Latest / Inside West Palm Beach / National Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating History & Culture in WPB!

Transcript

National Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating History & Culture in WPB! · Inside West Palm Beach

15:07:56
Hi everyone, I'm Jerry Marcello and
15:07:58
welcome to the City
15:07:59
Center Podcast from West Palm
15:08:01
Beach.
15:08:01
In September and October, we celebrate
15:08:03
National Hispanic Heritage
15:08:05
Month, a time when we look
15:08:06
back at the rich culture and history that
15:08:08
forms our Hispanic communities.
15:08:11
West Palm Beach is a very diverse
15:08:12
community of its own and the
15:08:14
city works hard to recognize
15:08:15
its leaders and help guide
15:08:17
it to even greater prosperity.
15:08:19
We'll talk about it today on the City
15:08:21
Center Podcast from West Palm Beach.
15:08:33
Joining me today is Armando Fauna,
15:08:35
Assistant City
15:08:35
Administrator and Hispanic Liaison for
15:08:38
the City.
15:08:39
Armando, welcome.
15:08:40
Thank you, Jerry.
15:08:41
Okay, let's get right to it.
15:08:42
What exactly is an Hispanic liaison?
15:08:46
That's a good question.
15:08:47
I have a day job, which is the Assistant
15:08:50
City Administrator, but
15:08:52
as a Hispanic liaison,
15:08:54
by the way, I want to mention it was an
15:08:55
honor for me to be able
15:08:57
to take that responsibility
15:08:58
with the mayor pointing and that shows
15:09:00
really his commitment to
15:09:02
the Hispanic population
15:09:04
and trying to reach that population.
15:09:07
Myself and Jose Luis Rodriguez were the
15:09:09
two Assistant City
15:09:10
Administrators within the city
15:09:11
and both of us happen to be Hispanics.
15:09:13
As far as I know, we are the highest
15:09:15
ranking individuals to
15:09:17
hold the position of the city
15:09:19
of Hispanic origin.
15:09:21
It really does show the mayor's
15:09:22
commitment to trying to
15:09:23
provide not just diversity and
15:09:25
inclusion within the city, but also
15:09:27
trying to reach folks
15:09:28
outside of the city hall and
15:09:30
be able to provide services.
15:09:32
As a liaison, I get to interact with the
15:09:35
Hispanic community and
15:09:36
that includes the citizens,
15:09:37
that includes business owners, leaders
15:09:39
within the community and
15:09:41
try to interact with them
15:09:43
and figure out what are the services that
15:09:45
they need from the
15:09:46
city, what are the things
15:09:48
that are lacking potentially, how do we
15:09:50
better communicate with the
15:09:52
Hispanic population within
15:09:53
the city.
15:09:54
It is a growing population, 20%, oh
15:09:57
actually a quarter, 25%
15:09:59
of the city's population is
15:10:01
now classified as Hispanic
15:10:02
according to census data.
15:10:04
So it's a significant
15:10:05
portion of our population.
15:10:07
It's one that always doesn't have the
15:10:09
same civic engagement
15:10:11
as some other populations
15:10:12
have and there's a
15:10:13
lot of reasons for that.
15:10:15
My job as a liaison is to try to bridge
15:10:17
that communications gap
15:10:19
between the city and the
15:10:21
Hispanic population and try to see what
15:10:24
services they need, but also
15:10:25
let them know what services
15:10:26
are already available that
15:10:28
they may not even know of.
15:10:29
So that is a lot of what we do.
15:10:31
Now you've been with the
15:10:32
city for quite some time now.
15:10:33
I've been 10 years almost.
15:10:35
About 10 years.
15:10:35
So in your estimation, what has been the
15:10:38
greatest amount of
15:10:38
change as far as the needs and
15:10:42
the desires for the Hispanic community
15:10:44
and how we relate to
15:10:45
it from the city's point
15:10:46
of view?
15:10:47
Yeah, well one of the biggest
15:10:48
changes has been the growth.
