I could not be more thrilled that the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Gustavo Gelpí. Just days after the conclusion of #HispanicHeritageMonth, Judge Gelpí is only the second Latino and Puerto Rican to serve on the First Circuit. menendez.senate.gov → Menendez Applauds Confirmation of Judge Gustavo Gelpí to the First Circuit Court of Appeals | U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey

Honored to attend the #HispanicHeritageMonth exhibit at @Osceola_Arts this afternoon. We are proud to embrace our heritage, culture, and community through the art of our immensely talented artists in Florida.

#TeamSoto joined the celebration of #HispanicHeritageMonth with @OrangeCoFL this week. We are so thrilled to join @OCFLMayor Demings to honor these local Hispanic leaders!

As #HispanicHeritageMonth comes to a close, I want to highlight @LASDHQ Sheriff Alex Villanueva, 35-year veteran of the U.S.'s largest Sheriff’s Dept, commanding nearly 18,000 staff.  He is a military veteran who served in the @usairforce, @AirGuardCAHQ & CA Army National Guard.

Thanks to @SarahAcosta at @ksatnews for her important story on why many second- and third-generation Latinos don’t speak Spanish or don’t speak it fluently.

For decades it was illegal to speak Spanish in Texas schools.

Children were punished, some beaten, if caught speaking it.

Getting a language beaten out of them caused many Latinos to refuse to teach the language to their kids in order to protect them.

So many times over the years I’ve been asked by mostly white journalists questions that imply that my lack of Spanish fluency makes me less Latino.

And also by Latino journalists, often immigrants themselves, who imply the same thing.

If you came here from Latin America and speak perfect Spanish, great. But please don’t question others’ identity w/o knowing our nation’s history/treatment of earlier generations of Latinos.