Here’s how 5 Chicago Latinos are celebrating Latino Heritage Month – and what it means to them

One Chicago creator from Ecuador says he enjoys Latino Heritage Month because he gets to share his culture with younger generations. Another Puerto Rican loves to show off her pride in her culture and her own achievements. Guatemalan musician Ravenswood said it was a chance to honor her parents’ sacrifices.

While Latinos constitute roughly approx third For Chicago’s population, the importance of the monthly celebration of various Latino cultures varies among residents and the many Latino ethnic groups represented in the city.

Here’s a deeper look at five Latinos who live in Chicago and what this month, which runs through mid-October, means to them:

Jochy Saldivar

Looking for a foothold in a big city, but never a big fan of New York, Jochy Saldivar came to Chicago in 2012. The Latin pop artist known as partywatcher is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

“In my music, I see a need for genres that are not represented in Chicago,” said Saldivar, whose work is influenced by, among others, Prince, Janet Jackson, Fernando Villalona, ​​Sergio Vargas, The Weeknd and Teodoro Reyes.

Although the Dominicans agree less than 5,000 inhabitants Chicago-based Saldivar has been carving his own path in the Chicago music scene since 2018, combining a mix of hip hop, R&B with influences from his island’s merengue, bachata and salsa. His three-song EP “El Tipo” dives deeper into the Caribbean sound.

“I want to bring that Latin pop to the forefront,” Saldivar said.

The thought of celebrating Latino Heritage Month is a bit amusing to Saldivar: “Latino Heritage Month for me is every month,” he said, half-chuckling.

“But it’s really good to have in the spotlight those who came before us, those who put in a lot of work, fought and struggled to get to the bottom of it,” he adds.

This summer, Saldivar released a cumbia sonidera-laced song with Bial Hclap called “Una Vez Mas,” his most successful song to date.

“My mom loves Selena (Quintanilla). My dad also listened to a lot of Mexican music (when he lived) in Santo Domingo. My fiancé is also Mexican, so I try to have as much exposure to all genres as possible,” Saldivar said.

This month, Partywatcher headlined shows at California Clipper in Humboldt Park and Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn. Partywatcher also returns to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for a performance on December 20.

Valeria Chavez Roncal

Moving to Chicago three years ago was like a homecoming for Valeria Chavez Roncal, a Peruvian-born doctoral candidate in the Department of Musicology at Northwestern University who grew up in northern Minnesota.

“I never lost that part of my culture, but it was very divided,” said Chavez Roncal, who grew up speaking Spanish only at home and on annual summer visits to Peru.

“I didn’t realize until I came to Chicago that I missed the community,” she added.

Chavez Roncal initially joined her faculty with the hope of studying 20th century Russian ballet music in Paris, but after taking classes in Peruvian music, she realized the lack of nuance in English-language studies. This experience led her to reuse her cultural heritage and chronicle cumbia music, a fusion of indigenous, African and European influences characterized by the “chu-chucu-chu” rhythm. She has since changed the topic of her doctoral dissertation and conducted fieldwork in her home country.

“It was a gut feeling and I never really thought about it,” Chavez Roncal said.

After receiving a Fulbright-Hays PhD scholarship, the 25-year-old will conduct fieldwork in Peru throughout the year.

“It’s funny because Chicago was what brought me to Peru a lot more,” she added.

This month she feels more proud than any other month because she feels she cannot apologize for her heritage.

“Our whole culture is on full display and that’s what I love about it,” she said. “We have such a beautiful culture, and in Chicago it is so diverse.”

Angel Aguaiza

Angel Aguaiza has not lost sight of the fact that he is one of the few Ecuadorian artists in Chicago.

“I’m proud to represent the Ecuadorian community,” said the Avondale-raised digital creator, because “they’re not usually represented in such large numbers.”

In high school, he became interested in the digital world after YouTube videos of Louie Castro, a makeup content creator known for sassy Latino content.

“It inspired me because it didn’t come out of nowhere and his parents didn’t support him being gay,” said Aguaiza, who is also a member of the LGBTQ community.

Three years ago, he picked up a camera and started shooting daily content for his TikTok @thatsangelslife. Now the 24-year-old is a full-time vlogger, showcasing various restaurants around the city, festivals and snippets of his daily life to his more than 35,000 TikTok followers.

“I usually focus on food because people love to visit and try new places,” said Aguaiza, who says his favorite place in Ecuador is Panaderia Cuenca in Old Irving Park.

Aguaiza is excited about Latino Heritage Month because it is an opportunity for every culture to showcase its identity and learn more about what is happening in other Latin American countries.

“It’s nice to share the culture with younger people in the community and people outside the community,” he said.

Aguaiza went to Grito Fest, a two-day Mexican festival held earlier this month in Grant Park. “Even though I’m not Mexican, I love Mexican culture, food and people!”

Deneé Barracato

Deneé Barracato can count on one hand how many college athletics administrators are Latino. The list includes Lisa Campos of the University of Texas at San Antonio, Desireé Reed-Francois of the University of Arizona and Irma Garcia of Manhattan College.

“There are some that I admire, but we certainly need more,” she said. “We are a minority in this field, even as women.”

As the associate director of athletics at Northwestern University, he leads and manages capital projects and operations, events and facilities, and more at the D1 school, giving young adults and aspiring athletes “the opportunity to realize their potential in life through sports.”

A native of the Bronx and of Puerto Rican descent, Barracato was a student-athlete at Hofstra University and later played professional basketball for The Saints of San Juan in Puerto Rico and the Atlanta Justice.

After overcoming an injury, she moved into sports event management, working for the NCAA, Madison Square Garden Company, and Queens and York Colleges

“It gives me great pride to be a woman in this industry who has proven that you can do many things, that you can come from anywhere and still be successful,” Barracato said.

She credits her parents with raising her and her sisters with an independent attitude, “that we can do anything we put our mind to.”

Latino Heritage Month gives Barracato an opportunity to reflect on diversity and inclusion and the opportunity to show “how proud you are of your culture.”

As the Wildcats prepare for the new year, she is excited to connect with other Latino student-athletes on campus so they can feel at home. She also uses this month to connect with her children about their Puerto Rican roots, supporting their Spanish learning.

Miriam Paz

Miriam Paz, a Ravenswood resident who grew up in Ravenswood, still remembers the thrill of exchanging songs and albums with friends. He calls it his sixth sense.

“I would ask my friends to come over and play a lot of music for them,” Paz said. “I would say, ‘Have you heard this song? …let me assign you this genre, this artist.”

Paz mastered the guitar and piano at the age of 12, and by the age of 19 she was mixing DJ sets. However, it was ten years before she began performing as DJ Miriam.

Paz currently co-founded and co-headlined the “Sorry Papi” tour, a touring “girls only” reggaeton event that aims to support women’s empowerment without sexual harassment.

It’s about “creating a space where women can just go out and have fun and kick back and relax and not worry about the ugliness that’s there,” Paz said.

Since its premiere in April 2022, the “Sorry Papi” tour has visited over 55 cities in the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

“Girls love us,” added the 33-year-old.

Latino Heritage Month is a time for Paz to reflect on her Guatemalan roots and use her voice to continue building a legacy on her platform.

“This is a moment to honor the sacrifices of our parents and the journey they took to come here to build a better life for us,” Paz said. “It’s also about embracing my identity and sharing the traditions of my heritage with other Latinos.”

This month, Paz DJed at the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue. He also plans to cross the pond later this fall with his “Sorry Papi” tour in London.