15:10:49
As I mentioned, it's about a quarter of
15:10:51
the population right now,
15:10:52
but over the past decade,
15:10:54
that population has grown about 20%,
15:10:56
which is actually the
15:10:58
highest of any minority or
15:11:00
ethnic group within the census data in
15:11:03
the city of West Palm
15:11:04
Beach and not just West
15:11:05
Palm Beach because we talk about the
15:11:06
city's population, but we
15:11:08
also have to consider that
15:11:09
Palm Beach County's growth has been
15:11:10
similar and a lot of the
15:11:12
folks who visit the city
15:11:14
are county residents as well.
15:11:16
Even folks who are coming from other
15:11:17
parts of the world who
15:11:19
are Hispanic as well that
15:11:20
we have to communicate with.
15:11:22
I know I've been on a couple times on our
15:11:23
transportation
15:11:24
options, but previously the
15:11:25
trolley and now circuit vehicles and more
15:11:28
than once I've been
15:11:29
on those vehicles where
15:11:30
there is somebody visiting from Columbia
15:11:32
or some other country.
15:11:33
So we've got visitors, we've got business
15:11:35
owners, and we've got
15:11:37
residents that we need
15:11:37
to communicate with.
15:11:39
So how you've seen that change over the
15:11:40
past 10 years besides
15:11:41
the growth itself is that
15:11:44
that impacts a lot of things, right?
15:11:45
We have growth in our schools.
15:11:48
The population demographics of our
15:11:50
schools have changed.
15:11:52
Forest Hill High School, which is where I
15:11:53
graduated from, always
15:11:55
had a fairly significant
15:11:56
Hispanic population, but it's now the
15:11:58
majority of the school.
15:12:00
So that changes the dynamics of how you
15:12:02
interact with the
15:12:04
students in that school.
15:12:05
I just had the privilege of visiting
15:12:06
Forest Hill High School for
15:12:08
an event that commemorated
15:12:09
September 11th.
15:12:12
And the ROTC was participating in that
15:12:15
and children, or I
15:12:17
should say young adults from
15:12:18
the school, and nearly every one of them
15:12:20
that I saw, and there
15:12:21
was probably well over a
15:12:22
couple hundred, were Hispanic origin.
15:12:25
So it is a significant
15:12:26
part of our population.
15:12:27
The businesses have changed.
15:12:29
You see a lot of businesses now that are
15:12:31
catering to that population.
15:12:34
Now we've tried to interact with the
15:12:38
citizens has also begun
15:12:39
to change, and we can maybe
15:12:40
talk a little bit about the services
15:12:42
later, but just how the
15:12:44
city itself, the composition
15:12:46
of our population within
15:12:48
the city staff has changed.
15:12:49
As more Hispanics join the city as
15:12:52
citizens, they also
15:12:53
become members of city staff.
15:12:55
And so we have more city staff that are
15:12:57
of Hispanic origin,
15:12:58
including, as I mentioned,
15:13:00
in positions of leadership.
15:13:02
So just the whole dynamic of the city,
15:13:05
the culture, how we
15:13:06
interact, has slowly changed
15:13:08
over the past 10 years.
15:13:10
And it's really interesting.
15:13:11
You make a good point in the fact that
15:13:13
not only are we talking
15:13:13
about our own residents,
15:13:15
we're also talking about a great inflow
15:13:17
of visitors, many from
15:13:18
South America, who are
15:13:20
coming here to visit our
15:13:21
area for perhaps the first time.
15:13:24
How do we reach out
15:13:27
in different channels?
15:13:28
Do we use social media?
15:13:30
How do we talk to folks?
15:13:32
That's been one of the biggest
15:13:34
challenges, not just to
15:13:35
government, but even to businesses.
15:13:37
You have within the Hispanic population,
15:13:39
and we kind of grouped
15:13:39
them all into Hispanic
15:13:40
or Latino, but it's not
15:13:42
a monolithic population.
15:13:43
It is full of folks from different
15:13:46
regions of the world,
15:13:49
different ethnicities.
15:13:51
Even the thing that kind of the common
15:13:53
thread is the language,
15:13:54
but even that kind of varies
15:13:56
depending on which
15:13:56
country they come from.
15:13:58
There's variations in
15:14:00
the language as well.
15:14:02
If you look at West Palm Beach
15:14:03
statistics, about 20
15:14:05
percent of the Hispanic population
15:14:08
identify as being of Cuban origin.
