Through dance, music, food and more, Greenbelt Unidos, meaning United Greenbelt, brought together residents to celebrate the city’s Hispanic community on Saturday, October 3.
“I put this together because the city has never hosted an event for Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Gizelle Alvarez, the City of Greenbelt’s constituent services coordinator and organizer of the event. “We did have Salsa y Salsa last year, but it was more focused on voter engagement, and we wanted to have something specifically for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.”
Several volunteers came together to make the event a success, finding all sorts of ways to engage the diverse attendees in Hispanic and Latin culture. For instance, the Greenbelt Park and Recreation Department set up a face-painting station for visitors to get bedazzled.
Suejean Liao, an arts event staff member at the department, expressed appreciation for the representation created by the event.
“I feel like most [Greenbelt] residents are very open-minded, and Franklin Park is predominantly Latino. Overall, I think [the community is] doing the best they can with what we have,” Liao said.
The Pa’Lante Latin Dance Company at the University of Maryland performed and led visitors in bachata, a dance style that originated in the Dominican Republic.
“Celebrating our culture and supporting small communities around our campus is really important because the outreach is beyond our campus bounds,” said Michelle Feria, a member of the company.
The food truck El Rey De La Birria was also present throughout the day, serving dishes like birria tacos and more.
“I want to show my support for the [Hispanic] community and the contributions that they bring,” said attendee Nylah Jackson.
Alvarez remarked on the turnout despite the rain and said she hopes to make Greenbelt Unidos an annual event, to celebrate all the different cultures in the city with more events.
She also noted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid that happened in Laurel that morning, expressing her concern about the event’s safety but emphasizing the importance of such cultural events.
“There’s no better time than now to confirm ourselves on our rights and how to protect ourselves, because I think right now we’re seeing a lot of people just standing by and recording,” Alvarez said. “In times when the Latin community isn’t as accepted as we once were and as celebrated as we once were, I think it’s very, very important to host events like this to remind the Latino community that they are accepted, they are welcome and part of this community.”
Visitors took the event as a chance to embrace this.
“I’m just here for the moment,” said Chris Perez, another attendee.
Rachel Kebler is a University of Maryland student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning with the Greenbelt News Review.
