LYNN — Community members celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a flag raising ceremony and parade around the Common Tuesday
Cristela Guerra, a Lynn resident who was recognized by Amplify LatinX as one of the top 100 LatinX leaders, expressed her love for the city in her keynote speech to audience members.
Guerra is the vice chair of the Board of Directors at Raw Art Works, the vice president of the New England Chapter of the Association of Hispanic Journalists and the senior arts and culture reporter at WBUR.
“Lynn is the only place in New England that gives me any sense of home,” she said.
She referred to the city as “City of Firsts,” and said for a lot of immigrants, Lynn is the first place they know in the United States.
She said when she finds the food from the 28 countries that surround her home country, Panama, or hears latino music blasting from outside her apartment downtown, she understands why people come to Lynn, because she came to Lynn for the same reason.
“I’d be curious for you to tell me what brought you to Lynn,” she said. “What reminded you of your grandmother? What reminded you of your home? Or your barbeques? Or your dinners? Or your holidays? Or whatever it is that brings you some semblance of joy?”
Guerra added only the people who live in Lynn can truly define it, as she emphasized the beauty of the city’s diverse artwork, its proximity to the ocean, and it’s LGBTQ+ history.
“When I talk to you about Lynn, I’m telling you about immigrants and I’m telling you about queerness, I’m telling you about sacred family time with chosen family and blood family,” Guerra said. “I don’t think I could live anywhere else.”
She added when she talks to people about Lynn, they will tell her things they have heard about or read about that have given the city a poor reputation.
“I say, ‘but have you tried the empanadas,’” Guerra said. “That’s not the Lynn I know.”
Mayor Jared Nicholson, who also spoke said what he loves about Hispanic and Latino heritage is the diversity within the community — the number of countries represented, the stories, and history.
“This is a great month for us to reflect on that,” he said. “It reminds me of the diversity we have here in the city of Lynn. We’re so lucky to have that.”
During the celebration, 18 distinguished leaders were nominated by members of the community to receive special recognition including; Superintendent of Schools Dr. Evonne Alvarez; Celly De La Cruz of Lynn United for Change; Lynn Music Foundation’s Executive Director Edwin Cabrera; Owner of Trio’s Mexican Grille Nielsen Fresco; Community advocate and business owner Bryana Garcia; A leader in the Teen Leads Program at Raw Art Works Keyla Lopez; Ward 2 City Councilor Obed Matul; Juneteenth Association Emcee Michelle LaPoetica Richardson; Director of Community Engagement at Eliot Community Human Services Liliana Patino; Co-Founder of Lynn Youth Street Advocacy Antonio Gutierrez; Vice President of the Lynn Hispanic Scholarship Fund Brenda Ortiz Peña; CEO of Lynn Community Health Center Brenda Rodriguez; Former Congressional Staffer Rose Mary Sargent; Founder of Love Your Magic Ivanna Solano; Vice President of Community Health Magnolia Contreras; Executive Director of Latino Support Network Hugo Carvajal; and Jazmine V. Ramirez.