15:14:11
And you have around 10 or 11 percent that
15:14:14
identify as Mexican,
15:14:15
and the same percentage
15:14:17
identifying as Puerto Rican.
15:14:19
The rest, over 50 percent, kind of fall
15:14:21
into the other Hispanic
15:14:23
or Latino, and that is
15:14:25
a wide range of different countries that
15:14:29
they come from and
15:14:30
origins that their family
15:14:31
may have come from.
15:14:33
Just from my interactions with the
15:14:36
community, I would say a
15:14:37
good percentage of those are
15:14:38
from Colombia, Guatemala, and Venezuela.
15:14:42
But we also have populations, obviously,
15:14:43
from other places,
15:14:44
including Peru, Dominican Republic,
15:14:46
and they all have their different
15:14:49
languages, their little
15:14:50
bit of different culture.
15:14:52
And so communicating with the population
15:14:54
does present a challenge because you have
15:14:56
to know how to reach those specific
15:14:59
individuals that come from different
15:15:02
countries of origin.
15:15:03
As an example, there are certain
15:15:04
populations within Hispanic
15:15:05
subgroup that are more receptive
15:15:09
to radio, and they listen to a lot.
15:15:11
To this day, a large percentage of radio
15:15:14
audiences are now Hispanic.
15:15:16
They've always been a big percentage, but
15:15:18
as more folks are
15:15:19
getting kind of off of radio,
15:15:21
that population still exists that is
15:15:24
fairly in tune, even to
15:15:26
AM radio, which is going
15:15:27
away.
15:15:28
So it's a really good way to reach
15:15:29
Hispanic population, but not all of them.
15:15:32
The younger generation, the ones that
15:15:34
were born here who may have
15:15:35
Hispanic parents, probably
15:15:37
are not listening to AM radio, so you
15:15:39
have to reach them in a different way.
15:15:42
Getting to where they are, being where
15:15:44
they are, and engaging that
15:15:46
community is also important,
15:15:48
and we've tried to do that.
15:15:49
We've had several events, community
15:15:51
engagement events that we
15:15:52
have at a specific location
15:15:55
to try to garner information and feedback
15:15:59
from residents about a
15:16:00
particular initiative
15:16:02
or a park or whatever it may be.
15:16:04
And we've done some of those in areas
15:16:07
that are predominantly
15:16:08
Spanish language populations.
15:16:10
We've done it in events that are catering
15:16:12
to the Spanish
15:16:13
language population, and we've
15:16:15
done it in their language.
15:16:17
We've actually had polls that we've taken
15:16:19
that have been in
15:16:20
Spanish to try to get the
15:16:21
feedback from the Hispanic community.
15:16:24
One example is that we had a project down
15:16:27
the south end of the
15:16:27
city at 8111 South Dixie,
15:16:30
which was a city-owned property.
15:16:32
It's now being redeveloped, and we did
15:16:34
some polling, and we did
15:16:35
some outreach to the Hispanic
15:16:37
population there, because it is a hugely
15:16:39
significant portion of the
15:16:40
population in our south end.
15:16:42
And so that was
15:16:43
fairly unique for the city.
15:16:45
I think it was the
15:16:46
first time we had done that.
15:16:47
So we've reached out, and we're getting
15:16:50
information and really
15:16:51
getting to know this particular
15:16:53
sector of our residents.
15:16:56
You mentioned earlier that based on a lot
15:16:58
of the feedback,
15:16:59
we've been able to develop
15:17:00
some programs.
15:17:01
Let's talk a little bit about that.
15:17:03
What are we doing as a city to reach out
15:17:05
and answer the
15:17:07
questions and the needs of that
15:17:08
particular community?
15:17:10
So one of the things that you mentioned,
15:17:11
social media, we've done
15:17:12
some outreach via Facebook
15:17:14
to try to reach the community as well.
15:17:16
But in terms of programming, one of the
15:17:17
most important things
15:17:18
we've done is through our
15:17:20
library, we have the ESOL program, which
15:17:24
helps people learn English.
15:17:27
And so that is extremely important.
15:17:28
We need to make sure folks are
15:17:30
assimilated as they come to
15:17:31
this country and be able to
15:17:33
speak English and be able to obtain a
15:17:35
job, understand the culture.
