El fin de semana comenzó el Mes de la Herencia Hispana. En Minnesota, la gente está reconociendo la diversidad de estas poblaciones, así como las oportunidades de liderazgo.

Becky Valencia, de Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action, o COPAL, dice que no todos los residentes latinos de Minnesota son de México, como a menudo se supone.

Muchos tienen conexiones con lugares como Ecuador y tienen necesidades diferentes. A medida que hacen raíces, las encuestas nacionales muestran que los latinos desconfían cada vez más del gobierno.

Sin embargo, Valencia señala que los adultos jóvenes están cada vez más interesados en fomentar una mejor relación entre los líderes electos y los miembros de la comunidad.

"Muchas veces ha sido muy gratificante verlo en nuestra comunidad y los organizadores, siguen plantando esa semilla," dice Valencia. "Hemos visto a mucha más gente activa y buscando oportunidades para involucrarse más."

En cuanto a la integración cultural, el espíritu empresarial es una de las vías. Minnesota cuenta actualmente con más de 12,000 empresas de propietarios latinos.

Valencia afirma que varias organizaciones ayudan a estos empresarios a superar los obstáculos que les impiden ampliar su alcance.

Dice que las generaciones más jóvenes quieren mantener vivas su herencia y tradiciones, y el acceso a los recursos es una parte importante para ello.

Valencia dice que fomentar una mayor participación cívica es especialmente importante en un año electoral. Afirma que los latinos tienen necesidades urgentes que resuenan con el resto de Minnesota.

"Existe una gran brecha entre la atención médica y lo que es accesible," asegura Valencia. "Es un área en la que hemos escuchado mucha comunicación, y creo que no aplica solo a la comunidad latina, sino también a otras comunidades en general."

Según datos del Censo de Minnesota Compass, casi 370,000 personas de ascendencia latina llaman a Minnesota su hogar. Esta población aumentó un 38% entre 2010 y 2020.

Además de los mexicanos y ecuatorianos, los mayores grupos culturales latinos en el estado son los salvadoreños, guatemaltecos y colombianos.

Supporters of the National Endowment for the Humanities said cuts to the agency by President Donald Trump hurt Americans' access to art and culture and breaks the law.

In April, the Department of Government Efficiency terminated grants to individual recipients and humanities councils in 56 states and territories, including Virginia. DOGE also fired 65% of the endowment's staff.

A group of three humanities organizations, including the Modern Language Association, filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration's move. Virginia Humanities receives more than 20% of its funding of its funding from the endowment and had its operating budget slashed by DOGE.

Paula Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language Association, said the lawsuit is meant to restore the endowment to its original, legally binding mission.

"We're aiming to roll back the effects of the DOGE cuts and the DOGE interference in the operations of the NEH," Krebs explained. "And return the NEH to the functions that Congress has statutorily required it to serve."

Endowment officials announced the agency is cutting grants not in alignment with the administration's priorities, including those that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. The endowment said it is now working to promote the United States' 250th birthday and American exceptionalism.

Cuts to state councils from the endowment total more than $65 million and have resulted in the cancellation of more than 1,400 open grants, including $2 million for Virginia Humanities. Krebs stressed the endowment is not just for authors, playwrights or filmmakers, it is important for all Americans.

"How we understand our literature, our film, our history, our art: all of that is the humanities," Krebs outlined. "We live that every day, and the government's investment in that is an investment in us being Americans who understand the culture in which we live."

The Trump administration's 2026 budget proposal calls for the elimination of the endowment.


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April is both National Poetry Month and National Library Month, and younger generations are embracing both.

The American Library Association says "Gen Z" and millennials are using public libraries, both in person and digitally, at higher rates than older generations. They're also engaging with poetry, but often not the classics taught in school. Instead, it's minimalist verses set to music and posted on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

"There's easy access for poetry. There's access through libraries," said Lauren Camp, New Mexico's current poet laureate. "Libraries are pretty much my favorite place and have been for my whole life."

Camp, the Arab-American daughter of a Jewish-Iraqi immigrant, has lived in New Mexico for 30 years. She's the author of eight poetry collections and New Mexico's second Poet Laureate.

Multiple libraries across the state, including those in Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, have scheduled poetry readings and other literary events this month.

Some research shows that fiction readers often are more empathetic - better able to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Camp said you shouldn't expect to like all poets or poetry any more than you like all music or all art, but believes finding a handful that you like can enrich your life.

"In these very fraught, complicated times," she said, "we all need to find more ways of accessing empathy for an 'other' - and I think poetry is a really good way to do that because it narrows down to one experience and one sliver of one experience."

New Mexico has nearly 150 public libraries, according to Felt Maps, including branches and other locations that offer library services. The New Mexico State Library also supports more than 100 public and tribal libraries.

For those with young kids, Camp recommended the Poetry Out Loud program as a starting point to engage them.


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Military bravery and sacrifice is recognized today, with the nation's recipients of the National Medal of Honor being celebrated for their service.

In addition to ceremonies across the country, a permanent place of remembrance opens in Arlington, Texas today, the new National Medal of Honor Museum.

Chris Cassidy, CEO of the museum, hopes it will serve as a reminder of what he calls the pillars of American excellence, courage, sacrifice and patriotism.

"It's telling the stories of American military heroes but it's also a way to be inspired for courage in your own life," Cassidy explained.

The museum includes the story of New Mexico's Hiroshi Miyamura, a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II before returning to Gallup. The son of Japanese immigrants who moved to the community in 1923, Miyamura was the first living Japanese-American to receive the medal.

Cassidy pointed out the new museum features more than 100,000 square feet of space, about one-third dedicated to exhibition galleries. He noted medal recipients are selected for going above and beyond, putting the mission and interests of others ahead of their own.

"It's not a war museum or a military history museum or a place where you see a ton of airplanes and tanks," Cassidy stressed. "There's other great places for that. This museum is storytelling about amazing Americans that did something when the country needed them to."

Closer to home, New Mexico lawmakers honored the state's veterans this month by passing two bills to provide them with tax relief and free recreational opportunities. The legislation expands property tax exemptions and provides veterans with unlimited day-use and camping passes for specific recreational areas.


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