Mexico’s Day Celebrated in Reminiscing

For Pedro Pantoja, Cinco de Mayo was a day not only to honor his nativeMexico’s culture, but also to honor the voice of one who will never know those traditions.

As he prepared tostadas for students at Oxnard College’s Cinco de Mayo celebration Friday, Pantoja talked about reading a poem, entitled “Mi Chicanito,” to those who had gathered for the food, music, poetry and dance.

“It’s a poem for my little nephew, who passed away of a heart condition,” he said. Pantoja, 21, a second-year student, hopes to attend Cal State Northridge next year and major in sociology.

Indeed, for many at Friday’s celebration, the holiday transcended mere historical significance and resonated with reminiscences and fond memories of a country many left behind years ago.

“I miss Mexico every day,” said Marisol Starr, 23, as she watched members of Ballet Folklorico Mestiza of Oxnard College dance during the school’s Cinco de Mayo observance. “It’s always in my thoughts. But I love this country.”

Starr, a second-year student who moved here six years ago from the Mexican state of Michoacan, joined about 120 other celebrants in a two-hour celebration of pride in their shared Mexican heritage and culture.

Mexico is a country twice colonized by Europeans: First the Spanish, in the 16th Century. Then later, in 1862, the French swooped in and, within a year, Mexico City had fallen.

But before the capital was captured, Mexican forces had fought the hard-won, bitter and legendary Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, which gave rise to the holiday of Cinco de Mayo.

‘It’s a way to remind the young people that were born here that we haven’t forgotten our customs and our traditions brought from Mexico,” Pantoja said.

As the blustery winds ruffled skirts and hair Friday, students lunched on homemade Mexican dishes and watched the dancers as they listened to poetry and jarocha music, provided by both a ukulele and a harp.

Celebrations were scheduled throughout the county, including events Friday at Ventura College, where student and Latino leaders organized a daylong festival that began at 10:30 a.m. and featured live entertainment and a keynote speaker, Marcos Vargas, director of El Concilio.

And today, the county’s largest Latino celebration, hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Ventura County, is scheduled to take place at College Park in Oxnard. Performing at the festival will be Bando Toro, Latino top 40 artist Jorge Luis Cabrera and Grupo Rebelede.

But in addition to the good times, food and music, Pantoja spoke of the need to encourage the young to retain their language and continue to speak Spanish, as well as English.

“If you lose your language, you lose your customs and cultures, and also your identity,” said Pantoja, who is the first in his family to go to college. “I still listen to my old folks’ mariachi music. And my dad, when I was in the first grade, he’d make us read books he brought from Mexico.”

Vicky Ceron, 19, of Oxnard said the Mexican holiday is a day of both pride and fond memories. For her, the holiday symbolizes the occasions “whenever we wanted to be free and people wouldn’t let us,” she said. She came to the United States from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas to study accounting.

“It’s a happy day,” she said. “I love to remember Mexico. I miss it a lot.”

As the dancers stomped and twirled in regional dress representing states such as Jalisco and Michoacan, spectators sang along, when they knew the words, and applauded the dancers’ intricate, fast steps.

Beyond the festivities, though, the students also spoke of what they perceive as the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment in this country, represented most evocatively in last year’s Proposition 187, which sought to deny health-care and education to illegal immigrants.

“This is the only day we get to be proud to be Mexicans, especially with all the propositions and anti-immigrant sentiment,” Starr said. “Some Americans think we’re trying to take over their culture.

“That’s not true. We just want to share a culture.”