15:17:38
And so that's been an important part.
15:17:39
We've supported also organizations,
15:17:43
nonprofit organizations that provide
15:17:45
services to Hispanic
15:17:46
populations.
15:17:47
So like examples is Esperanza Center,
15:17:50
where we've provided
15:17:50
some financial support.
15:17:52
And we have recently leased out a
15:17:54
city-owned property to them.
15:17:55
And they are providing supportive
15:17:58
services mostly to the
15:18:00
Guatemalan and migrant community
15:18:02
within the city of West Palm Beach, which
15:18:04
is a significant
15:18:04
population, and trying to
15:18:06
help them become assimilated within our
15:18:09
country, within the city,
15:18:10
and access services to help
15:18:12
them with that assimilation process.
15:18:15
We've also been big supporters of the
15:18:16
Latin quarters down the
15:18:18
south end and tried to use
15:18:20
them as a conduit to be able to let folks
15:18:23
know the services the
15:18:24
city has that they may
15:18:26
be able to take advantage of.
15:18:27
One quick example of that is the minority
15:18:30
small business
15:18:31
program that we have in the
15:18:33
city.
15:18:34
We've had several small businesses that
15:18:35
are Hispanic owned have
15:18:36
been able to take advantage
15:18:37
of loan programs that we had in the past.
15:18:40
We've had grant programs as well for
15:18:42
minority small businesses.
15:18:44
And we've had several small businesses
15:18:46
take advantage of that.
15:18:47
Within City Hall and City Center, we have
15:18:49
Salento Coffee Shop,
15:18:51
which occupies a city-owned
15:18:52
property.
15:18:53
And they are a Hispanic minority business
15:18:55
providing coffee and
15:18:58
lunch and all kinds of
15:19:00
services to our local community, and
15:19:02
especially to folks here
15:19:03
in City Hall who always need
15:19:04
a cup of Joe in the morning.
15:19:05
That's right.
15:19:06
So you have folks who are probably going
15:19:08
to be wanting to take
15:19:10
advantage of some of the
15:19:11
programs that Jesus mentioned, or they
15:19:13
have an issue that they'd like to
15:19:14
address, or something
15:19:15
they don't understand about a water bill
15:19:17
or utility bill, or
15:19:19
other types of outreach that
15:19:21
they need to reach out to the city.
15:19:24
What's the best way
15:19:25
for them to reach out?
15:19:26
So one of the great things, we have a
15:19:28
fantastic new website, and
15:19:30
I know you had a lot to do
15:19:31
with that.
15:19:32
Congratulations.
15:19:33
Thank you.
15:19:34
Fantastic job.
15:19:35
I understand that.
15:19:36
And one of the things you could do on
15:19:38
there is be able to switch
15:19:40
languages, including into
15:19:41
Spanish.
15:19:42
So individuals who want to be able to
15:19:44
access our website and be
15:19:45
able to see what services
15:19:46
are available can do that
15:19:48
easily through the website.
15:19:49
And just on the right hand corner, they
15:19:51
can click the language
15:19:52
and change it to Spanish.
15:19:53
And I looked at it,
15:19:53
and it's pretty accurate.
15:19:55
Sometimes those things are a little bit
15:19:57
of a hit and miss, but it's doing a
15:19:58
pretty good job of that.
15:20:00
And then we have WPB Key, which is our
15:20:02
main platform for residents to be able to
15:20:04
provide questions or
15:20:06
give questions and try to get some
15:20:08
resolution to issues that
15:20:09
they may have with city services,
15:20:10
whether it be a pothole or utility bill
15:20:13
or whatever they're
15:20:14
trying to get resolved.
15:20:16
They can do that through WPB Key, which
15:20:18
is available as an app
15:20:20
or through the website.
15:20:22
And they can also call our main number as
15:20:25
well to try to get access to services.
15:20:27
And one of the features that we just
15:20:28
added to our main number
15:20:30
is the ability to be able
15:20:33
to have a Spanish language menu.
15:20:35
So now when somebody calls, they're going
15:20:38
to hear the prompt for
15:20:39
the English menu, and
15:20:41
then they'll be able to switch over to a
15:20:43
Spanish language menu.
