Roughly a hundred people gathered at the Connecticut state Capitol in Hartford on Wednesday to celebrate Mexican Independence Day with music, dancing, speeches and a flag raising.
“It is important to have the Capitol as a focal point so that Mexicans across the state can have a sense of belonging,” said Carlos Hernández Chávez, who organized the event with his group CTMEX, or Mexicans in Connecticut.
“We started this event here 16 years ago and there was nothing that brought Mexicans together like this,” Hernández Chávez said.
Dignitaries in attendance included Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, Hartford state Rep. Jimmy Sánchez, and Carlos Iriarte Mercado, consul general of Mexico in Boston, who read the traditional Grito.
“Today, from Hartford, we celebrate not only Mexico’s independence, but also a friendship that has grown stronger over two centuries and continues to look toward the future,” Iriarte said. “We celebrate Mexico. We celebrate Connecticut. And we celebrate all the families and communities that make the bridge between our two countries possible.”
The ceremony featured both the U.S. and Mexican national anthems, which Hernández Chávez said was a deliberate choice to show respect to both countries.
In his remarks, Hernández Chávez reminded the crowd of his people’s history.
“Mexicans and Mexican Americans aren't just immigrants,” he said. “We have been here since long before this country was even formed. The lands of this continent, from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in the Southern Cone have been the home of our ancestors for thousands of years.”
“We are not just another random ingredient thrown into the myth of the ‘melting pot,’” he said. “We are the actual living roots of this continent, not something transplanted here from somewhere else.”
“And just like the land doesn't belong to anyone, freedom isn't the property or the privilege of a select few either,” Hernández Chávez said. “Freedom is not a gift nor something you beg for, and it isn't bought on a piece of paper. Liberty is not just a statue.”
“Time to commit ourselves to reclaiming that freedom in full,” he said. “Justice always sides with truth, and history has shown us time and time again that tyrannies always come to an end.”
He concluded: “Independencia y libertad para todos!”
