“I just wanna create a space where everyone can really have a community and… be happy in one area and be able to grow and showcase our culture,” Marcia Gonzalez, Berkeley High School senior and Latinos Unidos club president, said. “We really wanna have a good foundation just because previous years there hasn't been, we wanna build that this year and make sure for next year they have the funds to actually continue it and everything.” Gonzalez has stepped into the role as the club’s president this year, eager to create a strong and cohesive club community that celebrates and represents the rich culture of Latin America, while uplifting and supporting Latinx BHS students. “We really wanna just provide resources for everyone, but also just have a community (that students) can depend on,” said Gonzalez.
From 2019 and onward Latinos Unidos has always been a part of the BHS community. However, this year specifically, the club’s leadership aims to bring in many more members, as well as expand the club’s participation in different school fundraisers and activities.
“We usually do a little bit of talking about events that we're planning on hosting, right now it's the Latinx Heritage assembly,” Gonzalez said. Along with participating in school culture, the club also centers around encouraging students to get more involved with their heritage, motivating members to share elements of their culture, through art, literature, and dance. “It’s all very much community based and everything, so we all share interest and try to showcase it and specific events in holidays and all that,” said Gonzalez. “And then (we) try to show (it) in different ways, not just with activities, but also with art.”
Along with that, the club also fosters a safe space for many BHS Latinx students who want to expand their horizons and cultural knowledge and meet other Latinx students. “I felt it was very inclusive, and a nice community and atmosphere that's very inclusive, a nice safe space for Latinos,” BHS senior and club secretary Victoria Ibarra said, “I've liked it a lot because I noticed that a lot of the Latinos from Berkeley High actually get together and it's a really nice space for everybody to get to know each other and make more friends with people who have the same cultural backgrounds as you.” Fostering a welcoming environment for Latinx students in such a large and potentially overwhelming school is integral for building community. It allows for students to create new friendships and relationships with people they wouldn’t normally meet or know, a primary goal of Latinos Unidos.
The Latinos Unidos club also stresses the importance of knowing and understanding culture to the fullest extent. It provides its members with short lectures, presentations, and other educational tools in order to further members’ knowledge on their own culture, as well as other Latin American cultures. “Since we're all together, that's kind of how we showcase it and (we) kind of learn more about it through the clubs too and express (culture) more,” Ibarra said, “We're representing, we teach (members) a little bit more too about other stuff, going over specific people who did movements and what they did.” The Latinos Unidos club also strives to share information pertaining to different Latin American cultures through organizing school-wide education opportunities, in order to expand their own community and cultivate ways for members to display their learning to other school communities. “It’s (just) us talking about our culture because there's not like any other clubs that really do that about Hispanics,” said BHS freshman Estrea—-.
The Latinos Unidos club focuses heavily on community building and creation, particularly for incoming freshmen who are navigating a new school environment. This allows for Latinx students to have a safe and fun space to hang out, play games, and educate themselves on Latin American culture, while simultaneously having opportunities to meet other members of their culture. “(Latinos Unidos) makes me feel more connected to other people at school,” said—--“It makes me notice a lot more things that I didn't know before and it makes me appreciate my culture a lot more,” said Estrella Yarely Alamilla Perez, a Freshman in U9.