15:20:46
And within each department that is
15:20:48
mentioned within the menu,
15:20:49
if the person clicks on to
15:20:51
that department, they will be able to get
15:20:54
a person who will be
15:20:55
speaking to them in Spanish
15:20:57
if they need that type of service.
15:21:00
That is the first time that I know of in
15:21:01
the city's history where
15:21:02
we've had that menu in Spanish.
15:21:05
So there are various ways, whether it's
15:21:07
through our website,
15:21:08
through WPB Key, and now through
15:21:10
our main telephone line, that folks can
15:21:13
reach us in Spanish and
15:21:15
be able to interact with
15:21:16
us in their native language.
15:21:18
Outstanding.
15:21:19
Great improvements.
15:21:20
Part of the reason why we're talking is
15:21:22
that right now it's
15:21:23
National Hispanic Heritage Month
15:21:25
during the months of
15:21:26
September and October.
15:21:29
Tell us about the
15:21:30
impact of that here locally.
15:21:32
What are we doing to celebrate and to
15:21:34
observe the legacy and
15:21:37
history of the Hispanic community?
15:21:38
Yeah, we've got a lot of programming, a
15:21:41
lot of recognition as well.
15:21:43
One of the things you'll see at the city
15:21:44
commission, next city
15:21:46
commission this coming Monday, will
15:21:48
be recognition of individuals of Hispanic
15:21:51
origin who are being
15:21:54
recognized by each city
15:21:55
commissioner and the mayor for their
15:21:56
contributions within the
15:21:57
city of West Palm Beach.
15:21:59
There's a number of programs that have
15:22:00
taken place and are taking
15:22:02
place throughout Hispanic
15:22:03
Heritage Month.
15:22:04
Unfortunately, we had two climatists by
15:22:06
nights that were both
15:22:07
focused on Hispanic heritage
15:22:09
with Spanish bands that have been rained
15:22:12
out because of poor weather.
15:22:14
So we're hoping to bring those back.
15:22:16
In addition to that, we have an ongoing
15:22:18
programming that is sponsored by the
15:22:20
Downtown Development
15:22:21
Authority called Kebacano.
15:22:23
Kebacano, I think the loose translation
15:22:26
for that, and it's a
15:22:27
Colombian slang, means like,
15:22:29
this is cool, this is interesting.
15:22:31
That's a loose
15:22:32
translation of what Kebacano means.
15:22:34
This was a series that was started in
15:22:38
2023 and 2024 this year
15:22:42
during the peak season.
15:22:44
We're continuing it again beginning
15:22:46
October 3rd, which is the first Friday.
15:22:49
The first Friday of every month, Kebacano
15:22:52
will kick off in
15:22:53
front of City Hall, not in
15:22:55
front of City Hall, in front of City
15:22:56
Center, in front of the
15:22:57
aforementioned coffee shop,
15:22:59
Cilento Coffee Shop.
15:23:01
What this event does is we have salt
15:23:04
sets, basically a dance party.
15:23:06
You have salt selesins and it's a
15:23:07
family-friendly environment
15:23:09
where you can bring the whole
15:23:10
family, learn how to dance.
15:23:12
Salt serve, you already know how to
15:23:13
dance, come and bring your dancing shoes.
15:23:16
We've got Domino's tables set up.
15:23:19
Of course, there's always going to be the
15:23:21
food and the coffee
15:23:23
and all this stuff that
15:23:24
comes with the Hispanic culture when it
15:23:25
comes to food and drinks.
15:23:26
That's one of the things as
15:23:27
a Hispanic we love the most.
15:23:29
It's a great environment.
15:23:30
We've had upwards of 500 people come
15:23:32
through on a Friday night.
15:23:34
Sometimes folks are just walking through
15:23:36
as part of their
15:23:38
evening in downtown and they
15:23:40
see a dance party and they're like, "Oh,
15:23:41
let me go check that out."
15:23:42
It's a great event.
15:23:44
I hope folks can come out, whether you're
15:23:46
Hispanic or not, just
15:23:47
come out and check out
15:23:48
the vibes.
15:23:49
It's a great opportunity.
