2023 -- H 6534

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER OF 2023 AS "LATINO HISTORY MONTH" IN THE STATE

OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Sanchez, Morales, Alzate, Giraldo, Diaz, Shekarchi,
Blazejewski, Chippendale, Felix, and Batista

     Date Introduced: June 15, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Latino History Month provides an ideal opportunity to reflect on the

common humanity underlying all people and to raise awareness and foster respect for the heritage

and contributions of people of Latin-American and Caribbean descent; and

     WHEREAS, American Hispanic/Latino history is rich, diverse and long, with

immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or indigenous people living in the United States since

long before the nation was established; and

     WHEREAS, Bringing with them traditions and culture from Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico,

the Dominican Republic and other Latin American and Iberian nations, America’s Hispanic

population continues to grow, reaching a record 62.5 million in 2020, or 18.7 percent of the

United States population. From early Spanish colonialism, to civil and worker rights laws, to

famous firsts, to recent Supreme Court decisions, many notable events in United States Hispanic

and Latino History have occurred; and

     WHEREAS, Thirty-six percent of residents in Rhode Island are Latin-American people

of color, including several racial and ethnic groups. The Latino population is mainly of

Dominican and Puerto Rican background, followed by Guatemalan, Mexican, and Colombian;

and

     WHEREAS, The 2020 Census shows the Latino American population of Rhode Island

has reached 182,101, or 39.4 percent of the Rhode Island population; and

     WHEREAS, In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill designating the week of

September 15 as “National Hispanic Heritage Week”; and

     WHEREAS, In 1988, Rhode Island Latino Arts launched the first statewide recognition

and celebration of “National Hispanic Heritage Week”, and since then the State and its residents

have recognized Hispanic Heritage Week and Hispanic Heritage Month, and have continued to

celebrate Latin American ethnic and racial diversity that enriches and strengthens our nation; and

     WHEREAS, In 2023, Rhode Island Latino Arts and Hispanic Heritage Month will

celebrate 30 years in the State of Rhode Island; and

     WHEREAS, The contributions of Hispanics and Latinos to the United States are long and

storied, and history shows that the first known colony in America was not Jamestown, but the

Spanish colony of St. Augustine in Florida; and

     WHEREAS, Latinos are Americans and they form an indelible part of the American

fabric; and

     WHEREAS, People of Latin-American descent have participated in every aspect of

America’s effort to secure, protect, and advance the cause of freedom and civil rights, and have

stories that are an inspiration to all citizens, that reflect the triumph of the human spirit, and that

offer everyday people the hope of rising above both prejudice and circumstance to build lives of

human dignity; and

     WHEREAS, People of Latin-American descent or Latin-American Americans have made

measurable differences in Rhode Island, in their communities and respective industries and

professions, such as:

     1. Cecilia Rodriguez Saglio from Argentina, who helped found and became the President

of El Club Panamericano, a group of Spanish-speaking individuals at the International Institute of

Rhode Island, in the early 1940s, through this group, she helped connect the few Spanish-

speaking professionals who were studying or chose Rhode Island as their home in the 1940s and

1950s;

     2. The Ortega brothers, Zanoni and Gimel, who moved to Rhode Island from Mexico in

the late 1940s and became physicians at Roger Williams Hospital in Providence. The Ortegas

were the first Mexican family to settle in Rhode Island and lived here for the next five decades;

     3. Dr. Dario Herrera from Argenina, who moved to Rhode Island in 1954 for a job as a

cardiologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Hindle Memorial Clinic in South Providence. Dr.

Herera is an avid runner who founded the Ocean State Marathon in 1977 and later became

medical advisor to John Treacy of Providence College, who went on to win a Silver Medal in the

marathon at the 1984 Olympics;

     4. Josefina “Dona Fefa” and Antonio Rosario, from the Dominican Republic and Puerto

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Rico respectively, who opened and were co-owners of Fefa’s (Restaurant) Market, located on

Broad Street in Providence, which was the first Dominican bodega in the State of Rhode Island.

Additionally, the Rosarios were instrumental in establishing the first Dominican enclave in South

Providence during the 1960s and 1970s,

     5. Gustavo Carreno, Horacio Gill and Valentin Rios, the first three Colombians to arrive

in Central Falls in 1964, to work at Lyon Fabrics;

     6. Osvaldo “Ozzie” Castillo, originally from Puerto Rico, who became the first Hispanic

Police Officer in Providence in 1974;

     7. Jose Gonzalez, a Puerto Rican who, with his brother Roberto, co-founded the first

Latin American Student Organization (LASO) on the campus of Rhode Island College in 1972;

     8. Victor Mendoza, from the Dominican Republic, who founded the Hispanic Cultural

Arts Committee and who organized the first Latin American Festival of Music, held at the

Temple to Music in Roger Williams Park in 1979, an event that attracts close to 20,000 people;

and

     9. Roberto Gonzalez, who was the first Latino appointed to the Providence School Board

by Mayor Cianci. He was also subsequently elected as the first Hispanic delegate to the Rhode

Island Constitutional Convention, and later became the first Latino Judge in Rhode Island,

appointed to serve on the Providence Housing Court in 1994;

     10. Marta V. Martinez, a Mexican/Chicana, who founded the Hispanic Heritage

Committee of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Latino Arts in 1988, and with a seed grant from the

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, organized the first celebration of Hispanic Heritage

week. In 1991, the celebration became Hispanic Heritage Month, a 30-day statewide event. In

2023, Hispanic Heritage Month and Rhode Island Latino Arts will together celebrate their 35th

Anniversary;

     11. Anastasia Williams, a Panamanian-American who became the first Hispanic in Rhode

Island to be elected to a statewide office as a State Representative from District 9 in Providence;

     12. Luis Aponte, The first Latino and Puerto Rican to win a seat on the Providence City

Council, in 1998;

     13. Grace Diaz, the first Latina to represent District 11 in Providence, in 2004. She is the

first Dominican-American Latina elected to State Office in the history of the United States;

     14. Angel Taveras, a Dominican-American who became the first Latino Mayor of

Providence in 2011. He is also the third elected and fourth serving Dominican-American Mayor

in the United States;

     15. James Diossa, a Colombian-American, who was the first Latino Mayor of Central

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Falls, and is also the first Colombian-American Mayor elected in the United States; and

     16. Nellie Gorbea, the first Latina and Puerto Rican to be elected as the Secretary of State

of Rhode Island. She is also the first Hispanic to win statewide office in New England, and the

first to run for Governor; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

proclaims September of 2023 as “Latino History Month” in the State of Rhode Island, recognizes

the 35th Anniversary of Rhode Island Latino Arts and Hispanic Heritage Month, and extends

appreciation to the aforementioned persons for their contributions to the State of Rhode Island

and our Nation; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Ms. Marta Martinez, Executive Director,

Rhode Island Latino Arts.

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