North Charleston celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

“It’s a good opportunity for us to share our diversity and to being able to immerse the American population into the Hispanic culture that is very, very diverse and rich,” he said.

Vlada Teper, who has been salsa dancing for 20 years, spent most of her time at the event on the dance floor. She doesn’t come from a Latin American background, but she is fluent in Spanish and has immersed herself in the culture. Teper, who runs a nonprofit focused on cross cultural understanding for high school students, appreciated that event celebrated various Latin American cultures and diverse communities.

Marisol Hernandez, who runs the family-owned business called Las Aguas Charleston, said she enjoys sharing her culture with customers. She sells Las Aguas Frescas, a traditional Mexican beverage made with fresh fruit, organic sugar and water. For Latino people, she said tasting Las Aguas Frescas provokes a sense of nostalgia and brings back childhood memories.

As the Hispanic community in North Charleston continues to grow, Hernandez said events like this one provide the opportunity to share the diversity of various cultures, like the different foods, traditions and art.

Frx said sharing a deeper piece of her culture to her community is meaningful. She said Hispanic Heritage Month allows her to pause and remember to share those pieces of her culture with her neighbors, instead of getting caught in the busyness of life.

“A lovely way to build community is to share those traditions,” Frx said. “I think a community that celebrates together is a community that is happy and healthy.” 

She said there is a lot of fear among the Latino community in light of the political climate and hardline immigration directives from the Trump administration.

“There’s so much pain and suffering it just seems like sometimes there’s no way to fix things,” she said.

She said it’s important for people to recognize each other as humans and neighbors, a reminder that there are no divisions.