15:23:51
The other thing is we have our Screen on
15:23:56
the Green event that
15:23:57
takes place, I believe it's
15:23:59
once a month that we
15:23:59
have Screen on the Green.
15:24:01
During Hispanic Heritage, we have the
15:24:03
movie Encanto, which is
15:24:05
a Disney animated movie,
15:24:06
highly successful one.
15:24:09
The basis for the whole
15:24:11
film is the Colombian culture.
15:24:14
There's a lot of sing-alongs
15:24:16
and music they go along with.
15:24:17
I know the kids are ...
15:24:18
They're going to love it.
15:24:19
They love it.
15:24:20
They love the songs in
15:24:21
that particular movie.
15:24:23
I'm making sure I get
15:24:23
the dates right on that.
15:24:25
The Screen on the Green event is actually
15:24:29
taking place on October 11th.
15:24:36
October 11th is Screen on the Green,
15:24:38
bring the whole family,
15:24:39
bring your blankets, your
15:24:39
chairs, and watch the movie.
15:24:41
Our library also has a number
15:24:43
of programs ranging from music.
15:24:48
There's a music event that was a Puerto
15:24:49
Rican style music that
15:24:52
was done about a week ago.
15:24:54
Unfortunately, we're kind of in the
15:24:55
middle of Hispanic
15:24:56
Heritage, but there's other things
15:24:57
coming up, including story, reading times
15:25:00
for both adults and for
15:25:02
children that are focused
15:25:04
on either Hispanic
15:25:05
authors or Hispanic themes.
15:25:09
Then there is a Fiesta party on October
15:25:12
3rd for children from 2
15:25:14
to 3 p.m. at the library,
15:25:16
where it's going to be just Hispanic
15:25:18
music, food, culture,
15:25:21
and it's geared to kids of
15:25:22
all ages.
15:25:24
Folks can come in,
15:25:25
free parking, by the way.
15:25:26
I know a lot of folks kind of fret the
15:25:28
downtown parking, but it's
15:25:30
free parking for the library
15:25:32
patrons.
15:25:33
Even for folks who want to come into
15:25:35
downtown for any of these
15:25:36
events, on the weekends,
15:25:38
our parking is $5 in
15:25:39
our garages all day long.
15:25:41
You can park yourself in the morning,
15:25:44
stay all night, and it's $5.
15:25:46
What I love about this, and what about
15:25:47
the list of all the
15:25:48
items that you've mentioned
15:25:49
here, is it does it true to the month.
15:25:53
It celebrates the legacy and
15:25:54
the history and the culture.
15:25:56
A lot of stuff is geared towards young
15:25:58
people learning about
15:25:59
perhaps a culture that they're
15:26:01
not really familiar with
15:26:02
because they started here.
15:26:05
It's great to see that sort of
15:26:06
involvement and that
15:26:08
internal education taking place.
15:26:10
Absolutely.
15:26:11
In Hispanic culture, Hispanic history is
15:26:13
part of our history.
15:26:16
You look at the oldest city in the United
15:26:18
States, St. Augustine,
15:26:20
right here in Florida.
15:26:20
It was founded by the Spaniards.
15:26:23
It's a great place to visit for those who
15:26:25
haven't, by the way.
15:26:25
It's one of the most, I think, underrated
15:26:28
places in the country
15:26:29
in terms of just how
15:26:30
interesting it is, the history of that.
15:26:33
Going back to almost the founding of our
15:26:36
country, Hispanics have
15:26:37
played a prominent role when
15:26:40
it comes to our history, our culture.
15:26:42
A lot of the words that we even speak in
15:26:44
the English language
15:26:45
are derived from Spanish.
15:26:47
Certainly, we've integrated a lot of
15:26:49
things into our own
15:26:50
culture, whether it's Taco Tuesdays
15:26:53
or food is a big element of that.
15:26:57
Spanish language music has
15:26:58
become huge in the Anglo market.
15:27:03
It's ingrained in our culture.
15:27:05
It's celebrated.
15:27:07
American history includes a lot of
15:27:10
contribution from Hispanics.
15:27:14
It's just become so much part, I think
15:27:15
it's become so ingrained
15:27:16
in our culture now that
15:27:17
we don't think of it as
15:27:18
necessarily Hispanic culture.
