As the cast of “In the Heights” waved each of the flags mentioned in “Carnaval del Barrio,” the crowd cheered along for the flag that represented their culture. That scene is a moment I will never forget. As members of the cast held up the Mexican flag during the song, my sister and I proudly joined the raucous applause.
By the end of the 2 ½-hour TUTS show at the Hobby Center, my cheeks were sore from smiling so much. As a proud Mexican-American, it makes a difference when I see people who look like me on stage celebrating and elevating Latino culture.
In today’s society, it has become normalized to demean Latinos. It is easy for me to forget to embrace my culture. Although I live near Houston, where 44% of the population are Latinos, my hometown suburb does not reflect those numbers. In Kingwood, there is one Latino person for every five people. However, when I was at “In the Heights” I was transported to a neighborhood full of people who looked like me. I had never been in a room with so many strangers where I felt at home.
I love all musical theater, but “In the Heights” was the first show with which I felt I could truly connect. I saw little parts of myself through each of the characters. As I watched Nina, I related to her internal struggle of trying not to disappoint her family. I felt connected to Usnavi, who felt like he couldn’t fully embrace his Latino culture because he wasn’t in the Dominican Republic.
As I watched, I remembered I wasn’t alone. These struggles I try to hide from my friends and family are experiences other people face.
For most of my life, I believed I wasn’t Latino enough. Spanish wasn’t my first language, and my confidence speaking the language to family members is non-existent. I can understand Spanish, but only if spoken at snail’s pace. And to be honest, I won’t eat refried beans or corn tortillas.
When I had my Quinceañera, I realized I wasn’t fully separated from my culture. I love to listen to Spanish music, eat birria and celebrate our traditions. Also, I can speak Spanish even though my anxiety tells me otherwise. I love learning more about my culture through stories from my nino and nina, who emigrated from Jalisco, Mexico, in the late 1960s.
No matter how connected I feel to my culture in moments, I always have felt proud to be Latino. I love visiting my grandparents in Las Vegas, making tamales with my tias and cheering for the Mexican national soccer team with my dad.
Watching “In the Heights” didn’t make me proud to be Latino; it made me feel celebrated in a polarized country. It seems like all the news coverage on Latinos these days is negative. It is rare to find an article that portrays immigrants as humans and really dives into their personal story. In movies and TV shows, Latinos are portrayed as gang members, drug lords or uneducated. These stereotypes warp reality and encourage racism and shame.
When my sister introduced our family to “In the Heights” in 2017, it instantly became a safe haven, a place where my Latino experience was celebrated. I memorized the lyrics to “Carnaval del Barrio,” “Inutil” and “Breathe.” I sang them constantly in the house. I begged my mom to turn it on in the car. When the movie came out in 2021, I watched it five times in two weeks.
I never expected a musical that 8-year-old me thought was fun would strengthen my connection with my Latino culture in 2025. Seeing it on stage, I beamed with pride. I held back tears as I cheered for the performers at the end of the show, overcome with emotions of how much I truly loved my family and my culture.
