single day for the entire year, you're going to get one amazing fact of Hispanic culture, including the history and the legacy. How would you describe usLatinos and Hispanics? We are so diverse.”

“We are celebrating the Hispanic heritage month, but we want to offer it for not just a month. We want to celebrate for the rest of the year,” said Julio Cisneros.

According to Julio, the culture must be celebrated and understood as Hispanics are “A culture not a race. And we have been here in this country since the beginning. Hispanics come from various parts of the world. We are from Europe, and are indigenous to America. We are from Africa, and we're from Asia. And we have a little bit of everything.”

And it's not just limited to the United States.

“This is definitely something for helping to Latinos all over the continent. We're talking about Latinos who have been born and raised in the United States, but maybe also Latinos who migrated here,” says Rodrigo Cervantes. “Just imagine if you were like ten years old, how different is the world and how different would this be back then compared to what it offers now?”

Allowing children to learn, explore and dream.

According to Julio Cisneros the app is essential because it offers a new generation of Latino children access to facts about their history immediately via voice enabled technology, and a chance to learn and dream. As he explains it, the internet and access to information about his cultural roots weren’t as widely available when he was growing up. “Children need heroes and mentors in their lives. Because if you have inspiration as a child, you're going to dream, and you're going to keep dreaming until you accomplish your dream. And that's what we didn't have and now it is available.”

Thanks to the “Today in Lation History” Google Assistant action, it is now possible to quickly and easily learn from the singers, scientists, writers who have impacted the Latino community, and beyond.

“That's why this project is so amazing,” adds Julio.

Subscribe to watch VOICE Talks live, September 30 at 2 p.m. ET/ 11 a.m. PT.