Students are encouraged to research their own backgrounds and share with the group. Some students discovered subtleties like how Mexicans and Puerto Ricans pronounce some words differently. Yet Mercado was startled by the commonalities they share, despite their different homelands. The meetings draw about 20 students each week. At no time in American history have Hispanics garnered as much attention from politicians, the news media and society as they do right now.
Political candidates show off their espanol, hoping to connect with Hispanic voters.
Last month, the news was dominated with stories about rising Latino populations across the country. Then there are attention-grabbing performers such as Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera. OLA has taken notice. As part of their Latino Week celebration, the group plans to show a montage of celebrities and U.S. census articles detailing the Hispanic population explosion at a presentation in the school's auditorium. Such widespread pride in being Hispanic was not always the case among all Latinos.