Cinco de Mayo parade evokes heritage, pride
Celebration recalls 1862 battle between Mexico and France
Little girls twirled in flowing Mexican dresses under the shade of Minute Maid Park Saturday morning, while young boys wearing traditional straw hats scrambled for candies thrown from the parade floats inching along Texas Avenue.
Their parents, some who were born in Mexico and now raise families in Houston, watched with pride as their children enjoyed the Cinco de Mayo Parade, sponsored by League of United Latin American Citizens District 8 for the 32nd year.
“They want them to continue their heritage,” said Maria Talavera, 21, of the parents and grandparents. “In my household we don’t speak English because they don’t want us to lose it.”
The celebration commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, which took place in 1862. The Mexican army, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, successfully pushed back the French forces of Napoleon III.
“They tell us stories of what the meaning was,” Talavera said. “For me, it’s a festival. It’s something you should be proud of.”
The cultural links were on colorful display in the dozen or so dance troupes of young girls and boys who participate in Ballet Folklorica. The dance, which originates in Mexico and can
vary from region to region, is spread across Houston through private dance studios and schools like Franklin Elementary. A group of students represented the school, east of downtown, in the folklorica tradition.
It’s another way for parents to pass down Mexican traditions to generations of young people who may have never been to the country, said Al Maldonado, district director and chairman of LULAC in Houston.
One troupe, Herencia Mexicana, which means, “Mexican Heritage,” has been teaching kids and teens the dances for four years. Its float was decorated to mimic the gondola-style boats that glide down waterways in Mexico City, said Sandra Giron, through an interpreter. Giron is a teacher at the dance studio located on the northside. They even had a young man pushing a gondolier’s pole along the street.
Giron said teaching the dances take her back to her native land.
“The nostalgia and the love I feel for Mexico and the love I feel for the dance — it makes me very happy, very proud” she said as tears began to flow.
There were homages to Mexican culture among the spectators well. Young girls and women wore the long, colorful, embroidered dresses that typify the country’s traditional dress. They donned thick braids around the crown of their heads and the girls swished their flowing skirts as they waited for the next round of candy.
Vendors offered homemade tamales, $10 for a dozen. Most said they expected to sell out during the parade.
A volunteer and LULAC member, Sammy Ramirez, helped keep the parade’s path clear.
“It’s a celebration of our ancestors and our nationality,” he said.
People of a variety of backgrounds participated in the parade, with African-American high schoolers marching with a drum line and diverse groups of Girl Scouts walking the route with banners held high.
Hispanic leaders rode in convertibles behind Mayor Sylvester Turner when the parade kicked off. State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, state Rep. Armondo Walle and City Councilwoman Karla Cisneros waved to crowds.
Leaders who embrace Mexican culture make people like Talavera’s mother, Maria Pacheco, feel welcome.
“She likes it because she’s showing us how they celebrated in Mexico,” Talavera said.
Pacheco, 45, said as her daughter interpreted, “Thank God the U.S. lets us celebrate this day and it’s not banned.”