15:27:19
It's really just kind of like the
15:27:20
American experience.
15:27:22
This podcast is going to be available to
15:27:24
people who live beyond our city limits.
15:27:28
What message do you have for people who
15:27:31
would like to perhaps
15:27:32
become a resident here in
15:27:34
West Palm Beach?
15:27:36
What would you say to Hispanic folks who
15:27:40
would like to come to
15:27:41
West Palm and maybe make this
15:27:43
our home, their home?
15:27:45
It is a fantastic, whether you're
15:27:47
Hispanic or not, it's a
15:27:48
fantastic place to live and
15:27:49
do business with.
15:27:50
If you're Hispanic, it's going to feel
15:27:52
like home because you
15:27:53
have 25% of the population
15:27:56
that speaks a Spanish language.
15:27:58
You have a lot of businesses
15:27:59
that cater to that population.
15:28:03
Everywhere you go, pretty much you're
15:28:04
going to run into folks
15:28:05
who speak Spanish, who have
15:28:07
parents who speak Spanish.
15:28:10
You're going to feel like you're in a
15:28:12
place that you're welcome.
15:28:13
It's a diverse community.
15:28:15
You'll be able to really enjoy everything
15:28:18
that there is when it
15:28:20
comes to the Hispanic
15:28:21
culture, the food, the
15:28:22
music, the nightlife.
15:28:26
Even in your schools, your children
15:28:28
happen to be coming and
15:28:30
they are still kind of learning
15:28:31
the English language.
15:28:32
There are programs here
15:28:33
that help them assimilate.
15:28:34
We have our own programs, as I mentioned,
15:28:36
in the library to
15:28:37
help folks assimilate and
15:28:39
learn English.
15:28:39
It's just a great place to do business, a
15:28:41
great place to visit.
15:28:43
You can always visit first before you
15:28:44
make that plunge and see
15:28:46
what I'm talking about.
15:28:48
I'm on to thank you.
15:28:49
One last moment here.
15:28:51
Is there a final message you'd like to
15:28:52
share with the folks
15:28:53
listening to our podcast today?
15:28:56
Make sure that when you're a part of our
15:28:59
community, you embrace the whole thing.
15:29:03
Sometimes folks, it's a little hard to
15:29:05
get out of our comfort zone.
15:29:06
Come to events like Cabacana.
15:29:08
Whether you speak Spanish or not, visit
15:29:11
different types of restaurants and
15:29:13
experience different
15:29:14
cuisines, whether it's Peruvian ceviche
15:29:17
or Mexican burrito,
15:29:21
whatever it may be, a Cuban
15:29:22
sandwich.
15:29:23
There are so many different things to try
15:29:24
to learn about, learn
15:29:26
about our history and
15:29:26
learn about the contributions that
15:29:28
Hispanics have made.
15:29:29
I think we kind of focus sometimes on
15:29:31
certain figures, but it goes beyond it.
15:29:33
As I mentioned, St. Augustine, our
15:29:35
Florida history really
15:29:38
kind of derives from that and
15:29:40
that initial colony there.
15:29:42
There's a lot to learn, a lot to be proud
15:29:44
of if you are Hispanic.
15:29:47
In the age that we're in, where I think
15:29:50
there's a lot of negativity towards
15:29:53
immigrant populations,
15:29:55
we certainly have issues with immigration
15:29:57
and we have to take care of those issues.
15:29:59
But there's a lot of folks that come here
15:30:00
and contribute to our society, contribute
15:30:04
to who we are as a country and as a city.
15:30:06
And we should embrace that and embrace
15:30:08
the folks who are here
15:30:09
who are here really trying
15:30:10
to become part of the American dream.
15:30:13
Aranda, thank you for
15:30:13
everything that you do for our city.
15:30:15
Very well said.
15:30:16
Thank you.
15:30:18
And thank you for
15:30:19
listening to today's discussion.
15:30:20
If you enjoyed the show, please like and
15:30:22
subscribe to see more of our content.
15:30:25
The City Center podcast is produced by
15:30:27
the City of West Palm Beach
15:30:28
Communications Department.
15:30:30
I'm Jerry Marcela.
15:30:31
We'll see you next time.